High Quality Goodness

Lately I've been watching and downloading the most current drams to keep up with them and have good download rates before they get too old.  Thankfully with video quality and bluray rips, it is so much easier to get high quality videos.  I recently watched the Gokusen movie (subbed by SARS) in HD and it was super amazing!!  Apparently they waited for the bluray disc so they could have a nice quality sub.  It was also really cool to watch the Gokusen movie that encompassed all 3 seasons of characters.  Kind of nostalgic in a way.  :D  It was great to see my old favorite actors show up in something recent.  On the subject of that, one of my favorite Japanese actors, Narimiya Hiroki has played the same kind of character in a lot of things lately.  He was in a movie called Drop, about a "yankee-ish" guy getting put into a public school.  Now there is a spring drama going on called "Yankee-kun to Megane-chan" where he plays a delinquent character.  haha.  I first started to watch out for him after he was in Nana, playing Nobu (my favorite character of the series) and have been able to find him in a lot of things recently.  I'm anxiously awaiting someone to sub Yankee to Megane!!  Just watching the raw, I can tell I will really like it.  :)  That's the sad thing about not being completely fluent in Japanese.  I'm not able to fully understand everything in these dramas as quickly as I want to.  I'm hoping that with my upkeep in Japanese, I will be able to continue with my level and hopefully learn it fluently after I finish up here at Brooks.  :D

 Anyways, there are some pretty crazy formats and subtitle formats floating around out there.  There's even a subtitle file that I dowloaded the other day with the extension .ass  XD  Thankfully, if you're ever in doubt about which player to use, I highly recommend VLC (especially for Mac useres) because it has been compatible with every sort of file I have come across so far.  I notice that the HD formats (720p and higher) are usually in mp4 or mvk formats.  Both are easily playable on many video players.

One of my favorite things is when artists post their music videos in 1080p on Youtube.  It is quite a nice treat to view an amazing music video in top notch quality.  For instance, everyone's favorite Tae Yang...I remember this being one of the first 1080p youtube videos I was able to watch.  :D


CLICK FOR HD

Overall the way that video graphics are going is simply amazing!  Seeing things in high definition and such is really changing the way we watch online.  I can't stand watching a show online and seeing nothing but pixels.  D:  I tend to download different series so I am able to watch it clearly like it was intended.  :)  If you ever need a recommendation on a series to start please don't hesitate to ask!  I have the ever growing collection, but I really should learn how to correctly burn DVD copies so in case I have friends who want to watch ones, without the hassle of downloading.  Anyone else have a favorite drama series?  I also love getting recommendations so please let me know!  :D

Lights, Camera, Action

I've always had a thing for pretty lights, reflections, and shiny things.  Typical girl I know, but I love it.  haha.  So this last time I went to Disneyland, I decided to do fun things at night with slow shutter speeds and play with the amazing spectrum of lights at Disneyland.  Here are my favorites from that night.

can you see the light source?

There's little hearts in this one!  

Disneyland makes bank of selling stuff at night

Fireflies in Disneyland

Disneyland is full of amazing things

I love Disneyland

Teacup Whimzy

Can you guess what this is?

Flowers of Light

Electric

I finally have my own annual pass to Disneyland!  :D  So anytime anyone wants to go I would totally meet you down there.  ^_^  Disneyland truly is my happiest place on Earth.  It's where my childhood was.  It's where I have so many great memories with friends.  I still would like to go with a boyfriend someday.  Disney is such an important part of my life, if someone can't accept that, then how would it work?  =P  If you saw my house, you'd understand how much my family's love for Disney goes.  I love taking people to Disneyland who haven't been in awhile or who have never been, or who say they hate Disneyland.  People tell me that I'm the Disney insider, and I guess that's all thanks to my dad.  Back in 2007 I went with a guy who said he didn't like Disneyland because of his childhood experience.  I just told him, that's cause you haven't been with me yet!  haha.  Thankfully after that trip, he said he liked Disneyland.  :D  It makes me happy when I can help someone's experience be the same ones that I remember and enjoy.  For me, Disneyland really is the happiest place on Earth.  And it is somewhere that I hope to enjoy for as long as I'm around.  :)

The Happiest Place on Earth

My happiest place on Earth is definitely Disneyland.  The first time I went to Disneyland, I was 3 months old.  XD  My dad is part of this Disney group called NFFC (National Fantasy Fan Club) and we used to go to conventions a lot.  A lot of the artwork in my house are Disney cells from various movies and old collectables that my dad has found over the years.  I remember going to Disneyland a lot when I was growing up (at least 2-3x a year) and it is about a 6 hour drive from where my family lives.  Everyone in my classes knew me as the Disney girl and everyone looks to me to know the Disney trivia.  XD  Going to Disneyland now, makes me nostalgic and remember the fond memories I have of going with family and friends.  I used to hate roller coaster types, but now I am obsessed.  hahaha.  I think my favorite Disneyland ride is probably Indiana Jones.  Or perhaps Big Thunder Mountain.  I also REALLY like Haunted Mansion at Halloween till Christmas because it is Nightmare Before Christmas themed.  Some of my favorites growing up where Alice in Wonderland and the Submarine ride (now the sub ride is Nemo themed and is super cute!!).

I went over Super Bowl Sunday to Disneyland and shot my photo assignment there.  We had to do pans (where the subject is sharp, but the background blurry), blurs (the subject blurry, background sharp) and depth of field (having the background out of focus).

Pan shot/ can't you just feel the motion?

Blur shot/ teacup mayhem!

Selective Focus/ I LOVE the expression on the guy's face.  This is when he was flipping the girl during the parade.  :)

I also really like these things that are called "circles of confusion."  My teacher is really into them and likes to point them out every time he sees them.  =P

Lights look like this when you open the lens opening VERY wide and keep the back out of focus.  These look really cool right?  Here are a few other pictures that I really like the way they turned out.

A little bit of Disney magic.  :D  

Submarine view  ^_^

It might be a little hard to tell, but that's a girl there.  :)  this is while the teacup was spinning.

This was hard because the only light on her face was from the back of her camera.

The carousel spinning.  :)

Anytime I go to Disneyland I love taking pictures and trying to make the things in Disneyland look less recognizable.  Can anyone tell where this is (this was taken with film and printed in a darkroom)?  It's one of my favorite places to go in the world!  :)  Disneyland is a place that will always make me happy, and I hope that when I have kids, I will be able to give them amazing memories at this place too.  ^_^

In Progress

Currently working on a DSK jewelry haul blog.  But I gotta figure out how to use my new camera to take pictures to do the work justice.  :)  In the meantime, enjoy some of my current favorite songs from youtube!

A good song to duet with.



Not my favorite version, but youtube doesn't have the one I have.



Electric Six just makes me want to get up and dance.  


Upbeat is my thing lately.  

First Post & Birthday Celebration

Hello everyone! My name is Lauren. I'm a 20 year old living in the central valley of California and soon to be moving to new places in the world. :) I've gone many years looking at other blogs and I finally decided to start one. So, here it goes. I guess my main focus will be on music, fasion, and photography. oh and maybe throw a little baking in there.  Those seem like easy topics to start with.

So, the main reason I want to post is because today, October 7, 2009 is m-flo's 10th anniversary!!! m-flo is my all time favorite band and I love spreading the m-flo love to everyone. :D It all started back in 2003 when I walked into the Kinokuniya in San Francsico (Kinokuniya is a Japanese bookstore chain in the US for those of you who don't have one near you) and went to the music kiosk. At these things, you could find a music video that had just been released and watch it. At this time I was a big fan of BoA and I see a music video called the Love Bug. with Boa and a group called m-flo. So I started to watch it, and instantly fell in love. I raced to the CD section to find the single, and I haven't looked back since. Ever since 2003, I have been diligently looking out for m-flo releases and spread my love for it to anyone who would listen. Verbal is my all time favorite rapper and I absolutely love his style in clothes and rapping. :) So, this is my short tribute to m-flo today, and I wish them happy anniversary and good luck in their future endeavors!

For those of you hoping to get into m-flo, here are some of the best of the best.

*means that the video is up on youtube and should be watched.

*miss you//♥melody. & Ryohei

*the Love Bug//♥BoA

*Let Go//♥Yoshika

Loop in My Heart//♥Yoshika & Emyli

*Picture Perfect//♥Monkey Majik

Love Me After 12AM//♥Alex (clazziquai)

The Other Side of Love//♥Emyli (sister e)

tO yOUR bEAT//♥Yoshika

*Lotta Love//♥MINMI

*Love Don't Cry//♥Crystal Kay

*Dopamine//♥Emyli & Diggy Mo' (soul'd out)

*Can't Stop Lovin' You//♥BBBB & Emi Hinouchi

Star Struck//♥AI, Emi Hinouchi, Rum (heartsdales)

Tripod Baby//♥Lisa

*One Day //♥Miliyah Kato & Kreva

Distance (m-flo remix)- Utada Hikaru

Come again

L.O.T (Love Or Truth)

Yours Only

Here's how it all started:

Well that's pretty much all for this first post. I will be hoping to find more people to network with and I hope you enjoy my ramblings. :D mata ne minna!