Hana Yori Dango Wallpaper

The Ebisu Garden Place is where everything began.

It was at that fateful day in the rain where Makino had reluctantly met Domyouji, still unsure of this ill-tempered man and what his intentions were.

It was the symbol of Domyouji's devotion to her - how he waited under the rain, cold and shivering, on the verge of a fever... waiting for Makino. Later on, he would wait again for her... till night fell. It was also the symbol of Makino's love for him - calling him up to meet with him, when she felt all hope was lost and Domyouji had forgotten her. It was her place of solace, where she could drift into her own world, lost in thoughts of him.

And yes, there was much pain attached to this court as well. Misunderstood events, outside forces that wished for the lovers' demise. Words that shouldn't have been spoken, words that could have been spoken.

In the end, however, their life becomes a fairy tale. This place had finally brought them their happy ending, never to be shattered again.

This wallpaper celebrates The Ebisu Garden Place and the memories - all the hurt, the laughter, the love, the sacrifice - that this seemingly nondescript plaza has given way to.



If you love the wallpaper, I'd appreciate comments. Thank you =)

Oguri Shun Wallpaper

3 variations for Oguri Shun Wallpaper:





Hope you guys like it :) Leave a comment if you like it.

Elliott Yamin's Movin' On in Three Flavors

Movin' on is one of the funkiest, jazzy beats I've heard ever. You just can't help but move to the beat. It's a very catchy song, and Elliott's funk and soul really shines through.

Check the song out in three flavors:

The album version:



Dang this song is so hot.

The live version with all the instruments:



Elliott Yamin has really grown from the first time we saw him. He's more confident, and that shows in all those runs he gives in his performances. He's not afraid to take chances with the song and he really grooves up the performance even more.

The live acoustic version:
is in


http://www.wired965.com/dm_images/audio/070424123851.wma (10:36)

All I can say is: "Wow".

Only problem now is deciding which is the best among the 3 :)

Favorite American Idol Performances for Seasons 4 to 6

These are my favorite American Idol performances for Seasons 4 to 6:

Elliott Yamin: Moody's Mood for Love.
This was the song that really made me fall in love with his voice. I only listened to the song for the first time and I could not get enough of it. The song never ceases to give me goosebumps and a smile.


Blake Lewis: Time of the Season
First of all, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Zombies. And their songs are hard to really sing well, much more sing as your own. But Blake Lewis managed to own that song. He is in all aspects a star, he has a unique talent and good performance skills.


Chris Daughtry: Hemorrhage
Hell yeah. He rocked the house that night. I think it's safe to say he sang it better than Fuel did.


Melinda Doolittle: Funny Valentine
Goosebumps all over. Her interpretation of the song was impeccable


Constantine Maroulis: Bohemian Rhapsody
It's hard to make that song work, but he did.



Mario Vasquez: How Can you mend a Broken Heart
check out time 1:44 especially (loved his performance of How Can you mend a Broken Heart). He was a cinch to win had he not left


anwar robinson: moonriver
His voice was really fantastic but he seemed to have lost confidence on his latter performances (a dang shame)


nick pedro: fly me to the moon
hot. if it weren't for sanjaya, he would have stayed on and showed us what he got.

Happiest moment of my week

Ahhh sheer bliss.

Country Night at American Idol and Elliott's new Album

I'm really sorry but I really can't appreciate country music all that much. This is a big reason why I do not like Carrie Underwood's music. Because of this, I was not all too excited about American Idol this week.

I'd have to say I only enjoyed Blake's performance. I think Melinda's performance was way too rodeo for my taste; Lakisha's performance was actually quite solid, I liked how she sang "Jesus Takes the Wheel" more than Carrie in my opinion; Chris Richardson wasn't all too bad; I'm not gonna even start with Sanjaya.

I'm wondering why Ryan Seacrest was strongly defending Sanjaya when Simon gave his honest criticisms. Honestly, Simon isn't biased. He gives opinions to every Idol contestant the same way. It just so happens that Sanjaya's performances give way to more criticisms, that's all.

Back to Blake. I just love everything about him. From his looks to his cool personality to the way he dresses to the tone of his voice to the way he performs. He is an idol in every sense and he has miraculously made me like Country music a little more.

On other Idol news, I listened to Elliott's new album and loved it. Wasn't too hot about "Wait for You", but the rest of the tracks were hot!!! "Movin'" On is at the top of my list!!! Gonna buy his album real soon! You can preview the tracks in the american idol official website.

Michael Muhney talks about his role as Sheriff Lamb and his "brown piece-of-crap shirt and those tight-ass pants" sheriff's uniform

I just read an interview with Michael Muhney at http://www.eonline.com/gossip/kristin/detail/index.jsp?uuid=968f7cfa-c662-4d3e-aa7f-a46931d1525f
It's one of my favorite interviews thus far.

I do agree that Sheriff Lamb's death was underplayed.

A funny highlight of the interview:

Anything you won't miss?
I won't miss wearing the most wildly uncomfortable and ugly sheriff's uniform of all time! I felt like I was walking around in a brown paper bag. So, I am not going to miss that brown piece-of-crap shirt and those tight-ass pants. At any given time, if there was a scene that was shooting me from the chest up, I was always wearing flip flops and board shorts. I could not stand wearing those pants!

Hey, I thought you looked good!
Those pants were so tight they gave me unicheek. Just one butt cheek smooshed together. If I had any advice for Keith I would say, if you have any gas, let it all out before you put those pants on, because it ain’t coming out once you get them on.

So in that picture, Lamb's actually wearing board shirts and flip flops. Good mental picture ;)

As a tribute I have 3 IM icons for him.

Latin Night was boring

Latin night was a night of boring performances. It seemed that everyone was gasping for breath and was really on the lower range of their voices. The only 2 performances that were worth watching was Chris Richardson and Blake Lewis.

I will have to eat my hat and say that it was Sanjaya Malakar's best performance yet. Still not up to par with my standards, but yeah, as Simon Cowell said, "It wasn't terrible".

Watching last night, I realized that my friend Rom was right. This season's contestants aren't as talented as the Chris Daughtry + Elliott Yamin season last season. Now that was some season.

Love Revolution

I have finally finished watching the subbed drama Love Revolution. After years of agony, waiting for someone to sub the show, SARS Fansubs and Mugen finally answered my prayers. I have written a short synopsis of the show below, to convince you that this is a very good show

Love begins at their 30's for Dr. Asaoka Kyoko and Mariko Endo, a heart surgeon and a stewardess, respectiveley. It all begins on their trip to Rome, where Kyoko chases after a man who had inadvertently lead her on, only to find that he was merely being polite. What's worse, the man was dating a nurse at Kyoko's hospital!

Before their trip ends, an old lady predicts that Kyoko will find love and get married in Rome, riding atop a beautiful horse. Immediately, the revolution of love takes its course when, during the plane ride home, Kyoko manages to help a chef (Fukuda) with his stomach ailments. The chef turns out to be from a prestigious restaurant in Tokyo called Il Porcellino. He falls head over heels for Mariko.

Once in Tokyo, Kyoko begins to wonder if the old lady was true, knowing her unlucky track record in love. Being a very intellectual, career-oriented, and independent lady, men find her a tad intimidating. In truth, however, Kyoko deals with a lot of insecurities and finds it hard to express herself. Mariko, on the other hand, who has a bubbly personality, has better luck with men, as she also sparks interest from the chef's friend, Yoshida.


Things finally start to pick up for Kyoko when she meets a mysterious silent-type actor, Yabuki Mamoru, who secretly holds a flame for Kyoko, and a playboy news reporter, Suga Eiichiro who is everything but discrete about his affections for Kyoko.

The love revolution continues.

Prison and Work - Which is really better?!

My brother got this email and it's really something to ponder on. Makes you think that there might be something wrong with the system ;)

Just in case you ever get these two environments mixed up, this should make things a little bit clearer.

@ PRISON = you spend the majority of your time in a 10X10 cell
@ WORK = you spend the majority of your time in an 8X8 cubicle

@ PRISON = you get three meals a day fully paid for
@ WORK = you get a break for one meal and you have to pay for it

@ PRISON = you get time off for good behavior
@ WORK = you get more work for good behavior

@ PRISON = the guard locks and unlocks all the doors for you
@ WORK = you must often carry a security card and open all the doors for yourself

@ PRISON = you can watch TV and play games
@ WORK = you could get fired for watching TV and playing games

@ PRISON = you get your own toilet
@ WORK = you have to share the toilet with some people who pee on the seat

@ PRISON = they allow your family and friends to visit
@ WORK = you aren't even supposed to speak to your family

@ PRISON = all expenses are paid by the taxpayers with no work required
@ WORK = you get to pay all your expenses to go to work, and they deduct taxes from
your salary to pay for prisoners

@ PRISON = you spend most of your life inside bars wanting to get out
@ WORK = you spend most of your time wanting to get out and go inside bars

@ PRISON you must deal with sadistic wardens
@ WORK = they are called managers

THERE IS SOMETHING SERIOUSLY WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE!!!!

Now get back to work. You're not getting paid to check emails


Well then, who wants to help me rob a convenience store and leave the drudgery of work for greener pastures behind bars? hehe ;)

Young Modern - the 5th #1 album of Silverchair

Silverchair has so kindly offered to put up all the songs from their new album, Young Modern for streaming to everyone. You can check it out at their official page at chairpage.com. Silverchair is living proof that a band can actually innovate and progress from their initial style and still be themselves.

Silverchair's new album has large influences from The Dissociatives, a side project of Daniel Johns. We hear a lot of funky, electronic sounds going on in their new album that resemble the sounds of the Dissociatives. Although Silverchair has come a long way from their first few songs, which were grungier and louder, it's amazing that the songs are still quite "Silverchair". I feel that they were able to accomplish this because, although they steered away from their old styles, they still retained some of their old elements (e.g. try listening to Young Modern Station and you'll see what I'm talking about). Also listen to how Young Modern Station progresses to Straight Lines. Absolutely great.


This explains why Silverchair has made music history today with the chart topping debut of their new release Young Modern. Silverchair is the first Australian band to ever have five #1 albums. I'll stop my opinions from there. Just listen to their album online and be the judge.

Gina goes home... which means another day in paradise for Sanjaya Malakar

Gina Glocksen is out. I can't say I was surprised by this. Her peformance was really half-baked and lacked personality. The fans, myself included, got confused with what Gina really wanted to express. She can't go hot and cold like that per performance and go from rocker to diva each night. It's just bound to leave the fans cold.

Of course, I am pretty disappointed that she did leave. I felt she held a lot of promise, and she still had a lot to show. Between Gina and the skimpy-dressed Haley, I would have said goodbye to Haley any day. But hey, that's American Idol voting for you. Completely out of whack.

All this means just one thing: It's another day in paradise for our favorite guy: Sanjaya Malakar (please note the sarcasm that is coating each and every syllable of "our favorite guy"). This issue is becoming so huge that Constantine even placed a Yahoo! Answer question about it, and it goes like this:

"How will Sanjaya’s continued success on American Idol impact the show’s credibility? With all of the controversy surrounding Sanjaya’s survival week-to-week, is it too late for American Idol to regain its fans’ trust?"

Is it too late for AI to regain its fans' trust?

I don't think so. Could a lanky kid with poor vocals sabotage a high-rated show built on a 6-year foundation? If anything, AI should use all its experience to innovate and find a way to solve this issue. Perhaps a new way of voting is in order? Perhaps the judges should get the final say?

We can only ponder on the possible solutions to this plague.

Save one Show Results - hopeful for VM or grim?

Results of SOS:

Save One Show

* (0%) 30 Rock
* (0%) The Class
* (0%) Close to Home
* (1%) Crossing Jordan
* (0%) Friday Night Lights
* (39%) Gilmore Girls
* (0%) How I Met Your Mother
* (0%) Jericho
* (0%) Medium
* (0%) The Nine
* (17%) One Tree Hill
* (0%) Scrubs
* (0%) Six Degrees
* (2%) Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
* (7%) Supernatural
* (33%) Veronica Mars
* (1%) What About Brian

No. Fracking. WAY. Veronica Mars lost to Gilmore Girls?!?! The injustice of it all!

Another thing that is really pissing me off is that Veronica Mars is under the list of doomed shows for the ff reasons (quoted from http://www.eonline.com/ under watch with kristin)

"Veronica Mars: With rumors that supporting castmembers were told the series was canceled and the Pussycat Dolls' well-rated reality series (blech) blowing Veronica out of the Nielsens water (double blech), it isn't looking good for Veronica Mars. Says creator Rob Thomas, Last year I was 70-30, thinking the show would be saved. This year, I have been holding steady at 60-40. But lately, I've become less than that. If Veronica does return, it would likely become an FBI show with the feisty Miss Mars flashing forward four years into the future. (Which sounds pretty damn awesome to at least one fan."

First of all, Pussycat Dolls is a one time reality show. I don't think the Pussycat Dolls will be changing their cast on a frequent basis. So we should definitely not use that as a reason. Have I told you how brainless I thought that reality series is? If I have, allow me to emphasize. Pussycat dolls = brainless.

Rob Thomas' words are definitely not comforting. To go down from 70-30 certainty to a less than 60-40. And he's supposed to be the creator of this show. Shouldn't he be trying harder to save this show??? And what's with this Nielsen box anyway? Isn't it unfair to base ratings only on Nielsen box holders? Granted that there is no other way to track ratings but I think producers should also look into the quality of the fanbase by looking at how supportive the fans are (VM fans actually create their own shirts, send off emails, raise funds, post actively on the forums, and spend tons of time voting on polls).

This is really a sad day for me. I hope that we get to have another season 4 because we deserve it. We represent quality viewing, simple as that.

Tortilla Painting - art with good taste

A certain artist hailing from Los Angeles paints on tortillas. His name is Joe Bravo, who began his career creating toys for himself, because he was not given store bought toys.

He started using this unique and delicious medium back in college when he couldn't afford canvases. Now he can pretty much afford canvases and then some. His tortillas are now selling for as much as $1,800 each. And rightly so. You'll see below that his tortilla art is really spectacular.




It's so inspiring to know that people continuously innovate and think out of the box. This is the beauty of art.

1 Cool cat, 1 hip performance, and the "ho-hum" rest of them

Tony Bennett night was a night of great performances. I especially liked Blake's performance. He was 1 cool cat, singing and dancing to "Mack the Knife". Blake Lewis embodied "cool" in every sense - his tone, his moves, his look.



Chris Richardson made a comeback with his hip rendition of "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" and Randy Jackson himself said that he "came out with a vengeance".



I personally didn't like the rest. Melinda and Lakisha sang well but I felt that it wasn't unique enough. They're good belters that's for sure but each AI season has good belters so there's nothing to rave about there. I do have to give props to Melinda because as usual, she interpreted the lyrics flawlessly. Lakisha's sass came back, as Simon said, but I felt the band overpowered her performance.

Gina confuses me - she's supposed to be a rocker and now she's going towards becoming a belter. I think Gina should stick to what makes her stand out above the rest of this year's competitors. She could go tap her sentimental side but there is still a way to maintain her personality in my opinion. Take Garbage, for instance. Garbage's singer Shirley has slow, sentimental songs but the rocker in her still shines.

Haley and Phil are doomed. When Simon starts judging your legs, you're balancing on a thin thread. When Paula starts saying something bad about you, tsk tsk.

Sanjaya Malakar still had a non-energetic performance with his too-loose clothes and too-quiet voice. Simon's comment on Sanjaya was hilarious, saying he was "incredible". I don't get why Tony Bennett had such praise for Sanjaya. It's scary.

VM Icons! Save Veronica Mars!

Show your support for the show!
I got VM icons here you can use for your forums, or messengers. More soon!

The EOnline SOS Voting Commitment Post for Veronica Mars Fans

Fellow Veronica Mars fans!
The SOS poll is ending on April 6 so we have to rake in as many votes as we can for this. So, it would be good if you could post a comment here to tell us how many votes you're willing to commit to making at:

http://www.eonline.com/polls/full_page_poll.jsp?pollID=6084

This would be a good inspiration for more people to vote!

Please comment people!

The Engagement Ring

I was channel surfing yesterday and just happened to watch this very quaint and inviting backdrop of a vineyard. It was certainly a good call on my part to continue watching (in spite of the incessant grumbling of my stomach craving for some breakfast).

The Engagement Ring, a movie produced back in 2005, is about two feuding families: The Di Cenzo's and the Rosa's. The 40-year feud was a result of a postal service gone bad, which lead to a huge misunderstanding between Alicia Rosa and Nick Di Cenzo. Nick had sent Alicia an engagement ring by mail, which Alicia failed to receive. As a result, both egos were squashed.

40 years after this misunderstanding, Alicia's daughter, Sara, tries to strike a deal with the Di Cenzo's to acquire the latter's vineyard. Nick, however, refuses to sell because of the 40-year old grudge he still held. With a sudden twist of fate, Alicia finally receives the engagement ring by mail. Will Alicia and Nick finally bury the hatchet? How will Alicia's husband, Johnny, react to all this? To complicate matters, Sara, an engaged woman, starts falling for Nick's nephew, Tony. Will the engagement ring finally fix feuds and create a new family?

What drew me to this show was how everyone acted, the humor, subtle details of the show, and how these are all set in such a wonderful backdrop. It's also good to see several stories coming in to play. Aside from Sara and Tony's developments, we see the story behind Alicia, Nick, and Johnny. The ending was also really nice, very heartwarming, and unique.

It's a good watch for romantic comedy fans out there. =) Better than My Big Fat Greek Wedding, in my opinion.