Posting from my vita 3

almond jelly kit kat, a photo by kiasukid2000 on Flickr.

i am still busy playing with the vita and trying to figure out how i can best get it to work to cater to my specific needs. Now i am testing posting photos to the blog using flickr. i wasnt v successful using picasa.

This is a photo shot using the vita's back camera. it is a photo of an almond jelly flavoured kit kat... just one of the many funky and fun flavours to come out of japan. :)

Mahou Shoujo Madoka KEY ANIMATION NOTE

For fans of Mahou Shoujo Madoka, this shouldn't be new news but I have some free time so I thought I would talk about it for a bit. :)

After agonizing over what I should spend my monthly budget on non-necessities on, I finally decided to get all 6 volumes of the Mahou Shoujo Madoka Key Animation Note. This is the follow up to the Production Note which I already own. The Production Note is a really beautiful release and worthy of a place in any fan's collection. Here is the link to my post on the unboxing of this gorgeous art-book.

I was trying to decide which of the following I rather have:

Would I like to blow some cash on the Limited First Press Release of the Mahou Shoujo Madoka game?

 

Or would I like to spend an insane amount and use up all my points on this blu-ray set cuz the figma of BRS is really awesome:




Or would I rather all 6 volumes of the Key Animation Note Link to all the printed material available on Mahou Shoujo Madoka on CDJapan ?

In the end... after looking at the wiki site for the Key Animation Note, I decided to go with the art-book. Ultimately, I think I would enjoy the art-books more and I would probably find them more useful in the long run. I can also space the purchase of all the volumes over a period of months and I'll be picking up Vol. 1 from one of my friends in Tokyo when I visit the city later this month which would save tons on shipping. Hopefully it'll be cool... my Vol.1 is already in my friend's hand so after I return from Japan, I'll write up my thoughts on what I think of the first volume of this set of art-books. :)

K... time to go get some coffee and finish up my homework. I just felt like writing more this weekend, I guess cuz 1) I wanted to make up for me not being able to surpass my all time high in number of posts last year :-( 2) also to make up for me not having the time to post much at all since the start of the year 3) to procrastinate cuz I felt kind of lazy to do my homework. :P

But now it is time to go do sometime more productive. cheers :)

Posting from my vita 2

I have now successfully posted a photo to blogspot via the vita's browser. But in order to do that i had to use the html tab instead of the compose tab to upload the photo. This pulls up one of the older interfaces used to upload photos to blogspot and uploading using a wifi connection was quick and simple. After that, you can go to the compose tab to work further on the post if you like. The photo will show up like they usually do and you will be able to select thumbnail size and add captions etc. Unfortunately there is no copy and paste function yet and i hope they will add that in the future as it is a pretty important function to have for emailing and blogging etc. The left and right trigger buttons on the shoulder of the ps vita will move your cursor left or right. I really like that. It is much easier than stabbing at the left and right trianges on the left and right of the spacebar. K.... Am going to take a shower soon. Btw the photo above is a screenshot from uncharted from my vita while i was playing it this afternoon. :) ta ta. :)

posting from my vita

this is a test post from the sony vita to see how well it works with blogspot. actually, i rather like typing with the vita. i just set it down flat on the table and type with two fingers and  typing is quite fast. i think i may use this to do most of my mobile blogging when i go on my trip later this month.

so far, i have played uncharted on the vita and it is quite fun. i am really bad at the game since i am mostly a traditional rpg gamer and i prefer 2d platform games and racing games in general.  i haven't had the need to use the back touch pad yet so i m not sure how well that works.

i have used the front and back cameras which are ok and relatively easy to use.  the quality isnt great though and i really prefer the quality of the photos from the samsung galaxy s II. i had to do a system update to get two additional functions on the vita.  now i can shoot video which is once again not as good as the samsung galaxy s II but is adequate enough for simple blogging etc.  there may be quality settings for the camera that i dont know about... i have not explored that yet.

what i do like is the screen capture function which can be activated even while i am playing a game. The screen is beautiful too and touchscreen is responsive. It is a little heavy for a handheld and the it doesn't play the latest flash on he web. also, i haven't figured out how to upload photos to the blog yet which may be a bit of a bummer for mobile blogging.  and also need to figure out how the vita's web browser works as it doesn't seem to understand frames v well.

k will update with photos later.  now to post this test how well blogspot works with the vita browser.

 but so far i am loving this machine. :)

Sony vita - my newest toy :)

I think my free time outside of work will be taken up by my new toy for now. Meet the Sony Vita. This new handheld console has just been released in Singapore and is a surprise gift from my boyfriend. :) :)

I was thinking of getting the nintendo 3ds soon because the price drop late last year has made this handheld v attractive and i will need to replace my ailing DS Lite soon. But with the vita... I think i will delay that purchase till when the English version of the phoenix wright and prof. Layton game is released later in the year.

I was thinking of doing a proper unboxing thing... But am too lazy to. :) cool. With this i can play the Madoka game that is coming out soon. :) (edit: I am an idiot... I forgot that the Madoka game is on the PSP which I can play anyway... my first generation PSP still works. :) ).

This is awesome... It takes away some of the disappointment of me not going to the Larc en Ciel concert in Singapore . It is a long story but suffice to say i gave up my ticket so that two people can go together. I can still get tix i think but they won't be the best and i won't have anyone to go with. Good thing it is only Larc... If it was Kalafina or FictionJunction.... You'll have to pry those tickets from my cold dead fingers. :)

k.... I am off to play on my vita and do some homework .... It has been v busy at work and i aim to have a good weekend to get ready for the coming week. Have a good weekend everyone. : )

Kalafina's "to the beginning" 2:25min Sample

(take a listen while you can... the sample's not mine and maybe taken down anytime)

It's 4am and I can't quite sleep now.  I woke up a little while ago after crashing out on the couch.  To try and while away some of the time I went surfing and I found this!!! A sample recorded from the Kalafina Club radio program. So now, I don't have to try and jump through hoops to catch it on Tuesday night. I've been trying to do it for two weeks but have been stuck at work till 1030pm to 11pm a lot lately... :(

Anyway... happily enough... here we have it, a really decent size sample of the song. :) The full version won't be out for sometime yet.

On first listen... I can't say it's instant love for me. It's kind of not Kalafina-ish. Seems like Kalafina is moving from the dark side to the light? It seems faster paced and brighter... maybe a bit more j-pop-ish then their previous songs which perhaps makes it some what unusual for Kalafina to be singing it, although it is not entirely inconceivable for Kajiura Yuki to have written a song like that.

While perhaps not ground breaking or experimental in anyway for a Kajiura Yuki song, it's still a pretty nice song and quite radio friendly. So while it may not be instant love like "magnolia" was for me, this song is still a very listenable Kajiura Yuki composition because of the layering and the harmony which is usually the signature portion of most Kajiura songs written for and performed by Kalafina and FictionJunction.  And since this is a big part of why I like Kajiura's music, I will probably always be partial to Kajiura's songs which have a nice amount of layering and harmony.

I like what I've heard of it so far. It probably will not end up as one of my favourites but it's still a likeable song. It's not hard to digest at all, unlike some of the songs on the "After Eden" album. I'm really looking forward to listening to the whole song when it's released in April.

Alrighty... time for me to try and go back to sleep again even if it means tossing and turning on the bed for a bit... it's been really crazy at work and I'm really tired... and I intent to go to work later today so I will need more serious shut eye asap.... good night y'all. :)

Kalafina After Eden Tour - Goods & stuff

An awesome surprise was waiting for me when I got home today.  When Itsuko told me that she was going to go to Kalafina's After Eden Tour Live in Shibuya, I asked if she would pick up some Live goods for me.  I asked if she would buy me the pamphlet, the poster and the T-shirt.  So I shouldn't have been surprised at the contents of today's package except that it contained more than that. :)

I knew that Itsuko wasn't going to send the poster because she's afraid that it may get crushed but she did say she would send me the Tour pamphlet and the T-shirt.  What she added was two One Piece phone straps (cool... I am a fan :) ), yet another streamer (cool too... this time gold, instead of silver)... BUT  more importantly... *drum roll* ... she also sent me the Kalafina Making Booklet ~ After Eden" Special" LIVE 2011 ~ booklet and it's way cool!!!!  :)  This booklet is only available for sale for FJ Club members and I didn't even know that it existed since I haven't been following the news that carefully.  This was an awesome surprise and I'm glad Itsuko got it for me even though I had not asked her to. :)

Anywayz, here you go... a short write-up of some of the items.  Enjoy... :)

Kalafina Making Booklet ~ After Eden" Special" LIVE 2011 ~

This is a full colour 17 page booklet printed on nice quality paper.  It is also a photos only booklet except for titles, headings, a short handwritten message from each of the vocalists and credits.  This retailed at the After Eden Tour Lives  for a 1000 yen and is only available to FictionJunction Club members who must produce their club membership in order to purchase them.

I shot a few photos of the booklet.  The pages mostly consist of the trio and the band members in rehearsals and one page right at the end of the trio right before the Live began on the 25th Nov 2011.  Each of the girls also gets a two page spread of photos which concentrate on them only.  The first photo below, after the photo of the cover, is the Keiko centric spread. :)



Kalafina After Eden Tour 2012  T-shirt

Here are the photos of the t-shirt.  The first photo is of the front of the shirt, the second is the back of the shirt and the last photo is a CU of the design on the front of the shirt.  This shirt is nice, it's thicker then all the previous Kalafina concert t-shirts I own and I really like that.




Kalafina After Eden Tour pamphlet

Although they called this the pamphlet (パンフレット), there is certainly nothing pamphlet-like about this item at all.  This is pretty much a photo book and a very nice one too.  This seems like the standard hardcover book binding.  The cover of the of the book has a very, very slight embossed texture which you can barely feel but the texture looks more pronounce because of the choice of the printed pattern on the cover.

The quality of the paper inside is really very, very nice.  Most of the photos are printed on heavier paper than most nice quality photo books.  The binding of this photo book combined with the thickness of the paper made it hard to open the book and lay it flat which means that in order for me not to ruin the binding, I had to shoot the photos of the insides of the book with the book not fully opened.

The book consist of 40 pages, if I counted them correctly.  The pages are not numbered.  Most of it consists of photos from two or maybe three photos shoots which may or may not have been done in the same day.  Two of them are at outdoor locations with the third quite possibly in the studio.  All these photos have been treated to try and give it a more vintage look and all have been heavily tinted with either a greenish / bluish or sepia tone.

There are also 6 photo pages in the book which are not part of the stylized shoot that was done for this photo book.  They consist of photos from what I think is the After Eden Special Live on the 25th Nov 2011.  There is also a short foreword by Kajiura Yuki and a page of text each for each of the girls, a page of credits and one more page of text, accompanied by photos, of the musicians that played at the Lives.
Overall, it's a pretty nice photo book that should please most fans of Kalafina, although some may find the 3500yen price tag a little on the high side.



Also, for those who want to try and purchase the t-shirts, the pamphlet and Kalafina Paper etc.  The FictionJunction Club website has announced that they will be available on HMV Japan online.  HMV Japan does ship worldwide.  I have never used them but here is the link if you are hoping to make a purchase.  Click me.

Also, don't forget that the Blu-ray and DVD of the After Eden Special Live will be released in March and their new single "to the beginning", the opening theme for Season 2 of the Fate/Zero anime will be released in April.

For your convenience, here are the CD Japan  links again.  If you wish, you are welcomed to use them.  If you can afford it and you're a fan, please purchase their products in support of them and Kajiura Yuki.

"to the beginning" - direct links to the product pages:
Limited Edition, First Press Edition (with video clips DVD)
Limited Edition, First Press Edition (with video clips Blu-ray)
Music Anime Limited edition (with different? video clips DVD)
Regular Edition

After Eden Special Live - direct links to the product pages:
blu-ray
dvd

Alrighty... that's it from me for now... off to bed. :)  Good night. :)