Gacktblog Feb 13 2012
Okay, so for those of you who haven't been listening to me whine endlessly over on Twitter, I am just a teensy, tiny bit deathly ill right now. The kind of ill where getting up to go to the bathroom means a hacking coughing fit and a half hour nap to recover from the exertion.
Not to bore you with my overblown tales of MISERY and SUFFERING and OH GOD WHY, but yeah, translations will be a little slow. I am aware he tweeted, and I will get to it when I can. Then again, there's not much I can do right now apart from sprawl pathetically in front of my laptop, so maybe they will get done.
http://gackt.com/gacktblog/?p=2394
From GACKT's Car Window. LA Edition Part 1
TO ALL OF MY DEARS
Morning.
It's "good night" time over here… no wait, it's about to be "good morning"…
Oh well, I don't really mind.
It's 5am here in Los Angeles.
It's scary that I don't feel tired…
Well, I don't need to force myself to sleep.
These times are strictly for work and study.
I want to praise myself for being so kind
as to think of updating my blog.
I'm so wonderful.
Well then,
Since I've been posting so many old photos here lately,
I guess I'll give you a peek at some photos from L.A. today and yesterday.
Even so,
I'm basically terrible at taking photos,
and my fingers have no sense of when to press the shutter.
Although I'm always pressing the shutter in my mind's eye.
Today, for the first time in ages,
I went to eat Italian food along Sunset Street.
Actually, this store is one I often visited
12 years ago when I was in L.A.
for a few months recording Mizerable.
[Photo: This area hasn't changed much in 12 years]
I was living in a nearby hotel with the other members,
and when I had a sudden change of mood I'd go for a walk and eat a salad.
The scenery is pretty.
More than that,
since it faces a big street and is lively,
well, it's kind of like eating on a terrace in Omotesando or Harajuku…
I can't do it in Japan, so this is a very special time for me.
My recording engineer back then,
Stan Katayama, I went out to eat with him.
He said the situation in the music industry is extremely difficult right now
and if we don't strongly reform our own consciousnesses,
we won't be able to go on doing music like this anymore…
Well, we had a long and serious conversation.
Well, at the end, he told me to do stuff like this, but.
I'm gonna give you all such a surprise!!!
I'll put application forms in an album,
go to the winners house
perform one of their favorite songs
and leave in a flash.
Well, it's something I just got excited over when I was feeling playful.
Driving to someone's house,
suddenly performing
then going home.
It's like I'm a modern day Ishikawa Goemon [Note: seems to be the rough Japanese equivalent of "Robin Hood"]
"That would be hilarious!!!" I ended up promising to do it.
Well, since I promised,
I immediately contacted my manager about it.
"I'm not asking if I can or not, I'm telling you I'm doing it!!!"
I told him,
then I hung up.
Well, I guess they're panicking over in Japan,
but I should do these funny things
things that can touch people
while I can.
Rather than do something large scale,
it's better to suddenly go,
then suddenly leave.
I still haven't decided when it will start,
but since I said I'm going to, I will.
Look forward to it.
Yesterday I had a little time
between sunset and dinner,
so I wandered off
to a nearby general store.
There really aren't a lot of people walking outside in L.A.
Everyone drives.
Even though at this hour there's time to walk.
There still are hardly any people.
I liked the atmosphere when I entered this store.
It seemed like this store only had quality products,
and the prices were expensive too.
So the customers who came in were pretty upper class too.
There wasn't anything in particular I wanted to buy,
but I wanted to ride a cart
so I went for a drive around the store pushing a cart.
There's nothing I want to buy…
Anyway,
riding an empty cart
around the store
I'm just a suspicious looking guy.
Thinking I might buy a souvenir for my chef Izumi,
I went to the Italian food section.
[Photo: It's very "American" to have such an overwhelming number of products]
[Photo: Lots of spices it seems like I might like]
While being overwhelmed by the number of sauces,
I picked up a few organic things you don't see in Japan.
I don't know if these will make him happy or not,
but I thought he'd definitely use them to make lots of different food…
A very simple thought.
[Photo: Bases for tomato sauce]
I bought a fair amount of noodles too.
I hope he likes them.
Then,
I left the store carrying my food,
and went to dinner with gold medalist Kitajima Kousuke.
He gave me a lot of inspiration,
and unable to quell my excitement,
I went to Rodeo Drive at night.
Well, I'm speechless at this luxurious atmosphere.
[Photo: Even when there's no people, just the really high class aura is left in the street]
It's totally a diorama world…
Success has many forms.
Material things, and psychological ones,
But what you need to achieve any kind of success is
"The feeling of not giving up".
That, and the ability to imagine it.
Well then,
I'm changing the subject, but
each country has its own face.
There are many faces even in the streets of Los Angeles.
If you open your eyes to see those faces,
there are lots of fascinating places.
[Photo: Santa Monica beach]
After arriving in L.A.
I walked along the beach for the first time in a few years.
I remembered lots of things from the past.
"I'm always walking…"
Life is but an instant.
[Photo: The color of the setting sun is different to Japan]
I remembered thinking the same thing back then.
The color of the setting sun is different to Japan.
The reason for that is, the level of clearness to the air, humidity, problems with the atmosphere…
Well, there are a lot of them.
I wonder if it mightn't be a reflection of the heart.
What your heart wants to see at the time is there.
Beautiful.
[Photo: The sun set as I was staring at it]
[Photo: The sky turns this color]
The color changes like this just as you stop to look around.
[Photo: The air turing rainbow]
Like this, relief comes to my heart.
It's only a short time,
but to me it's really important.
"Right… I'll do my best…"
It always resets me like that.
I've written this before,
but "fun" and "funny" are not the same thing, despite the resemblance.
When I feel like I'm having fun,
it's a sensation born of a situation when my soul has breathing room.
In short,
space exists in my heart to pursue myself more.
In other words,
it's saying "Do more" to myself.
But just as you start to pursue that, it becomes difficult.
When it becomes difficult,
everyone gives up,
or abandons it.
But,
no matter how difficult the situation is,
you can still think it's "funny".
If you continue forward while thinking that it's funny,
then no matter how difficult or painful it gets you can still laugh.
Experiencing this scenery,
you can reset yourself
simply by taking a deep breath.
Everyone,
try to live your life more funnily.
Because you only get to live it once.
Well then, lastly.
To those who are thinking, "stop with your endless scolding"...
There are a lot of things in life that can only be done by those who pursue them.
This is a technique shown by my instructor Pyonsu-kun,
the All-Japan Tae kwon do champ
when I went snowboarding over new years.
Even if you're drunk,
those who can do this kind of thing,
are those who
even during difficulties and suffering
find the funniness
and keep doing, keep chasing it.
Do it so you can laugh at the end.
This is how you do a spinning back kick.
Everyone,
give your life a spinning back kick~~~!!!
GACKT
Not to bore you with my overblown tales of MISERY and SUFFERING and OH GOD WHY, but yeah, translations will be a little slow. I am aware he tweeted, and I will get to it when I can. Then again, there's not much I can do right now apart from sprawl pathetically in front of my laptop, so maybe they will get done.
http://gackt.com/gacktblog/?p=2394
From GACKT's Car Window. LA Edition Part 1
TO ALL OF MY DEARS
Morning.
It's "good night" time over here… no wait, it's about to be "good morning"…
Oh well, I don't really mind.
It's 5am here in Los Angeles.
It's scary that I don't feel tired…
Well, I don't need to force myself to sleep.
These times are strictly for work and study.
I want to praise myself for being so kind
as to think of updating my blog.
I'm so wonderful.
Well then,
Since I've been posting so many old photos here lately,
I guess I'll give you a peek at some photos from L.A. today and yesterday.
Even so,
I'm basically terrible at taking photos,
and my fingers have no sense of when to press the shutter.
Although I'm always pressing the shutter in my mind's eye.
Today, for the first time in ages,
I went to eat Italian food along Sunset Street.
Actually, this store is one I often visited
12 years ago when I was in L.A.
for a few months recording Mizerable.
[Photo: This area hasn't changed much in 12 years]
I was living in a nearby hotel with the other members,
and when I had a sudden change of mood I'd go for a walk and eat a salad.
The scenery is pretty.
More than that,
since it faces a big street and is lively,
well, it's kind of like eating on a terrace in Omotesando or Harajuku…
I can't do it in Japan, so this is a very special time for me.
My recording engineer back then,
Stan Katayama, I went out to eat with him.
He said the situation in the music industry is extremely difficult right now
and if we don't strongly reform our own consciousnesses,
we won't be able to go on doing music like this anymore…
Well, we had a long and serious conversation.
Well, at the end, he told me to do stuff like this, but.
I'm gonna give you all such a surprise!!!
I'll put application forms in an album,
go to the winners house
perform one of their favorite songs
and leave in a flash.
Well, it's something I just got excited over when I was feeling playful.
Driving to someone's house,
suddenly performing
then going home.
It's like I'm a modern day Ishikawa Goemon [Note: seems to be the rough Japanese equivalent of "Robin Hood"]
"That would be hilarious!!!" I ended up promising to do it.
Well, since I promised,
I immediately contacted my manager about it.
"I'm not asking if I can or not, I'm telling you I'm doing it!!!"
I told him,
then I hung up.
Well, I guess they're panicking over in Japan,
but I should do these funny things
things that can touch people
while I can.
Rather than do something large scale,
it's better to suddenly go,
then suddenly leave.
I still haven't decided when it will start,
but since I said I'm going to, I will.
Look forward to it.
Yesterday I had a little time
between sunset and dinner,
so I wandered off
to a nearby general store.
There really aren't a lot of people walking outside in L.A.
Everyone drives.
Even though at this hour there's time to walk.
There still are hardly any people.
I liked the atmosphere when I entered this store.
It seemed like this store only had quality products,
and the prices were expensive too.
So the customers who came in were pretty upper class too.
There wasn't anything in particular I wanted to buy,
but I wanted to ride a cart
so I went for a drive around the store pushing a cart.
There's nothing I want to buy…
Anyway,
riding an empty cart
around the store
I'm just a suspicious looking guy.
Thinking I might buy a souvenir for my chef Izumi,
I went to the Italian food section.
[Photo: It's very "American" to have such an overwhelming number of products]
[Photo: Lots of spices it seems like I might like]
While being overwhelmed by the number of sauces,
I picked up a few organic things you don't see in Japan.
I don't know if these will make him happy or not,
but I thought he'd definitely use them to make lots of different food…
A very simple thought.
[Photo: Bases for tomato sauce]
I bought a fair amount of noodles too.
I hope he likes them.
Then,
I left the store carrying my food,
and went to dinner with gold medalist Kitajima Kousuke.
He gave me a lot of inspiration,
and unable to quell my excitement,
I went to Rodeo Drive at night.
Well, I'm speechless at this luxurious atmosphere.
[Photo: Even when there's no people, just the really high class aura is left in the street]
It's totally a diorama world…
Success has many forms.
Material things, and psychological ones,
But what you need to achieve any kind of success is
"The feeling of not giving up".
That, and the ability to imagine it.
Well then,
I'm changing the subject, but
each country has its own face.
There are many faces even in the streets of Los Angeles.
If you open your eyes to see those faces,
there are lots of fascinating places.
[Photo: Santa Monica beach]
After arriving in L.A.
I walked along the beach for the first time in a few years.
I remembered lots of things from the past.
"I'm always walking…"
Life is but an instant.
[Photo: The color of the setting sun is different to Japan]
I remembered thinking the same thing back then.
The color of the setting sun is different to Japan.
The reason for that is, the level of clearness to the air, humidity, problems with the atmosphere…
Well, there are a lot of them.
I wonder if it mightn't be a reflection of the heart.
What your heart wants to see at the time is there.
Beautiful.
[Photo: The sun set as I was staring at it]
[Photo: The sky turns this color]
The color changes like this just as you stop to look around.
[Photo: The air turing rainbow]
Like this, relief comes to my heart.
It's only a short time,
but to me it's really important.
"Right… I'll do my best…"
It always resets me like that.
I've written this before,
but "fun" and "funny" are not the same thing, despite the resemblance.
When I feel like I'm having fun,
it's a sensation born of a situation when my soul has breathing room.
In short,
space exists in my heart to pursue myself more.
In other words,
it's saying "Do more" to myself.
But just as you start to pursue that, it becomes difficult.
When it becomes difficult,
everyone gives up,
or abandons it.
But,
no matter how difficult the situation is,
you can still think it's "funny".
If you continue forward while thinking that it's funny,
then no matter how difficult or painful it gets you can still laugh.
Experiencing this scenery,
you can reset yourself
simply by taking a deep breath.
Everyone,
try to live your life more funnily.
Because you only get to live it once.
Well then, lastly.
To those who are thinking, "stop with your endless scolding"...
There are a lot of things in life that can only be done by those who pursue them.
This is a technique shown by my instructor Pyonsu-kun,
the All-Japan Tae kwon do champ
when I went snowboarding over new years.
Even if you're drunk,
those who can do this kind of thing,
are those who
even during difficulties and suffering
find the funniness
and keep doing, keep chasing it.
Do it so you can laugh at the end.
This is how you do a spinning back kick.
Everyone,
give your life a spinning back kick~~~!!!
GACKT