Step Up★

This is a sound track of the movie "Step Up". This movie is based on dance. Following a party, Mac, Skinny Carter and their friend Tyler Gage break into the Maryland School of Arts and damage many of the props in the school's theatre. When a security guard appears, Tyler helps the other two escape and accepts the blame. He is sentenced to 200 hours of community service, which he has to serve at the school. While working, he watches a dance class and meets Nora Clark, a student preparing for her "senior showcase." The performance could determine if she gets a job with a dance company. Later, Tyler mockingly shows his friends some of the dance moves he learned while watching the school's ballet dancers, mixing them with break-dance and street dance moves.
Nora's dance partner sprains his ankle, leaving Nora without a partner. After auditioning some other students, she doesn't meet any who are good enough. Tyler offers to help, but she at first refuses. Eventually she changes her mind, having seen him dancing earlier, and convinces Director Gordon to allow Tyler to rehearse with her. During their initial practice session, Tyler is antagonistic toward Nora as well as her boyfriend, both of whom respond with haughty attitudes. As they continue to rehearse, Nora and Tyler grow closer, each teaching the other about their respective styles of dance. Tyler also befriends a musician at the school named Miles, who has a crush on Nora's friend Lucy.
One day, Nora takes Tyler to a special spot on the waterfront, which is where she envisioned her routine. She tells Tyler she always imagined it would be with a large group, and Tyler helps her dream come true by recruiting younger dancers from the school to perform in her number.
Nora's boyfriend gets a recording deal with a company, but in doing so, dumps Miles to sign the deal. Nora then breaks up with her boyfriend after seeing his poor treatment of their friend.
Tyler asks Director Gordon if she will let him attend the school, and her response is that he must prove to her that he deserves a chance. Upon hearing this, Nora says the showcase can be his audition. After dancing together at a club, Nora and Tyler begin a romantic relationship. However, when Nora's dance partner returns, seemingly healed from his injury, Tyler feels that he is no longer needed in the routine, and angrily accuses Nora of treating him the same way her ex-boyfriend treated Miles. He leaves the group and Nora and goes back to janitorial work at the school.
Later on, Tyler's friend Skinny, who is also Mac's brother, is fatally shot after stealing a car, prompting Mac and Tyler to realize that they need to make better choices in their lives.
Nora again loses her partner because he is not able to do the routine that Nora and Tyler came up with together. Nora finally decides to do her senior showcase solo. However, without a partner, the routine is not as good and she knows she will not be able to get accepted into any dance troupes. Before the showcase starts, Tyler arrives, and after making up they perform the showcase together. Nora is offered a place in a professional dance troupe, and Tyler is accepted into the Maryland School of Arts. After, they kiss and make up.
This movie is wonderful especially for dancer! These are a part of this sound track.→http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=WmOoBmUG9mk(Samantha Jade) and http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=DaaUnqoDl74 ( Chris Brown)

Jay sean

Do you know him? Jay Sean is a British Asian Pop singer-songwriter, best known for his hits "Stolen", "Eyes On You" and "Ride It". He has released two albums, Me Against Myself (2004) and My Own Way (2008) along with five top 20 hits (of which 2 hit the top 10, 1 even the top 5) in the UK single chart. Personally I like his song, "maybe"→http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=-jBTonlzLOE

Favorite movies -action-

Have you seen "The Bourne Ultimatum"? I've seen that in cinema last year! In action movie I like this BOURNE series the best, because although it's not like intense or noisy action movie, it has particular strains. Matt Damon is so cool in this movie. "The Bourne Identity" is a 2002 spy film loosely based on Robert Ludlum's novel of the same name. It stars Matt Damon as Jason Bourne, an amnesiac attempting to discover his true identity amidst a clandestine conspiracy within the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to track him down and arrest or kill him for inexplicably failing to carry out an officially unsanctioned assassination and then failing to report back in afterwards. Along the way he teams up with Marie, played by Franka Potente, who assists him on the initial part of his journey to learn about his past and regain his memories. The film also stars Chris Cooper as Alexander Conklin, Clive Owen as The Professor, Brian Cox as Ward Abbott, and Julia Stiles as Nicky Parsons.
The film was directed by Doug Liman and adapted for the screen by Tony Gilroy and William Blake Herron from the novel of the same name written by Robert Ludlum, who also produced the film alongside Frank Marshall. It received a positive critical and public reaction. The film was followed by a 2004 sequel, "The Bourne Supremacy", and a third part released in 2007 entitled "The Bourne Ultimatum". I really recommend you to see all series..!

Favorite movies -love and success stories-

As for love comedy, I really like "music and lyrics". music and lyrics is a film released byWarner Bros. The film stars Hugh Grant as Alex Fletcher, a washed-up 1980s pop star (based onAndrew Ridgeley of the 1980s British pop group Wham!) and Drew Barrymore as Sophie Fisher, aformer English literature major. It tells the story of their efforts to write a song for singer Cora Corman (Haley Bennett), and their subsequent romance.
The film received mixed reviews from contemporary critics, but topped the UK box office. The song used in this movie is really nice and I liked it. Hugh Grant is good at not only at acting but also song and dance! You can hear the song "way back into love" which is the main song in this movie at here→ http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=1Bw52yaErXg&feature=related
"The Devil Wears Prada" is also fantastic movie. The Devil Wears Prada is a 2006 comedy-drama film, a loose screen adaptation of Lauren Weisberger's 2003 novel of the same name. It stars Anne Hathaway as Andrea "Andy" Sachs, a recent college graduate who goes to New York City and gets a job as a co-assistant to powerful and demanding fashion magazine editor Miranda Priestly, played by Meryl Streep. Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci co-star in support of the two leads, as catty co-assistant Emily Charlton, and critical yet supportive Art Director Nigel, respectively. Adrian Grenier, Simon Baker and Tracie Thoms play key supporting roles. Wendy Finerman produced and David Frankel directed; the film was distributed by 20th Century Fox.
Streep's performance drew rave reviews from critics and later earned her many award nominations, including her record-setting 14th Oscar bid, as well as a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical. Blunt also drew favorable notice and nominations, as did many of those involved in the film's production. While critical reaction to the film as a whole was more measured, it was well received by the public becoming a surprise summer box-office hit following its June 30 North American release. The commercial success and critical praise for Streep's performance continued in foreign markets, with the film leading the international box office for most of October. The U.S. DVD release likewise was the top rental during December. Ultimately, it would gross over $300 million, mostly from its international run, and finish in 2006's top 20 both in the U.S. and overseas. It is also the 2nd highest-grossing film in Streep's career (the first being Mamma Mia!) and 1st highest grossing in Hathaway's. A television series is being developed.
Although the movie is set in the fashion world, most designers and other fashion notables avoided appearing as themselves for fear of displeasing U.S. Vogue editor Anna Wintour, who is widely believed to have been the inspiration for Priestly. Many designers did, however, allow their clothes and accessories to be used in the film, making it the most expensively-costumed film in history. Wintour later overcame her initial skepticism, saying she liked the film and Streep in particular.

Favorite movies -emotional ones-

It was raining today.... so I went to part time job by walking...Anyway, I'm going to write about one of my favorite movies. As for emotional ones, "Rain Man" is one of my recommendations. Rain Man is a 1988 dramatic film written by Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass and directed by Barry Levinson. It tells the story of an abrasive, selfish yuppie, Charlie Babbitt, who discovers that his father has left all of his multimillion-dollar estate to his brother, Raymond, of whose existence he knew nothing and who is an autistic savant. The movie stars Tom Cruise as Charlie Babbit, Dustin Hoffman as Raymond Babbit, and Valeria Golino as Charlie's girlfriend, Susanna. Morrow created the character of Raymond after meeting Kim Peek, a real-life savant; his characterization was based on both Peek and Bill Sackter, a good friend of Morrow who was the subject of Bill, an earlier film that Morrow wrote.The film won four Oscars at the 61st Academy Awards (1989), including Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Actor in a leading role for Hoffman. Its crew received an additional four nominations. Although it's not a recent movie, but it tells very important thing for us.
"The Pursuit of Happyness" is also my favorite one. The Pursuit of Happyness is a 2006 American biographical film directed by Gabriele Muccino about the on and off-homeless salesman-turned-stockbroker Chris Gardner. The screenplay by Steven Conrad is based on the best-selling memoir of the same name written by Gardner with Quincy Troupe. The film was released on December 15, 2006, by Columbia Pictures. The title is intentionally misspelled, as it also appears as graffiti in a scene in the film. The misspelled phrase is actually taken from an essay written in 1776 that argued that whites and blacks were created equal. The essay, which was written by Lemuel Haynes, a biracial man living in New England during the Revolution, quoted Thomas Jefferson's well-known sentence from the United States Declaration of Independence, but spelled the last word of the sentence with a y. The sentence, as it appears in Lemuel's essay, is as follows: "We hold these truths to be self-Evident, that all men are created Equal, that they are Endowed By their Creator with Ceartain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happyness. When I saw the trailer of this movie, I thought it is a success story from poverty to rich. However, the most important thing in this movie is that no matter how busy or difficult he is, he stayed with his child.

anniversary..!

Yesterday, I stayed hotel in Minatomirai with my family to celebrate my parent's wedding anniversary and my father's birthday. We stayed at special floor which is in the uppermost floor. sooo fantastic!!! After checkin, we went to eat dinner at Queens square and did shopping and returend to go hotel bar. The bar was amazingly nice! We drunk and ate some snacks seeing beautiful night view. It was wonderful commemoration for us. Because it's x'mas season, x'mas trees were everywhere. I like this perple x'mas tree personally. Actually I don't like x'mas color like red and green..........! Anyway everything... room, restaurant, staff, view, amenity etc... was really great. I couldn't believe here is the same city to our house.....!!

IE2 Essay

Attraction of Hawaii

What is the image of Hawaii? Many people may imagine the beach, shopping and
hot weathers… Hawaii is one of the most popular sightseeing places in the world. About seven million people visit Hawaii each year, and twenty-four percent of the state tax comes from a sightseeing industry. What is it that attracts people so much?
Hawaii has a long history. Hawaii Island was born by a volcanic activity. It was shaped by lava which means erupting from hot spots, magma. The Hawaiians were a people without writing, who preserved their history in chants and legends. Much of the early history has disappeared with the death of the kahunas, the original inhabitants, and other learned men whose function it was to pass on this knowledge by means of chants and legends, to succeeding generations. It was BC 500 to 700 when man first settled in Hawaii as a desert island. It is said that Polynesian came from Marquesas Island first. In Hawaii, which was under the influence of the Polynesian culture, the idea to think that god inhabits everything was penetrated. They regarded food, herb, even earth as blessing. Therefore, the idea of ecology has been ingrained naturally.
Modern Hawaiian history began on January 20, 1778, when Captain James Cook made its first contact with the Hawaiian people. He was not the first man to “discover” the Hawaiian Islands, but he was the first European to arrive there. When he first landed on Hawaii, he couldn’t stay for a long time because of the research of Alaska. When he visited it again, there were festivals of crops and he was welcomed as a second coming of god. However, they gradually began to doubt him and he was finally killed by people. It was the wrong time for him to visit. There were many heads until Cook came. They ruled the islands fighting each other. However, when the King Kamehameha inclined to unify all islands of Hawaii, the Hawaii dynasty was born. The King began to accept foreigners as immigrants, because in those days, they were lack of labor force of sugar cane plantation, which is now a big industry in Hawaii. After that, Hawaii made complicated country mixed by various races. Hawaii formed unique culture in food, shopping, art and so on by assimilating the thing which got from these races and which was traditional of Hawaii.
The relationship between Hawaii and Japan has also long history. Two hundred years ago, a Japanese ship was shipwrecked and an American ship helped the Japanese crew and passengers. After that, Japanese people who were on the ship spent seven years in Hawaii. This is the encounter and the beginning of familiarity between Hawaii and Japan. Therefore, Hawaii also took in Japanese culture like shrines, sumo, the Bon dancing or Japanese food, so Hawaii is the country which Japanese people can　 get accustomed to easily.
After the Hawaii dynasty ended, Hawaii was unified by America and became the fiftieth state of America in 1959. While Hawaii has the sides of sightseeing places like marine sports or shopping, it has also the side of reviewing traditional culture. What’s more, remarkably, Japan and Hawaii has a long relationships. Hawaii is not only just a “resort place” but also has deep attraction as a “traditional island” which has proper culture. For these reasons, Hawaii has been attracting so many people for a long time.

News paper article vol.3

Newspaper Article Discussion



“Remote Island to get 1st doctor in 25yrs.” The Daily Yomiuri 3 July 2008


Written Summary:
According to this article, in Atatajima Island in Otake, Hiroshima, 64-year old former director of a Kyoto hospital will open a clinic. For 25 years, there had been no doctor in Hiroshima. Until today, fisherman of there island transported patients to a main hospital, which is 10 kilometers away. The former director in Kyoto looked for an area which is in need of full-time doctor and he was introduced to Atatajima Island by the prefectural government of Hiroshima. The population of the island is 320 and one-thirds of them are 65 or more. They had to go to the mainland by only ferry. By this opening new clinic, people in the island could be relieved for the first time in 25 years.


Opinion Statement:
I didn’t know about this matter, so I was really amazed. Although it’s great to have new clinic, 25 years is too long…


Discussion Questions:
1. If you were alone and in bad condition, but there were no doctor, what would you do?

2. Do you think the condition of Japanese hospital good or bad? Why?

3. If you were asked to be a doctor, because of the shortage of doctors, would you become a doctor and help people?

News paper article vol.2

“3,400 private school students in tuition arrears”



Summary: According to this article, parents of over 3400 private middle and high school students have not paid their tuition fees, because of the economical difficulties. Therefore, private schools pressure parents to pay the fees or children are forced to quit the school. In the survey, 3208 high school students and 208 middle school students had failed to pay tuition fees. The union said the number of parents who can’t pay tuition fees will increase because of the financial crisis and lower incomes.

Questions:
l Do you think Japanese school tuition fees expensive?

l If you were in financial crisis situation and asked to quit college, what would you do?

l What should private schools do to decrease these students?

Words:
l Tuition: the money you pay for being taught at a school or college.

l Arrear: money that you owe someone because regular payments such as rent have not been paid at the right time.

l Nationwide: happening or existing in every part of the country.

l Withdraw: to stop taking part in an activity, belonging to an organization etc... or to make someone stop doing this.

l Crisis: a very bad or dangerous situation that might get worse, especially in politics or economics.

IE2 Book Report

Book Report　



Desmond Bagley, The Enemy, Oxford; Oxford University Press, 104 pages, 1994.

Summary:
Malcolm Jaggard is an economist. However, his real job is industrial espionage counter-intelligence. He fell in love with Penelope Ashton, an intelligent biologist and they got engaged. One day, her sister, Gillian was thrown acid by someone. After that, her father, George Ashton suddenly disappeared. Therefore, Malcolm began to observe and protect him, and realized that his information was top secret in intelligence. Then, Malcolm went to Sweden where George and his servant, Benson ran away. However, George was killed by Benson. Later on, Malcolm found that George had been previously a Russian scientist who had been told to work on the development of the atomic bomb for Russia, and a man called Lord Cregar who was the head of the department Malcolm worked for was responsible for the death of George, because he told his man, Benson to kill George if he tries to go back to Russians. Cregar just wanted to know George’s secret knowledge of science to keep his power. At last, Malcolm fought against Cregar who was about to extort his love, Penelope Ashton.

Setting: Marlow, a small town in England.

Point of View: This story is told from the third person.

Conflict: Malcolm versus himself.
Although he was doing the job as espionage of George, he didn’t like what he was doing, because George was really kind to him and he didn’t want to become like his bosses who keep important information only to give them power.

Climax: The climax of this story is not happy. When Malcolm was fighting against Cregar in the secret laboratory, the new bacteria was spread, because they broke protective glass box of that by accident. While Penelope and Gillian recovered from the accident, Malcolm and Cregar got cancer. Malcolm went to Ireland with Penelope to live rest of his life happily. Finally, he died leaving quotation of great person: ‘We have met the enemy, and he is us.’

Symbol: The model railway. It was not a toy but a computer, where Ashton had been hiding all his original thinking. It stands for his intelligence and his hope to keep them away from men like Cregar and the Minister who use his thinking only to keep his power.

Irony: All of the people searching George thought that Mayberry who had thrown the acid in the face of Gillian must have something to do with George’s escape. However, he had no connection with George. Actually, he had grudge for Penelope, because he was the strong flock of Christ. He thought that biologists were breaking the laws of God. However, ironically, he mistook her sister for Penelope.

Theme: Theme of this book is that how difficult it is to overcome his own enemy. We have to fight with own enemy to progress to next step.

Evaluation: This story was simple detective story, but it was really interesting. Although I could grasp the story substantially, there were some questions. For example, the writer didn’t make mentions of the details of George’s secret like model railway. However, I think it makes this story more mysterious.
I was made to think deeply by this story. No matter what period it is, there are men like Cregar who thinks only his good. I think these people have been increasing, because there are much more terrible affairs, crimes and scandals than ever. I want many people to read this story and find the solution of this matter.

IE2 Book Report

Book Report



Mitch Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie, New York: Anchor Books, 188 pages, 1997.


Summary:
About twenty years ago, Mitch Albom was a college student whose professor was Morrie Schwerts. Mitch always respected Morrie, because he was always challenging no matter how old he was. They often chatted with each other. After the graduation, Mitch became a columnist of sports article, and he was terribly busy in interviewing famous sports players or writing articles and so on. Although he had a girlfriend, his job never allowed him to spend time with his girlfriend. He was tired of such life.
One day, Mitch happened to see his teacher, Morrie in TV news show. The content of the news was that he was suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and his life would be ended within half a year. By watching this news, Mitch visited Morrie for the first time in sixteen years. Then Mitch and Morrie began to talk about the “meaning of life” every Tuesday, because when Mitch was a student of college, Morrie’s class was on Tuesday. Although Morrie was suffered from bad disease, he looked always happy. Mitch wanted his advice to live happily. Then, Morrie began to tell him about important things in human life: family, society, marriage, forgiveness, aging, a meaningful life and so on. Mitch learned from Morrie many things that he had forgot a long time ago.

Setting: Massachusetts, USA

Point of view: This story is told from the first person.

Conflict: Mitch was in conflict with himself and his environment. Although he had a girlfriend, his life was full of job.　He struggles to find meaning with his life and to change the person he has become in the sixteen years since he had last seen Morrie.

Climax: In the end, thanks to the Morrie’s advice, Mitch realized the importance of love and married his girlfriend. However, Morrie’s illness got worse, and Mitch visited him again. Morrie hardly talk with Mitch, so they hugged each other as Mitch cried. Next week, Morrie died. The funeral was held, and his cemetery was indeed a lovely spot, trees and grass and a sloping hill. Mitch thanked him again and again. Then as he was about to return, he saw his watch and realized why. It was Tuesday.

Symbol: “Pink hibiscus plant”: As Morrie’s body deteriorates, so does the condition of the hibiscus plant. The plant’s pink petals wither and fall as Morrie grows increasingly dependent on oxygen. As his death approaches, so does the death of the plant. It is continually used as a metaphor for Morrie’s life. Like the plant, humans, Morrie in particular, experience a natural life cycle, which inevitably ends in death. Morrie must accept this inevitable fate, as must Mitch.

Irony: 　Most people are terrified of death, and it is hard to deal with it, especially when you do not know when it is going to occur. However, Morrie knew death was approaching soon and he did not show fear. He continued to live his life as any other person would....

Theme: The theme of this book is about an old dying man who teaches his young student about the true things that matter in life. Morrie shared a lot of wisdom with Mitch regarding a lot of subjects. It was important for Morrie to let the world know that it was okay to cry and mourn for one another. Then he said, "The most important thing about life is to learn how to give out love and to let it come in." Morrie found it absolutely imperative to be able to let yourself forgive, love, etc. Morrie had also made it clear that although the disease was decaying his body, he would not allow it to decay his spirit

Evaluation: This story was easy to read, but each word had deep meaning. For example Morrie sometimes said, "Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live." Few people know that how precious a day is. We can’t know when we die. If Mitch didn’t go to meet Morrie, his life would be filled with job forever. He was lucky to have such a wonderful teacher. When I finished reading, I was really moved. If you read this story, you may feel the value of everything, even living itself!

News paper article vol.1

Arson suspect in poor health ‘wants to die’

Summary:
According to this article, in Osaka, a man was arrested on suspicion of murder and arson. One day, he went to video-viewing establishment and set fire. By this accident, 15 people were killed. He had a wife and children, but he got divorced. According to the police, he said that he got heart disease this year and his debts were several million yen. This is the reason he did this terrible murder. He noticed that he had done a terrible thing, but it’s too late. However, there is another factor that caused this murder. That is fire alarm. After the fire broke out, the alarm stopped immediately, because its battery ran out. If the alarm worked normally, 15 victims could have run away.


Question:
l Have you ever seen fire broke out?

l If you were in these locked rooms and noticed the fire, what would you do?

l If you couldn’t get the last train, where would you stay?


Words:
l Diagnose: to find out what illness a person has or what is wrong with something.
l Snowball: if a plan, problem, business snowballs, it grows bigger at a faster and faster rate.
l Fetch: to go and get something and bring it back.
l Casualty: someone who is hurt or killed in an accident or battle.
l Ventilate: to let fresh air into a room, building and so on.

got a cold.......

It's a nice sunny day isn't it?! I really wanna go shopping! but I can't.....because I had a cold.....and not feel like going somewhere..... I rarely get a cold, but recent sudden nip made me sick!! What should I do with my part time job today........ oh, I have no idea.
Anyway I took a picture of my dog, Cookie again! She was basking in the sun shine in garden comfortably. I am rally healed by Cookie★ so............ I'm going to sleep again........!

MOTOMACHI

Motomachi is one of my favorite cities. The shops or restaurants are not change so much compared some years ago. Therefore, although there are not kind of special or extraordinary stores, many people come here and window-shop. Also Motomachi is next to China town! so it's one of the reasons too! If you have a chance to ride the train of Minatomirai line you should drop in here★