Last Christmas 今はまだ思い出になんてできないよ
でも愛はもう ここにはいない this year
Last Christmas ふたりなら 願いはかなうと信じてた
まだ越えられない 君は今でも special

Last Christmas – I still can’t call it a mere memory
But love – you’re already not here this year
Last Christmas – if we were together, I believed my wish would be fulfilled
I still can’t get over it – you’re still special, even now

出会って気づいたよ 本当は僕も淋しがりやだと
ねぇ君は覚えてるかい？ ふたりで交わした初めてのキス
思えば僕は 君にはたぶん重すぎたよね
わかったふりの強がり 張り裂けそうな my beating heart

We met and I noticed, the truth is that I’m a lonely person too
Hey, do you remember? The first kiss that we shared
When I think about it, maybe it was too serious for you
You pretended like you knew, it was as though my beating heart would burst

Last Christmas 今はまだ思い出になんてできないよ
でも愛はもう ここにはいない this year
Last Christmas ふたりなら 願いはかなうと信じてた
まだ越えられない 君は今でも special

Last Christmas – I still can’t call it a mere memory
But love – you’re already not here this year
Last Christmas – if we were together, I believed my wish would be fulfilled
I still can’t get over it – you’re still special, even now

悲しみもせつなさも 僕たちが生きてる証
失ってみて 初めて知った 大切なもの 大切なひと
もうあの頃には戻れない 君のほほ笑みは戻らない
(Show me your smile)
Ooh ooh この胸の痛みを覚えてる

Our grief and pain are evidence of being alive
When I tried to lose it, I realized for the first time, that it was important, that you are important
I can’t go back to that time, your smile will not return
Ooh ooh – I remember the ache in this chest of mine

Last Christmas 今はまだ思い出になんてできないよ
でも愛はもう ここにはいない this year
Last Christmas ふたりなら 願いはかなうと信じてた
まだ越えられない 君は今でも special

Last Christmas – I still can’t call it a mere memory
But love – you’re already not here this year
Last Christmas – if we were together, I believed my wish would be fulfilled
I still can’t get over it – you’re still special, even now

もうあの頃には戻れない 君のほほ笑みは戻らない
Maybe, next year!
だけど今でも 君は今でも special

I can’t go back to that time, your smile will not return
Maybe, next year!
But even now – you are special even now.

Ok – now that you’ve seen the goods, go try out the iKnow video list! If you want to jump right in and you’re already an iKnow user, you can click one of the buttons below to start the iKnow study application or the iKnow dictation application immediately. DO IT!

This was my first attempt at making a list, and I think I botched at least one thing. There are an equal number of sentences to words, which is messed up. In total there are really only 12 sentences. I pulled the 30 words from them. But I wanted to link the sentences to the words, so I created sentences on each one. It works for studying, but the Dictation gets really repetitive really fast…which might be good if you’re attempting to memorize the song. Yeah….that’s the ticket… But seriously, if you have any list-building experience in iKnow, and you want to help me out, please let me know how I can avoid this problem in the future. Thanks!

So, it turns out that there are sand dunes in Tottori Prefecture. Why? I have no idea. They are naturally occurring, though. Or at least they are under protection as a natural monument according to the Japanese Wikipedia entry. But in any event, they are a tourist attraction now. On my most recent visit to Tottori City, I made the trek out to see these mythical dunes. (And by trek, I mean short bus ride from the station.) It is really uncanny how the greenery sort of abruptly becomes coarse, patchy, and then…well…desert-like. The area has a number of attractions.

For instance, there are (obviously) the sand dunes themselves. You can walk out barefoot, like I did, carrying your shoes. I’m told that this is impossible in summer due to the intensely hot sand. You can also take a horse-drawn cart ride down to the beach – but it looks really boring. Just trying to save you a few hundred yen. You’ll find the lady standing on a pole (which was newsworthy just a while back – no rhyme or reason to it other than she causes people to look at her curiously) and the horse carts at the closest point to the parking lot. You can also take a camel ride there, which seems very similar to a pony ride or any other 2 minute loop around a set track carnival ride would provide. It’s cheaper if you ride 2 to a camel.

When you’re done checking out the dunes, you can wash your feet off just to the left of the stairway back down to the parking lot. If you’re like me, you’ll gaze at all of the license plates as you walk by – there were people from ALL over Japan at these dunes. I was honestly pretty surprised. Once you’re clean and you’ve got your socks and shoes back on, you can go grab some Asian pear (nashi) soft serve ice cream. This stuff is amaaaazing. I’d have gotten it twice before leaving had I any room in my stomach. Ha ha. You’ve really got to try it. You can walk through the typical souvenir shops, too, if you like. Then you can head into the “Sand Museum.” It’s basically a collection of sand sculptures that are semi-protected from the elements. They were pretty cool for the most part. After you’re done with that, go wait for the bus back into the city.

Below you’ll find some pictures that I took, but I’d urge you to check out this gallery for some much cooler pictures of the dunes without people stomping all over them. They look far more….authentic. Also – the dunes are a bit of an optical illusion. It is really difficult to judge distance up and down them for some reason. The pictures don’t do them justice. Perhaps I’ll upload one of the faux 3D shots I took to help you get a feel for the distance. Anyone who is capable of crossing their eyes and wants to see a 3D shot, let me know in the comments and I’ll edit it and get it up here for you.

Bonus: I accidentally came upon an enka song by Mizumori Kaori called Tottori Sakyuu or “Tottori Sand Dunes” when I was searching in Japanese. It’s interesting – and if you’re at an intermediate level in Japanese, it’s pretty easy to understand the lyrics. Click here to watch it in a pop-up overlay – the clip was originally found on YouTube here, but embedding is disabled, so I’ve hosted it here.

The lyrics are all included here, after the jump.

Birdhouse in Your Soul
魂の中に巣箱
by They Might Be Giants
作曲「ゼイマイト」
(大雑把な訳：デイズ)

I’m your only friend
僕は君の一人だけの友達
I’m not your only friend
そうじゃなくて
But I’m a little glowing friend
僕は小さいな光っている友達だ
But really I’m not actually your friend
でも実際に友達とは違う
But I am
しかし、僕は

Blue canary in the outlet by the light switch
スイッチの側にあるコンセントに差し込んだ青いカナリヤ
Who watches over you
あなたを見守っている
Make a little birdhouse in your soul
魂の中に小さな巣箱を作って
Not to put too fine a point on it
明け透けに言えば
Say I’m the only bee in your bonnet
僕だけに気にしているよと言って
Make a little birdhouse in your soul
魂の中に小さな巣箱を作って

I have a secret to tell
教える秘密があるよ
From my electrical well
このコンセントから言おう
It’s a simple message and I’m leaving out the whistles and bells
単純なメッセージだ、そして細かいところを除くから
So the room must listen to me
この部屋が僕の話を聞くべき
Filibuster vigilantly
油断せずに
My name is blue canary I’m not spelled l-i-t-e
青いカナリヤだ、「L-I-T-E」とつづらないよ
My story’s infinite
僕の話は永遠に続くのだ
Like the Longines Symphonette it doesn’t rest
すごくいい時計のように休憩がない

Blue canary in the outlet by the light switch
スイッチの側にあるコンセントに差し込んだ青いカナリヤ
Who watches over you
あなたを見守っている
Make a little birdhouse in your soul
魂の中に小さな巣箱を作って
Not to put too fine a point on it
明け透けに言えば
Say I’m the only bee in your bonnet
僕だけに気にしているよと言って
Make a little birdhouse in your soul
魂の中に小さな巣箱を作って

I’m your only friend
僕は君の一人だけの友達
I’m not your only friend
そうじゃなくて
But I’m a little glowing friend
僕は小さいな光っている友達だ
But really I’m not actually your friend
でも実際に友達とは違う
But I am
しかし、僕は

There’s a picture opposite me
僕の向こうに絵がある
Of my primitive ancestry
昔の先祖の絵だ
Which stood on rocky shores and kept the beaches shipwreck free
岩の多い海岸に立って、浜には難船がないように
Though I respect that a lot
本当にそういう生活を尊敬するが
I’d be fired if that were my job
僕の仕事だったらすぐに首になるだろう、思わずに
After killing Jason off and countless screaming Argonauts
ジェーソンと多くの叫んでいるアルゴナウテースを殺しちゃったら
Blue bird of friendliness
友好的な青い鳥
Like guardian angels its always near
守護天使のようにいつも近い

Blue canary in the outlet by the light switch
スイッチの側にあるコンセントに差し込んだ青いカナリヤ
Who watches over you
あなたを見守っている
Make a little birdhouse in your soul
魂の中に小さな巣箱を作って
Not to put too fine a point on it
明け透けに言えば
Say I’m the only bee in your bonnet
僕だけに気にしているよと言って
Make a little birdhouse in your soul
魂の中に小さな巣箱を作って

(and while you’re at it
（そうすれば
Keep the night light on inside the
ナイトランプを付けといて
Birdhouse in your soul)
魂の中に小さな巣箱の中に）

Not to put too fine a point on it
明け透けに言えば
Say I’m the only bee in your bonnet
僕だけに気にしているよと言って
Make a little birdhouse in your soul
魂の中に小さな巣箱を作って

Blue canary in the outlet by the light switch (and while you’re at it)
スイッチの側にあるコンセントに差し込んだ青いカナリヤ（そうすれば）
Who watches over you (keep the nightlight on inside the)
あなたを見守っている（ナイトランプを付けといて）
Make a little birdhouse in your soul (birdhouse in your soul)
魂の中に小さな巣箱を作って（魂の中に小さな巣箱の中に）

Not to put too fine a point on it
明け透けに言えば
Say I’m the only bee in your bonnet
僕だけに気にしているよと言って
Make a little birdhouse in your soooooooul
魂の中に小さな巣箱を作ってぇぇぇぇぇぇぇ

As is customary, I am open to corrections. I may or may not edit the original entry to include them, though. But please, suggest away! Good song from a great band. Ha ha. Yay!

[See post to listen to audio]
First, the Latin and its English translation.

Now, for the Japanese lyrics and re-translation into English.

Obviously, this is not a professional translation. It’s beyond amateur. So feel free to submit corrections or suggestions in the comments. (Of course, regular comments are welcome as well!) Mmmm. Good opera. Very melodramatic. I’ll have another, please. (Not another helping of despair, mind you. Just more opera. Probably from that list I mentioned above.)

美女と野獣　（劇団四季の日本語版）

いつの世も　変わらぬは
恋心
心奪う　突然に
眼差しに　想い寄せつ
気遣いつ　陥ちてゆく
恋の淵へ

「踊りましょう。」
「えっ？俺は‥。」
「踊りなさ〜い！」

人の世は　変わらずに　繰り返す
日は昇り　また沈む
恋もまた　愚かさと　寂しさと
嬉しさの　甘き香り　

日は昇り　また沈む
いつの世も　変わらぬは　恋心

堕ちてゆく　恋の淵へ
二つの心

「さぁ、一緒に戸棚に戻りましょう、チップ。もうお休みの時間よ。お休み、ボー。」

Beauty & the Beast (Shiki Theatrical Company – Japanese Release)

What changes not from age to age
is the emergence of love
Suddenly, one’s heart is taken
With a look, affections drawing near
And in spite of being anxious,
Falling deeply in love

“Shall we dance?”
“What? I…”
“Dance with her!”

The world of men repeats without variation
The sun rises and sets once more
And love again, sweetly fragrant
of foolishness, lonesomeness, and joy

The sun rises and sets once more
What changes not from age to age
is the emergence of love

Falling deeply in love,
two hearts

“Let’s head back to the cupboard together, Chip. It’s already bedtime. Goodnight.”

Well, I’m a little shaky on the Japanese translation, but from what I’ve got there, I’ve got to say that I prefer the musical version of the song to the film version. What do you think? I think it’s a bit less superficial, and it more closely matches the “tale as old as time” theme.

Bonus! Here’s the reprise from the musical, at the very end of the show after the big transformation sequence where everyone becomes human again. Imagine the cast all waving to the crowd with loads of huge smiles and brilliant, dazzling lighting effects as you listen to this music. It’s almost like watching the commercial again!
[See post to listen to audio]

美女と野獣リプライズ　（劇団四季日本語版）

日は昇り
また沈む
いつの世も
変わらぬは
恋心

いつの世も
変わらぬは
恋心

I’m not going to bother translating the reprise separately, since I’ve already got it covered above. Anyway, that’s all for today, and all for the musical, as well. Hope you got a kick out of it like I did. Fun stuff!

Consider this Friday’s post, just delayed by a day. I recently saw the new Weezer video for their song Pork and Beans from a “New Self-Titled ‘Red Album’ out June 3rd, 2008.” I was quite amused by the video. It includes some internet video stars – mostly memes. One such meme was the dramatic prairie dog and Japanese pop group MiniMoni. Of course, unlike most of the real cameos, MiniMoni does not make an appearance. Nor does the prairie dog. By the way, a fellow South Carolinian is in the video, as well, making the most (to date) of her highly televised goofup. Here’s the source material.

Another Japan related theme is in the video. It’s the classic “All Your Base Are Belong to Us” Zero Wing screwed up translation meme. But yeah. More coverage here and here and here and here and here.

[See post to listen to audio]

Beauty & the Beast

Tale as old as time, true as it can be,
Barely even friends, then somebody bends
Unexpectedly

Just a little change, small to say the least
Both a little scared, neither one prepared
Beauty & the Beast

Ever just the same, ever a surprise
Ever as before, ever just as sure
As the sun will rise

Tale as old as time, tune as old as song
Bittersweet and strange, finding you can change
Learning you were wrong

Certain as the sun rising in the east
Tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme
Beauty & the Beast
Tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme
Beauty & the Beast

(Off to the cupboard with you now, Chip. It’s past your bedtime. Goodnight, love.)

[See post to listen to audio]

美女と野獣

すばらしい　ものがたり
おずおずと　ふれあうわ
指と指

ほんのすこし すこしづつ
やさしさが ひらいてく
愛のとびら

真実は ただひとつ
しあわせは　隠せない　
誰の目にも

なつかしい 歌のように
凍りつく　季節さえ
変えながら

ほんのすこし すこしづつ
やさしさが　ひらいてく
愛のとびら
やさしさが　ひらいてく
愛のとびら

（食器棚へお行き　もう寝る時間よ）
（ふぁー）（おやすみ…）
-lyrics adapted from those found here-

Here’s a phonetic guide to the Japanese lyrics in case you have trouble with reading it above.

Bijyo to Yajyuu

Subarashii monogatari
Ozuozu to fureau wa
Yubi to yubi

Hon no sukoshi, sukoshi dzutsu
Yasashisa ga hiraiteku
Ai no tobira

Shinjitsu wa tada hitotsu
Shiawase wa kakusenai
Dare no me ni mo

Natsukashii uta no you ni
Kouritsuku kisetsu sae
Kaenagara

Hon no sukoshi, sukoshi dzutsu
Yasashisa ga hiraiteku
Ai no tobira
Yasashisa ga hiraiteku
Ai no tobira

（Syokkidana he oiki mou neru jikan yo）
（Fuaa）（Oyasumi…）
-lyrics adapted from those found here-

Finally, here’s a rough translation of the Japanese lyrics.

Beauty & the Beast (Japanese)

A wonderful tale
Timidly touching
Finger to finger

Just a little bit
Gradually　tenderness
Opens up
Love’s door

There is but one truth
You cannot hide happiness
From anyone’s eyes

Endearing like a song
Even in the freezing season
Changing along

Just a little bit
Gradually tenderness
Opens up
Love’s door

Tenderness opens up
Love’s door

（Go to the cupboard. It’s bedtime.）
（Sigh）（Goodnight…）
-lyrics adapted from those found here-

This problem comes into play when you’ve studied a language for a bit. You begin to imagine hearing it in places where it isn’t. Or at least, where it probably isn’t. Today I was listening (too closely) to the song called Sing Along from the Blue Man Group’s album The Complex, featuring Dave Matthews on vocals. There’s a part towards the end of the song – approximately 2 minutes, 51 seconds in – where I distinctly heard 「そうだ、そうだ。」 (Sou da, sou da.) or “That’s right, that’s right.” It fit contextually, so I let it breeze by – only when the song was over did I think – wait – as far as I know, Dave Matthews doesn’t speak Japanese. Ha ha. What the? He must be scatting jazz-style, and it just phonetically matched. This is less common than me thinking I heard Japanese words in Korean, for instance. Ha ha.

[See post to listen to audio]

By the way – just for giggles – I also had another song that I listened way too closely to by accident recently. Live and Let Die, the Bond film theme song by Paul McCartney’s post-Beatles group, Wings, has a goof included. The lead guitar totally blows a riff at one point in the song, but depending on your listening, you can go right by it without hearing it – it is a very full, chaotic, vibrant song after all. It’s my favorite Bond theme, I think. Why do I pick this stuff up? It’s at the 1 minute 46 second mark. And lasts less than a second. Good luck!

Awesome. This is a Japanese fan-made translation of Jonathan Coulton’s humorous closing credits song for the new Valve game Portal. It has been run through a popular Japanese text-to-speech (singing voice) program, Vocaloid 2. I found it on YouTube, but am hosting a copy here just in case. Anyway, I’m just going to list the lyrics, in original English text, translated Japanese text, and retranslated English text, for comparison’s sake, after the “fold.” I hope you enjoy it.

Original Song, sung by Ellen McLain:

(I will place the MP3 of the cover before the lyrics later so you won’t need to scroll back up. No need to worry.)

Still Alive

This was a triumph.
I’m making a note here: HUGE SUCCESS.
It’s hard to overstate my satisfaction.
Aperture science.
We do what we must because we can.
For the good of all of us
Except the ones who are dead

But there’s no sense crying over every mistake
You just keep on trying till you run out of cake
And the science gets done and you make a neat gun
For the people who are still alive

I’m not even angry
I’m being so sincere right now
Even though you broke my heart and killed me
And tore me to pieces
And threw every piece into a fire
And as they burned it hurt because
I was so happy for you

Now these points of data make a beautiful line
And we’re out of beta we’re releasing on time
So I’m glad I got burned think of all the things we learned
For the people who are still alive

Go ahead and leave me
I think I prefer to stay inside
Maybe you’ll find someone else to help you
Maybe Black Mesa
That was a joke. Haha. Fat chance.
Anyway, this cake is great
It’s so delicious and moist

Look at me still talking when there’s science to do
When I look out there it makes me glad I’m not you
I’ve experiments to run there is research to be done
On the people who are still alive

And believe me I am still alive
I’m doing science and I’m still alive
I feel fantastic and I’m still alive
While you’re dying I’ll be still alive
And when you’re dead I will be still alive

Still alive
Still alive

Japanese Cover, “sung” by Vocaloid 2:

I don’t know who is responsible for the subtitles – the translator or a fan of the translation, but I just reproduced them verbatim from the video. I don’t get some of the kanji / no-kanji choices, but hey – that’s a problem I’ve had for many other things. Anyway, slap a huge parenthetical SIC on the whole thing, and let me off the hook for the oddities. Thanks. Ha ha. Here we go. Enjoy.

生きてる *** 成功よ この記録を残そう 全ては私の思い通り アパチャーサイエンス やるべきことをしよう それは生きてる人だけのため 失敗するたび泣いても 仕方が無い ケーキのためにやりなさい そして素晴らしい銃出来ました 生きている人のため 怒ってないよ とても落ち着いてる あなたに殺されたけどね 引き裂かれ 火の中に投げ込まれ すごく苦しい でもうれしいよ データの点が合わさって 完全品が出来あがる だからうれしい 身体が燃える 生きてる人のため 置いて行って 私はここが良い あなたは別の誰かと それはブラックメサ なんてね冗談よ しかしこのケーキは とてもおいしい 科学については任せてよ あなたが居ないとうれしいね 私はこれから実験だ まだ生きてる人で まだここで私は生きてる 科学をするの生きてる とても良い気分生きてる あなたが死に掛けても生きてる あなたが死んでも生きてる 生きてる 生きてる

Still Alive *** It’s a success I’ll leave this note It all went as I thought it would Aperture Science Let’s do the things we should For only the living people Even if you cry when you mess up You’ve got no choice Do it for the cake Plus, we made an excellent gun For the living people I’m not mad I’m very calm Even though I was killed by you And torn apart And thrown into a fire It’s really painful But I’m happy Points of data come together We make perfect products So, I’m happy My body burns For the living people Place me here and go I’d rather be here You and someone else Perhaps Black Mesa What a joke But this cake Is crazy delicious Leave the science-related to me I’m happy when you aren’t here I’ll be doing experiments now On people who are still alive I am still alive here I am doing science, alive It feels really good, alive Even as you die, I’ll be alive Even once you’re dead, I’ll be alive Living Living

Hat Tips: Came across this cover by way of GameSetWatch, via Joystiq, via Jonathan Coulton’s post on YouTube haters (with which I wholeheartedly agree). Thanks to YouTube user flatfacex for posting the video and mp3. That covers the whole kit and kaboodle.

Easy lesson plan? Heck yeah. I simply teach the terms in the song and then force the kids to do the dance with me. We clear the desks to the side of the room and have them stand in a grid for starting positions. Normally they are reticent to join in, and wind up lining the walls. Then they watch me making a fool of myself, and laugh and loosen up a bit. I encourage the more outgoing kids, and eventually everyone is dancing – even the kids who would rather light themselves on fire than answer questions in class. Weird. I know. At least this is true for high school. Here are the terms I’ve used before. Just pop them on a handout and go over them before dancing – there’s your justification for dancing in English class. Who just saved you thinking for a day? I did.

Terms:
Left 左
Right　右
Back　後ろ
Turn*　回る
Hop　ぴょんと跳ぶ
Stomp　踏みならす
Cha-Cha**　チャチャチャを踊る
Slide　滑る
Crisscross　足を交差する
Freeze　動くな！　（結氷する）
Clap　拍手
Low　低くかがむ
Top　上、天井の方に手を伸ばす
Reverse　半回転する
Charlie Brown***　？？？

* – I usually have them turn 90 degrees counterclockwise. It’s a line dance, so as long as you keep the turn uniform, you can do whatever you want.
** – This is most definitely not a real cha-cha. I basically have them do a “conga line” motion with their hands and step back and forth to the rhythm. They weren’t up for a real cha-cha.
*** – “Charlie Brown” is what always gets the most laughs. Because it’s ridiculous. Either mimic the dances from the Peanuts characters or, if that’s before your generation, feel free to liberally borrow from the dances of the Scooby Doo crowd. As long as flailing limbs and goofy knee and elbow interaction is involved, they will love it. Ha ha.