May 2005 Updates
Last day of the month - 5/31/05
Sadly, I will not be updating tomorrow with the list of July's songs and the first of June's reviews. I am much to busy to really do it all tomorrow because of time constraints, so I'll most likely update later this week, possibly even this weekend if I get that tied up. So, today's updates:
Ruth (Sailor Neptune) will be donating the new Candy Baby/Mermaid .mp3s and lyrics when they come out this July. Thank you so much, Ruth-chan!
Frosted_Rain (Nephrite) has submitted his last two reviews for the month...late. Check out his reviews for Over, and Pink!Pink!Pink.
G.E.Artemis (Sailor Uranus) has submitted her favorite song review. Check it out by clicking here.
I've replaced the button for The Oracle. Enjoy the new pretty button that has taken it's place!
We are also in the process of being reviewed by Delicious Radiance Reviews and Midnight Reviews. Nothing will be changed or updated until their reviews are complete, which should be around a week or so. Sorry about that!
Other than that, there isn't much to update. See you guys again soon!
PS: Please ignore my horrid pictures from the other night, I'll have newer, better ones on here soon enough!
End of the month crap - 5/29/05
Being that yesterday was Tim's 19th birthday, and that I spent 5 hours alone on making and decorating a hamtaro cake (actually, it was a cake for a base with green frosting to make a 'field' effect, and then dozens of little cakes decorated to match the cast of Hamtaro on the cake field to make it look like the ham hams were playing on the field...I wish I had a picture to show everyone, it came out really cute...the Hamtaro and Bijou cakes came out particularly cute, but Tim liked the Oxnard and Pashmina cakes the best), and that there was a major storm which led to a (fourtunately) brief power outage, I didn't get online to code up the last reviews for the month until today. So, let's begin:
Molly (Sailor Jupiter) has submitted her reviews for the month: Brilliance, Leave Me Alone, Little Wing, Over, and Pink!Pink!Pink. Enjoy!
Miri-chan (Sailor Saturn) has also submitted her reviews for the month: Brilliance, Leave Me Alone, Little Wing, Over, and Pink!Pink!Pink. Enjoy!
A glitch in the staff page has been fixed. xD
Speaking of the cast page, today we have one new member...please welcome G.E.Artemis, who will be reviewing as our new Sailor Uranus. You can check out her information by going to the staff page. Welcome to the team!
Also, we have a new affiliate! Back online and fully functional, my old website Serena's Moon Palace has been adopted by my good friend, forum whore, and roommate Molly. Ballads and Bows is now affiliated with it. Welcome to our long list of internet friends! (PS: Go check out SMP, Molly has kept it almost exactly how it was before I trashed it, except she's made a lot of improvements upon internal issues and things!)
Hooray! I finally got a digital camera. I got bored today and decided to make a Sailormoon cake (of Usagi, if you can't tell by the pictures =p). The picture of me and the cake has been added to the creator page, where you can find all kinds of nifty junk about me. Now that I have a digital camera, I'll be sure to sneak pictures of Molly and Tim online...xD
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So yeah. Anyway...
Sadly, Alexander, who reviewed as Prince Endymion, has decided to leave Ballads and Bows due to time constraints. This means, that now, you can apply for his position on the join page. Goodbye Alex! We'll miss you!
I think that's all for today. Hopefully tomorrow I'll muster up the nerve to sit and translate all of the lyrics for the songs for July, but maybe not. You might have to wait until the 15th again for the lyrics, because I'm feeling LAZY! Have a great Memorial Day weekend everyone (even if you aren't in the U.S., any excuse for a holiday is a good one!) and come back again soon!
PS: Don't make me keep pushing this...join the FORUMS!
Warriors of Legend - 5/26/05
As you may have noticed, our lovely random advertisement has changed. Genvid.com members Jay Navok and Sushil Rudranath have published a book about Japanese culture as viewed through the medium of Sailormoon called Warriors of Legend. Damn you for beating me to it, Genvid! (Heh, ever since I decided I was going to major in Japanese Studies when I was 13, I wanted to write my dissertation on the influence of Japanese culture in America, through the lens of Sailormoon. I guess it's not exactly the same, but I feel...like someone beat me to the punch u_u;). Anyway, the book is roughly $13 USD, and it is a must-have item for any Sailormoon fan! So, visit the website, and order your copy today! Also, please considering participating in their library compaign...
Other than that, there are some updates to the site today. Sailorasteroid (Jedite) has submitted his reviews for May: Brilliance, Leave Me Alone, Little Wing, Over, and Pink!Pink!Pink. Enjoy!
Ilse (Dark Sailor Mercury) has submitted lyric translations for Brilliance, Leave me Alone, Little Wing, and Over. Also, look forward to Ilse's staff favorite, which will be coming soon!
The lyrics page has gone through a re-haul. I've added in song titles for all of the songs Ballads and Bows has either reviewed or plans to review in the future. Some of the songs listed on the lyrics page are instrumentals, and they will never have lyrics added to them. I know that sounds a little weird, but I wanted to have a comprehensive list of everything we've reviewed on the website.
Also, I am still looking for translators for the following languages: French, Spanish, German, Chinese, and any other language you might speak that you'd be willing to translate the lyrics into. You do not need to know any Japanese to apply to be a translator! Knowing English is good enough xD Please contact me at elly@reisei-sa.net if you'd like to translate for Ballads and Bows!
The cast page has also had quite an update. I've added links to Kawabe Chieko's songs from Brilliance, as well as unreviewed songs from Matsushita Moeko and Yoshito Endo. Enjoy!
Lastly, I've added a new page to the site: fan mail. This is a little page where I'll be storing all of the fan mail I receive from fans of Ballads and Bows. There are already four e-mails posted on the page, so if you're interested take a read! I sure enjoy visiting the page...xD
I'm still waiting on Hitsuji of Takeuchi-Naoko.com for her Serecindra article, so that should be coming soon. I will also be submitting Ballads and Bows to a few review sites (no, not Sailor Moon Pocky Box, since I review there =p) so a review results page should be coming soon.
Before I go, I would like to ask everyone who visits this site regularly for a bit of a favor. If you haven't noticed, the music downloads for the June reviews by Yoshito Endo are all sample tracks. They are around 1:30 minutes each, and they are not complete songs. It's going to be pretty hard to review all of his songs through sample tracks. The problem is, his CDs are rather expensive...and I don't have the money to buy them as of yet. I have contacted Yoshito Endo personally to inquire about whether or not I can buy the CDs (because I have no idea if he ships to the U.S.) and how much money they are. I am asking that if you can, please donate money to the Yoshito Endo CD fund. You can do so by clicking the donate button to your right.
Thanks for reading, and enjoy the site!
Hello hello - 5/20/05
Damn, updates are becoming sporadic on this website. Few new things to add today:
We have a new staff member! Her name is Miri-chan and she will be reviewing as our new Sailor Saturn. Welcome her to the team!
As such, the join page has been updated...
Miri-chan has done her first review for the website: a staff favorite review for Hoshi ni Negai Wo. Check it out!
I also did my reviews for the month...Brilliance, Leave Me Alone, Little Wing, Over, and Pink!Pink!Pink. Enjoy!
Also, Hitsuji of Takeuchi-Naoko.com will soon be submitting an article to the Serecindra testimonial. Look forward to it.
Lastly, I'm getting bored of this layout already. Expect something similar but better soon.
Before I go, GO JOIN THE FORUMS!!! We need members to chat with xD See you there! Until next update, bye-bye!
The Day Has Finally Come - 5/15/05
Tons of reviews and site related things for today. Let's begin:
Jessica (Sailor V) has submitted all of her reviews for April and May: Cry Baby, Hidamari, I Can't Wait, Kizuna Iro, Quiet Riot, Shining!, Brilliance, Leave Me Alone, Little Wing, Over, and Pink!Pink!Pink. Enjoy!
Kaitlin (Princess Sailor Moon) has submitted her reviews for the month of May: Brilliance, Leave Me Alone, Little Wing, Over, and Pink!Pink!Pink. Enjoy!
Frosted_Rain has submitted all of his reviews for April, and some from May: Cry Baby, Hidamari, I Can't Wait, Kizuna Iro, Quiet Riot, Shining!, Brilliance, Leave Me Alone, and Little Wing, Enjoy!
Ilse (Dark Sailor Mercury) has donated a button to the site. Thank you Ilse!
Also, please give a warm welcome to our newest affiliate, Icera of Neo Nobility. Hooray! I feel so honoured to be affiliated with Neo Nobility, I've loved that site for years...*sigh*
Since today is the 15th, and I haven't received some April reviews from quite a few people, here is a list of the people being removed from the team. I'm sorry to have to announce this, but this is the way it has to be I guess...
I'm sorry to let these people go, but I haven't received reviews from these people, some of them for months on end. If you would like your position back, please contact me about it privately. If it's already taken before I get your e-mail, you're out of luck. Sorry!
Since the girl who used to review as Sailor Jupiter resigned days ago, my room mate Molly has opted to take the position. She's got her qualifications down, and she formally submitted an application, so she's now a part of the team! She will obviously be reviewing as Sailor Jupiter. Welcome to the team, Molly-chan!
Since so many new positions are available, I have re-opened the join page. Feel free to sign up!
Since my last update, I've been working pretty hard!
...April's updates have also been archived.
June's review songs have been announced. They are the same songs that have been released under the Yoshito Endo Special for this month. That's right, folks. We're going to be reviewing all of the music by our darling Yoshito Endo, who played the role of Zoicite on PGSM. There is some interesting information on the special page, so you may want to check it out.
Last but not least, before I go, I would like to announce that the Ballads and Bows Forums are officially open! Please join! We can't wait to see you there! There are TONS of themes to choose from, one for each song that this site has reviewed. Darling Molly is our style admin, so please thank her for all of her hard work!!
That's all for today. I hope everyone got through our entirely huge update just fine. Have a wonderful evening, and a great week! *passes out*
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Happy Mother's Day - 5/8/05
Happy Mother's Day, to our lovely moms on staff! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday, and that your husbands bought you flowers and lots of chocolates xp. Here are the updates:
Emo-chan (Sailor Luna) has submitted her reviews for the month of May: Brilliance, Leave Me Alone, Little Wing, Over, and Pink!Pink!Pink. Enjoy!
Kero-chan (Tuxedo Mask) has also submitted his reviews for the month of May: Brilliance, Leave Me Alone, Little Wing, Over, and Pink!Pink!Pink. Enjoy!
Darling Ilse (Dark Sailor Mercury) has added two more translations: Quiet Riot and Cry Baby. You can also find these songs on the lyrics page...
I've also received a Mother's Day gift from Jenn of Moonsenshi.org. Thank you so much for the gift! I'm not a mom yet, but whatever xD
Before I go, I just thought I'd share this bit of exciting news with the PGSM fan community. Yoshito Endo, who played our darling Zoicite in Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon has a band! You can check out his official website (if you can speak/read Japanese) by clicking here. On his website, he talks about his band. There is also a link to his band's discography where you can download his music for free! So, there's a little bit of a hint for what we'll be reviewing this June xD Thank you to the lovely people from the LASM Yahoo! Group for this information. You can also buy Yoshito Endo's band's albums (damn that was a mouthful) from his website, which I strongly suggest you do.
That's all for today. Enjoy the updates, and have a great day!
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As if it couldn't get any worse - 5/5/05
Oh look, it's Cinco de Mayo. Happy holiday to all of my Latino friends! I've finally finished coding all of the reviews I've gotten in my mailbox over this week, so here they are:
Ephie (Zoicite) has submitted her reviews for May: Brilliance, Leave Me Alone, Little Wing, Over, and Pink!Pink!Pink. Enjoy.
Kara (Kuroki Mio) has also submitted all of her reviews for May: Brilliance, Leave Me Alone, Little Wing, Over, and Pink!Pink!Pink. Enjoy.
Emo-chan (Sailor Luna) has submitted her reviews for April: Cry Baby, Hidamari, I Can't Wait, Kizuna Iro, Quiet Riot, and Shining!. Enjoy.
Ilse (Dark Sailor Mercury) has translated I Can't Wait and Shining!. You can also find the links for the songs on the lyrics page.
Ruth (Sailor Neptune) has submitted her reviews for May: Brilliance, Leave Me Alone, Little Wing, Over, and Pink!Pink!Pink. Check them out.
Ciao (Sailor Pluto) has submitted all of her reviews for both April and May. Thank you Ciao! Here they are: Cry Baby, Hidamari, I Can't Wait, Kizuna Iro, Quiet Riot, Shining!, Brilliance, Leave Me Alone, Little Wing, Over, and Pink!Pink!Pink. Good job!
Akarui (Sailor Mars) has submitted her reviews for April: Cry Baby, Hidamari, I Can't Wait, Kizuna Iro, Quiet Riot, and Shining!. Enjoy.
I have also moved all of the files for download over to the reisei-sa.net server, since our upgraded package can now handle the extra data flow. It should be around the same rate as it downloaded from Ruth's server. Thank you Ruth for hosting us for so long!
I've also updated the creator page to include links for the videos from Harumatsuri by popular demand. Enjoy.
So, here's what's going on with me:
I found out yesterday that my bank bounced my check for my AP exams. Over 300 dollars. Aparently they have a policy where they can charge your account the amount of the check (making the balance negative) without paying the check at all. And on top of that, they can charge you a $30 surcharge for bouncing a check. Also, they enacted a policy where you can withdraw money from your student checking account even if the money isn't in your account. They'll also charge your account $40 for it. No one ever notified me of this. Ever. When I signed up, I specifically asked for a Student Checking account because it had the feature that it would not let you withdraw money if it wasn't in your checking account. They aparently changed their policy without telling anyone. So, after everything, I am now around $440 in debt. I called my bank, and the manager told me it was my responsibility. He also laughed in my face about the debit card thing. So, I called the head office, and gave them a piece of my mind. Aparently the guy who laughed in my face got fired, because he was behaving unprofessionally (the fact that they had a camera watching the entire thing happen was cool). However, the main office said they can't do anything to my account for the next two weeks. It came up in their records that I was never sent any mail or anything reguarding their changes, so they may give me back my money. However, I don't get to take my AP exams. Any of them. Collegeboard (the company/organization that is in charge of all national AP examinations) said that because the check bounced, they never sent the exams to my school for me. Even if I had the money for them right now, there is nothing they can do about it. So, there goes 27 credits of college work. Down the drain. After I worked 8 months for them. I guess I should be happy because the pressure of taking the exams is off, but I'm incredibly pissed that I wasted so much of my time. I can't believe I'm over 400 in debt because they screwed up. I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm so depressed about it all that I didn't go to school today. I've done nothing except code reviews and thought about how nice it would be to be dead, because all of this pressure would be off of me. At least the site is paid off for the next two months, so I don't have to worry about that, I guess.
So yeah. Now that this update is pretty much over, I'm going to attempt to work on the forum. I'm so depressed though, that all I really want to do is just sleep...blah. Thank you to those of you who actually worry about me, it makes me feel a little less alone.
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AP Week - 5/2/05
Well actually, AP season runs two weeks long, so I should really put AP double week. For the next two weeks not only will I be coding an insane amount of reviews here, but I'll be studying for and taking multiple AP examinations. Updates may be sporadic, but be warned: if you do not have you April reviews submitted by the 15th, you WILL be removed from the team. There are already a few members who are being removed regardless, so just be aware that if you decide to slack off, your days on the team are numbered. Spots are disgustingly easy to fill. Don't make me wonder whether or not you are taking up space that could be better spent on someone else. I'm not in a good mood about this at all, and the more reviews I get flooded with, the worse my mood becomes.
Ilse (Dark Sailor Mercury) has submitted translations for Kizuna Iro and Hidamari. You can find them on the lyrics page, also.
Ilse has also submitted all of her reviews for May: Brilliance, Leave Me Alone, Little Wing, Over, and Pink!Pink!Pink. Enjoy!
Some awfully kind person sent a nice e-mail and a gift to cheer me up a bit. You can find it on the gifts page.
Ephie (Zoicite) has sent me her reviews for April: Cry Baby, Hidamari, I Can't Wait, Kizuna Iro, Quiet Riot, and Shining!. Enjoy.
Topaz (Sailor Mercury) has also submitted all of her reviews for May: Brilliance, Leave Me Alone, Little Wing, Over, and Pink!Pink!Pink. Enjoy!
If your reviews were not listed here, Don't Panic xD. My hotmail account is actually offline because of server issues on hotmail's end, so I couldn't access the reviews that I know a few people sent me. They will be online as soon as I can access them.
Before I go, I'm going to give my final laments to the staff right here, and right now. Please pay attention. I am sick of writing e-mails to remind people that the deadline is coming up. I am even sicker of the same people missing deadline after deadline. I try to be incredibly flexible and nice about these things, but the utter lack of respect from the staff is really getting to me. If you do not have your reviews turned in by 9:00 PM EST on May 15th, do not talk to me. Ever. I don't care what your excuse is. If you didn't have enough time to devote to this site, you shouldn't have joined. If you got too bogged down with things, you should have at least had the decency to tell me you were leaving the team. That way, we could have still been friends. If you can't manage to even give me a reason as to why I'm staying up until almost 11 PM to code your late reviews when I should be doing something much more fun, then why should I be expected to be nice to you? People expect the reviews on time, whether or not you want to meet the demand is up to you. I like my website work, I really do. I don't like being expected to get 65 reviews online and on time when everyone else is screwing up, not me. I don't like being yelled at by people when their reviews aren't online 15 MINUTES after they send them to me. I am completely unappreciative of the people who are just giving me excuse after excuse, and loads of work. This is bullshit. I've given people more than enough chances to be nice and at least give me a reason as to why I shouldn't be angry with them. People haven't taken it. I hate to give ultimatums, but I've been pushed to it. People that never sent me March reviews are being removed if they didn't have an excuse. People who haven't submitted reviews in more than 2 months are being removed, regardless of excuses. A lot of spots are going to be open. I will not accept people who have reviewed here before and got canned. Sorry. Go whine about it on your LJ or something. Furthermore, I see no reason to open a forum for a bunch of people who don't even respect me enough to realize that I have enough of a life outside of the computer so that I'm not content sitting around coding their LATE reviews. So you know, if the forum never shows up, I don't want to hear about it. Just remember all those times you dicked me around and didn't even give me the time of day to give me a one line e-mail as to why you couldn't review for a month. It should occupy the time you would have otherwise spent posting on a possible forum.
I'm sorry if I'm coming off harsh, but I don't like being treated this way. I work hard, not for the fans, but because I like doing the translation work. I like having a website and I like making people happy. I do not like the attitudes I get from people when things aren't completely on time on my end, when things aren't on time on their end. Hey, if I didn't have a list 65 deep of reviews to code, maybe I'd have more time to get things done. If you sent me reviews that weren't so disgustingly past the deadline, maybe they'd be on the frontpage instead of in the archives. You guys do this crap to yourselves, and I am SICK of getting complaints. You don't like the site and the way I do things? Then don't review here! No one is making you! I am part of this site because I like the work. If you don't, then leave. I know that sounds cold, but hey, the last thing I need in my life is crap from people on the internet. I get enough of it in real life.
So yeah. I'm going offline for a while. I may be on AIM, or MSN, I haven't really decided yet. The forums aren't even going to be touched until I finish off the reviews I have to code. Don't ask me about them. Don't ask me about when Matsushita Moeko translations are going to be done. Don't even BOTHER asking me when next I'll update. I'm so god damned pissed at a few members of the reviewing team that the last thing on my list of priorities is this website. Sadly, it's usually at the top of my list. I truly am sorry to those of you sweet people who have always been on time, polite, courteous, respectful, and still have to read these kind of crap e-mails and rants from me. I am truly sorry. I just see no other way to get through to people...
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