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Ayaka Hirahara
Scandal Nanka Buttobase
Te Wo Tsunagou
Ayumi Hamasaki (?? ???, Hamasaki Ayumi, born October 2, 1978) is a Japanese recording artist, lyricist, model, and actress. Hamasaki has achieved popularity in Japan and Asia by enforcing her position as an artist as well as her resistance towards becoming a "product", which was a common factor within the Japanese music culture and Avex Trax. Through her entire career, she has written all her lyrical content, produced her own music and has sometimes co-composed her music, which is evident in her albums I Am..., Rainbow and My Story.
Born and raised in Fukuoka, Hamasaki moved to Tokyo at fourteen in 1993 to pursue a career in singing and acting. In 1998, under the tutelage of Avex CEO Max Matsuura, Hamasaki released her debut single "Poker Face" and debut major-label album A Song for XX. The album debuted at the top of the Oricon charts and remained there for four weeks, selling over a million copies and establishing her popularity in Japan. Her next five albums shipped over a million copies in Japan, with her third, Duty, selling nearly three million and becoming her best-selling studio album. A Best, her first compilation album, is her best-selling album, with more than four million copies sold in Japan. In 2009, after her album Next Level was released, album and single sales declined due to competition from upcoming artists. Throughout her career, Hamasaki has had all her albums within the top five position in Japan and has five million-selling singles, including "Boys & Girls", "A", "Seasons", "M" and "H".
Called "Ayu" by her fans, Hamasaki has been dubbed the "Empress of J-pop" because of her popularity and influence in Japan and throughout Asia. Hamasaki's changing image and tight control over her artistry has extended her popularity across Asia; music and fashion trends she has started have spread regionally to China, Singapore and other countries across Southeast Asia. She has appeared in or licensed her songs to many advertisements. Though she originally supported the exploitation of her popularity for commercial purposes, she later reconsidered and eventually opposed her status as an Avex "product". Following an ear infection in 2000, she has suffered worsening hearing loss and is completely deaf in one ear.
Hamasaki has sold over 80 million records, making her the best-selling Japanese solo artist of all time. Hamasaki has several domestic record achievements for her singles, such as the most number-one hits by a female artist (38); the most consecutive number-one hits by a solo artist (twenty-five), and the most million-sellers. From 1999 to 2010, Hamasaki had at least one single each year topping the charts. Hamasaki is the first female recording artist to have ten studio albums since her debut to top the Oricon and the first artist to have a number-one album for 13 consecutive years since her debut.
Hamasaki's second remix album, Super Eurobeat Presents Ayu-ro Mix, is recognized as one of the best selling remix albums of all time and remains her only album to be recognized in a worldwide accreditation.
Life and music career
Childhood and early endeavors
Born in Fukuoka Prefecture, Hamasaki was raised as an only child by her mother and grandmother. Her father had left the family when she was three and never again came into contact with her. Hamasaki's mother worked to support the family, so Hamasaki was primarily taken care of by her grandmother. She described herself as a "tomboy" when she was a teenager, and as a ?strange kid? who ?liked to be alone?.
At age seven, Hamasaki began modeling for local institutions, such as banks, in order to supplement the family's income. She continued this career path by leaving her family at fourteen and moving to Tokyo as a model under SOS, a talent agency. Her modeling career did not last long; SOS eventually deemed her too short for a model and transferred her to Sun Music, a musicians' agency. Under the name of "Ayumi", Hamasaki released a rap EP, Nothing from Nothing, on the Nippon Columbia label in 1995. She was dismissed from the label when the album failed to chart on the Oricon. After this failure, Hamasaki took up acting and starred in B-movies such as Ladys Ladys!! S?cho Saigo no Hi and television dramas such as Miseinen, which were poorly received by the public. From August 1995 to March 1996, Hamasaki also co-hosted the SoundLink "magazine" H?kago no ?sama (After-school King) for the Nintendo Satellaview once a week with Shigeru Izumiya. Growing dissatisfied with her job, Hamasaki quit acting and moved in with her mother, who had recently moved to Tokyo.
Hamasaki was initially a good student, earning good grades in junior high school. Eventually, she lost faith in the curriculum, thinking that the subjects taught were of no use to her. Her grades worsened as she refused to put her mind to her studies. While living in Tokyo, she attempted to further her studies at Horikoshi Gakuen, a high school for the arts, but dropped out in the first year. Hamasaki did not attend school or have a job, so she spent much of her time shopping at Shibuya boutiques and dancing at Velfarre, an Avex-owned disco club.
At Velfarre, she was introduced to her future producer, Max Matsuura, through a friend. After hearing Hamasaki sing karaoke, Matsuura offered her a recording deal, but Hamasaki suspected ulterior motives and turned the offer down. He persisted and succeeded in recruiting her for the Avex label in the following year. Hamasaki started vocal training, but skipped most of her classes after finding her instructors to be too rigid and the classes dull. When she confessed this to Matsuura, he sent her to New York to train her vocals under another method. During her foreign sojourn, Hamasaki frequently corresponded with Matsuura and impressed him with her style of writing. On her return to Japan, he suggested that she try writing her own lyrics.
1998-99: Musical beginnings, A Song for xx and Loveppears
Hamasaki made her debut under Avex at 19 on April 8, 1998 with the single "Poker Face". It?and the following four singles?were not major hits, however each release was better than the last, thus gradually increasing her exposure and presence on the market. Hamasaki's debut album, A Song for ×× (1999), was likewise "unassuming": the tracks, composed by Yasuhiko Hoshino, Akio Togashi (of Da Pump), and Mitsuru Igarashi (of Every Little Thing), were "cautious" pop-rock songs. However, Hamasaki's lyrics, introspective observations about her feelings and experiences that focused on loneliness and individualism, resonated with the Japanese public. The songs gained Hamasaki a growing following, and the release of the album was a success: it topped the Oricon charts for five weeks and sold over a million copies. For her achievements, she earned a Japan Gold Disc Award for "Best New Artist of the Year".
With Ayu-mi-x (March 1999), the first of a series of remix albums, Hamasaki began moving beyond the pop-rock of A Song for ×× and began to incorporate different styles including trance, dance, and orchestra. Hamasaki began to experiment with different musical styles in her singles as well, releasing dance tunes and ballads as well as remixes on the singles which spanned reggae and house. The singles were milestones: Hamasaki earned her first number-one single ("Love: Destiny") and first million-selling single ("A"). Her second studio album, Loveppears (November 1999), not only topped the Oricon charts, it sold nearly 3 million copies. The album also showcased a change in Hamasaki's lyrics. Though the lyrics of Loveppears still dealt with loneliness, many of them were written from a third-person perspective. In support of Loveppears, she held her first tour, Ayumi Hamasaki Concert Tour 2000 A.
A Film for XX is the first video clip collection by Ayumi Hamasaki, it was released on September 15, 1999.
2000-02: Duty, compilation releases, I Am... and Rainbow
From April to June 2000, Hamasaki released the "Trilogy", a series of singles consisting of "Vogue", "Far Away", and "Seasons". The lyrics of these songs focused on hopelessness, a reflection of Hamasaki's disappointment that she had not expressed herself thoroughly in any of her previous lyrics and a sense of shame of her public image. Likewise, many of the songs she wrote for her subsequent studio album, Duty (September 2000), involved feelings of loneliness, chaos, confusion, and the burden of her responsibilities. She described her feelings after the writing as "unnatural" and "nervous". The musical style was darker as well; in contrast with Loveppears, Duty was a rock-influenced album with only one dance song, "Audience". Duty resonated with fans: the "Trilogy" were "hit singles" ("Seasons" was a million-seller), and the album became Hamasaki's best-selling studio album. At the end of 2000, Hamasaki held her first New Year countdown concert at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium.
In 2001, Avex forced Hamasaki to release her first compilation album, A Best, on March 28, putting the album in "competition" with Hikaru Utada's second studio album, Distance. The "competition" between the two singers (which both claimed was merely a creation of their record companies and the media) was supposedly the reason for the success of the albums; both sold over 5 million copies. In support of Duty and A Best, Hamasaki held a tour of Japan's domes, making her one of few "top-drawer" Japanese artists to hold a concert at the Tokyo Dome.
I Am... (January 2002) marked several milestones for Hamasaki. Hamasaki increased her control over her music by composing all of the songs on the album under the pseudonym "Crea", of which the 2000 single "M" was the first. "Connected" (November 2002) and "A Song Is Born" (December 2001) were the exceptions. I Am... also showed evolution in Hamasaki's lyrical style: it was a retreat from the themes of "loneliness and confusion" of some of her earlier songs. Moved by the September 11 attacks, Hamasaki revised her vision of I Am..., focusing on issues such as faith and world peace. "A Song Is Born", in particular, was directly influenced by the events. The single, a duet with Keiko Yamada, was released as part of Avex's non-profit Song Nation project, which raised money for charity. She also dropped the planned cover and opted instead to be portrayed as a "peace muse", explaining,
I had a completely different idea for the cover at first. We'd already reserved the space, decided the hair and makeup and everything. But after the incident, as is typical of me, I suddenly changed my mind. I knew it wasn't the time for gaudiness, for elaborate sets and costumes. It sounds odd coming from me, but I realize what I say and how I look has a great impact.
The outlook inspired by the September 11 attacks extended beyond I Am.... In 2002, Hamasaki held her first concert outside Japan, at the MTV Asia music awards ceremony in Singapore, a move interpreted as the beginning of a campaign prompted by a sluggish Japanese market. At the ceremony, she received the award for "Most Influential Japanese Singer in Asia". In support of I Am..., Hamasaki held two tours, Ayumi Hamasaki Arena Tour 2002 A and Ayumi Hamasaki Stadium Tour 2002 A. In November 2002, as "Ayu", she released her first European single, "Connected", a trance song from I Am... composed by DJ Ferry Corsten. It was released in Germany on the Drizzly label. Hamasaki continued to release singles (all of them remixes of previously released songs) in Germany on Drizzly until 2005.
In April 2002, Hamasaki released the single "Free & Easy". In collaboration with the magazine Free&Easy, Hamasaki also released Hamasaki Republic, a photobook that was actually a special issue of Free&Easy, in conjunction with the single. "H", Hamasaki's next single, became the best-selling single of 2002. Hamasaki released her last single of 2002, "Voyage", on September 26. In lieu of a regular-length music video, the short film Tsuki ni Shizumu, starring Hamasaki, was created for "Voyage" and was released at a select theater in Shibuya. Hamasaki's next studio album, Rainbow (December 2002) was her first to use English lyrics. After performing at the 2002 MTV Asia music awards, Hamasaki felt that by writing only Japanese lyrics, she was not able to bring her "message" to other countries. Realizing that English was a "common global language", she included English lyrics in three songs. The album was stylistically diverse; Hamasaki included rock- and trip hop-influenced tracks as well as "summery", "up-tempo" and "grand gothic" songs and experimented with new techniques such as gospel choruses and the yells of an audience. The lyrics were also varied: themes in the album included freedom, the struggles of women, and "a summer that ends in sadness".
2003-06: Decline in sales, My Story, (Miss)Understood and Secret
In 2003, Hamasaki released three singles, "&", "Forgiveness", and "No Way to Say". To celebrate the release of her thirtieth single ("Forgiveness"), Hamasaki held the A Museum concert at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium. Her mini-album Memorial Address (December 2003) was her first album to be released in CD+DVD format in addition to the regular CD-only format, a decision that came from her increased interest in the direction of her music videos. Like her previous albums, Memorial Address topped the Oricon chart and sold over a million copies. Sales of Hamasaki's singles began to wane. Although all three of the album's singles topped the Oricon charts, "&" was Hamasaki's last single to sell over 500,000 copies.
By the end of her Arena Tour 2003-2004, Hamasaki had grown dissatisfied with her position in Avex: she felt that the company was treating her as a product instead of a person. Along with her dissatisfaction over her last two studio albums (which she thought had been rushed), this led her to begin work on My Story (December 2004) early. In contrast with her previous albums, My Story had no set theme, nor did Hamasaki attempt to write "something good" or even "something that would give people hope"; rather, she simply wrote freely and honestly. As a result, the album contained mostly autobiographical lyrics about her emotions and reminiscences of her career. She approached the composition of the music with the same freedom as the lyrics, with the album's notable rock overtones expressing her liking for rock music. She was so pleased with the result that she declared My Story the first album she felt satisfied with. My Story and its singles, "Moments", "Inspire", and "Carols", all topped the weekly Oricon charts; moreover, with sales of over 1,100,000 units, My Story became Hamasaki's last million-selling studio album according to Oricon. From January to April 2005, Hamasaki held the nationwide My Story arena tour, her first album-based tour. Also in January, she began working with Lamoureux Orchestra to create My Story Classical, a classical version of My Story; the album served as an "alter-ego" of the mostly aggressive My Story. The orchestra also created a classical version of "A Song Is Born", which was included on My Story Classical and which Hamasaki performed at the opening of the Expo 2005.
(Miss)understood (January 2006), Hamasaki's seventh studio album, showed new musical directions. Wanting to sing a tune like those of the group Sweetbox, Hamasaki obtained the permission of Sweetbox composer Roberto "Geo" Rosan to use demo songs he had intended to use in Sweetbox's upcoming album. She edited the songs to fit her personal vision, rewriting the lyrics and rearranging some of the songs. The result was more musically diverse than the previous album; (Miss)understood included ballads, funk, dance-pop, R&B, and rock songs. All of (Miss)understood's singles reached the top of the Oricon; "Bold & Delicious" became Hamasaki's twenty-fifth number-one single, tying her with Seiko Matsuda for the record of most number-one singles by a solo female artist. Though (Miss)understood also reached the top of the charts, Oricon stated that it sold fewer than a million copies?Hamasaki's first studio album to do so. In support of the album, Hamasaki held the (Miss)understood arena tour, which spanned three months with thirty concerts, from Saitama on March 11, 2006, to Yoyogi on June 11, 2006.
Hamasaki's first single of 2006, "Startin'", became Hamasaki's twenty-sixth number-one single, setting a new record for most number-one singles held by a solo female artist. The subsequent studio album, Secret, was released in November 2006. "Secrets" was, appropriately, the theme of the album; the album also explored strong female figures, love, and sadness; songs depicted the artist's struggles and were written to encourage women. Although Secret was originally intended to be a mini-album, Hamasaki "began brimming with things to say" while producing the album and wrote five more songs. The album consisted mostly of rock songs and ballads; to complement these, Hamasaki experimented with new vocal techniques. The album also topped the Oricon weekly charts, making Hamasaki the only artist to have eight consecutive number-one studio albums. Her sales, however, continued to decline: according to both Oricon and the RIAJ, Secret failed to sell a million copies.
2007-08: Compilation releases and Guilty
On February 28, 2007, Hamasaki released A Best 2, a pair of compilation albums containing songs from I Am... to (Miss)understood. The two versions, White and Black, debuted at the first and second positions on the Oricon weekly charts, making Hamasaki the first female artist in thirty-six years to hold the top two positions on any Oricon album chart. At the end of 2007, the pair became Japan's fifth and seventh best-selling albums of the year respectively. In support of A Best 2 and Secret, Hamasaki held the four-month-long Tour of Secret from March to the end of June. It was her first international tour, and aside from Japan, she performed in Taipei, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. Her foreign fanbase highly anticipated the concerts, and tickets for the Taipei and Hong Kong performances sold out in less than three hours.
In July 2007, Hamasaki released her first single in over a year, "Glitter/Fated". A short film, Distance Love, was used as the music video for "Glitter" and "Fated". The film, shot in Hong Kong, co-starred Hong Kong actor Shawn Yue as Hamasaki's romantic interest. "Glitter/Fated" and the following single "Talkin' 2 Myself" reached the top of their respective charts, continuing Hamasaki's streak of number-one singles. In December, Hamasaki released her first digital-only single, "Together When...", which topped the RIAJ's monthly download chart. Unlike its predecessors, the writing of Hamasaki's ninth studio album, Guilty (January 2008), was not an emotional experience for her, nor did it have a set theme. However, she said later that the album's tracks appeared to tell a story. Most of the songs were dark; the album had a notable rock tinge. It contained some upbeat dance tracks and ballads, though the latter also had rock overtones. Guilty peaked at the number-two position on the weekly Oricon charts, making it Hamasaki's first studio album not to reach the top and ended Hamasaki's streak of 8 consecutive number-one albums. Guilty was later released as a digital album in twenty-six countries outside Japan, nineteen of them Western nations. That, along with Hamasaki's decision to employ western DJs such as The Young Punx, Coldcut, Para One and Armand Van Helden for her 2008 remix albums Ayu-mi-x 6: Gold and Ayu-mi-x 6: Silver, has been interpreted as her first step into the global market.
In April 2008, to commemorate her tenth anniversary in Avex, Hamasaki released the single "Mirrorcle World"; it topped the Oricon, making Hamasaki the only female solo artist to have a number-one single every year for ten consecutive years. Hamasaki also held her second tour of Asia, Asia Tour 2008: 10th Anniversary, to celebrate her tenth anniversary. From April until June, she toured Japan, holding seventeen concerts. Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Shanghai were again the foreign stops after the domestic performances. On September 10, 2008, Hamasaki released A Complete: All Singles, a compilation album that includes the A-sides of all her singles along with previously unreleased footage from her A-nation concerts which is the 8th best selling album of 2008.
2009-11:Next Level, Rock n Roll Circus and Five
Hamasaki's next two singles, "Days/Green" (December 2008) and "Rule/Sparkle" (February 2009), continued Hamasaki's streak of number-one singles. "Rule" is used as the international theme song for the film Dragonball Evolution. The subsequent studio album, Next Level, was released on March 25, 2009 in several formats: CD, CD+DVD, 2CD+DVD and a two-gigabyte USB flash drive. Sonically, Next Level was mainly an electronic dance album. Next Level reached the top of the Oricon charts, making Hamasaki the only artist to have a number-one album every year for eleven years in a row since her debut. However, the album was only certified double platinum, making it Hamasaki's lowest-selling studio album to that date. On August 12, 2009, Hamasaki released her forty-sixth single, "Sunrise/Sunset (Love Is All)". "Sunrise (Love Is All)", one of the A-sides, is being used as the opening theme song for the Japanese television drama Dandy Daddy?. The single reached the top of the weekly charts, making it her twenty-first consecutive (thirty-third total) number-one single. "Sunrise/Sunset" is also her forty-fourth single to enter the Top 10, making Hamasaki the artist with the most Top 10 singles ever. Hamasaki's third single of the year, "You Were.../Ballad", was released on December 29, 2009. Hamasaki's eleventh studio album Rock 'n' Roll Circus was released on April 14, 2010. Though the album contained a few "powerful and melodramatic gothic rock" tracks, it was mainly "pure and classic J-pop", with pop-rock songs and ballads. The album topped the charts, making Hamasaki the first female solo artist in twenty years to have ten number-one original studio albums. Hamasaki also began expanding her online presence, setting up accounts on MySpace, Ustream, and Twitter. In July, entertainment company Livespire announced that Hamasaki's 2009 Next Level tour would be shown in 3D at Toho cinemas nationwide beginning on August 28.
On July 14, Hamasaki released her forty-eighth single, "Moon/Blossom". The single was released as the first of a three-part project to celebrate her yet-unreleased fiftieth single. The two other singles in the project (her forty-ninth and fiftieth singles respectively), "Crossroad" and "L", were released within a week of each other, "Crossroad" on September 22 and "L" on September 29. "Crossroad" was composed by Tetsuya Komuro and its coupling was her cover version of Komuro's band TM Network's 1988 song "Seven Days War", which was her first cover of a male song. The three singles all topped the Oricon, becoming Hamasaki's twenty-third, twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth consecutive number-one singles and setting a new record for the most consecutive number-one singles by any female artist (solo or group) as well as by any solo artist. On December 22, Hamasaki released her twelfth original studio album, Love Songs. On the same day, Naoya Urata of AAA released his debut solo single "Dream On". The song, which featured Hamasaki, was written and produced by her as well, marking the first record she produced for another singer. Love Songs and "Dream On" both reached the top spots on their respective Oricon charts. Love Songs became Hamasaki's fourth consecutive and seventeenth total number-one album. The album also marked Hamasaki's thirteenth consecutive year with a number-one album, breaking her old record.
In February 2011, it was announced that her arena tour of the year, Hotel Love Songs, would start in April. Shortly after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami hit, it was announced that the tour was rescheduled to start in late May and the tour was renamed to Power of Music. Deeply affected by the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami devastation, Hamasaki decided to collaborate with fashion magazine, Vivi, with the sale of charity shirts and the profits going to help the victims in the devastation. On April 20, 2011, Hamasaki simultaneously released four new remix albums, Ayu-mi-x 7:House, Acoustic Orchestra, Trance 4, Ayu-ro Mix 4, and a Limited Complete Box Set, which were also released internationally on iTunes. On that same day, Hamasaki also released 2010 Rock 'n' Roll Circus Tour and A 50 Singles: Live Selection which topped the weekly chart at No. 1 and No. 2 respectively. The simultaneous releases made Hamasaki the first artist ever to have 4 albums in Oricon's top 10 and also the first artist to hold 2 top positions in the Oricon DVD chart. Their original release date of March 30 was postponed due to the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami and was pushed back to April 20 instead. On April 21, 2011, it was announced that she would perform in a-nation 10th Anniversary for Life Charge & Go! On May 4, it was announced that she broke another record - the female artist with the highest DVD sales with 2,313,000.
On August 31, Hamasaki released her second mini album Five, her first since Memorial Address in 2003. This is her first album to have no singles released. Five topped the Oricon Charts for 2 consecutive weeks, her first to do so since (Miss)understood. The lead song, "Progress", was used as a theme song for the videogame, Tales of Xillia. The album also features collaborations, with singers Juno and Naoya Urata from AAA. This album managed to be certified Gold by RIAJ, making Hamasaki's first album not to be certified Platinum. Complete Clip Box 1998-2011, consisting all her music videos from her first single, "Poker Face" till her latest mini-album, Five, was released on January 1, 2012. "How Beautiful You Are" will be the theme song for a drama Saigo Kara Nibanme no Koi, and also Hamasaki's second digital single (55th single overall), which is released fully on February 8. Hamasaki describe the song as a mid-tempo ballad and a feeling of gratitude towards someone.
2012-13: 15th anniversary, Love Again and compilation releases
In 2012, The International 3D Society announced the winners of its 2012 3D Creative Arts Awards with Hamasaki receiving an award for "Electronic Broadcast Media (Television) - Live Event" for her A3D ayumi hamasaki Arena Tour 2009 A (Next Level) tour. On March 21, Hamasaki released her thirteenth studio album, Party Queen. The album peaked at number two on the Oricon charts, becoming her second studio album to do so after 2007's Guilty. On August 6, 2012, Hamasaki released her sixth compilation album A Summer Best. It included two new songs which were digitally released for the promotion of the album: the TRF cover, Happening Here, and You & Me.
In September 2012, it was announced that, to commemorate Hamasaki's 15th anniversary in the music industry on April 8, 2013, she would be releasing new material for five consecutive months starting on the 8th day of November, 2012, until the 8th of March, 2013. The first releases were two mini albums, Love and Again, which were put on sale on the 8th of November and December, respectively. The third release for the 8th of January was her compilation album A Classical, which included classical arrangements of previously released songs. The fourth release was Hamasaki's 14th studio album, Love Again, which compiled the songs included in the two previous mini albums. And finally the fifth was the DVD/Blu-ray of her Arena Tour 2012: Hotel Love Songs, released in March.?In April 2013 Hamasaki began her 15th Anniversary Tour: A Best Live, which lasted for four months until the end of July. Its setlist was chosen by fans through online voting, and was later released as her first live album CD on September 18. The DVD and Blu-ray versions were released on October 30, 2013. On December 25, 2013, Hamasaki released "Feel the Love/Merry-go-round", her first physical single in three years. "Feel the Love" was composed by Tetsuya Komuro and produced by Dj Hello Kitty, while "Merry-go-round" was produced by M-Flo's Taku Takahashi and features rapper Verbal. Both songs are heavily influenced by Western dance-pop music.
2014-2015: Colours, A One, Sixxxxxx
In January 2014, it was announced that a new song entitled "Pray" was chosen to be the theme song for the anime film Osamu Tezuka's Budda 2?Owarinaki Tabi, which premiered on February 8, 2014 in Japan. The song was released digitally on January 27, 2014. Another new song, entitled "Hello New Me", was presented as theme song for a new season of Fuji TV drama Zoku?Saigo Kara Nibanme no Koi. which started broadcasting in April, 2014. The song was released digitally on May 14, 2014. From May 30 to July 6, 2014, Hamasaki held her Premium Showcase: Feel the love tour, on which she offered 11 concerts at 3 locations: Nagoya, Osaka and Tokyo. On this tour Hamasaki abandoned for the first time the traditional format of her previous concerts and presented a uninterrupted, shorter show, on which she also debuted as an aerial acrobat. Hamasaki's fifteenth studio album, entitled Colours, was released on July 2, 2014. The album featured internationally renowned producers, such as RedOne, Rodney Jerkins, Armin van Buuren and Fedde le Grand, making the first time in Hamasaki's career in which primarily Western producers were appointed to produce one of her studio albums. Colours peaked at number five on its first week on the Oricon charts, becoming Hamasaki's first studio album to debut out of the Top 3. However, it also marked a new record for her, as with this achievement she became the second artist in Japan's history?after Yumi Matsutoya?to have 47 of her albums within the Top 10 of the charts. In September 2014, Hamasaki released two recut singles from Colours: "Terminal" and "XOXO" on the PlugAir platform. The single was released under Machine Shop Records for the American release.
On October 18, 2014, Hamasaki performed as the closing act in the A-Nation premium concert held at the Marina Bay Sands' MasterCard Theatres in Singapore. This was the second time performing in Singapore after her MTV Asia Awards performance 12 years ago. On November 2, 2014, Hamasaki announced through her official Facebook page that she had started recording new material composed by Tetsuya Komuro, Kunio Tago and Tetsuya Yukumi for a "winter ballad trilogy" single. On November 6, 2014, the title of the single was revealed to be "Zutto.../Last Minute/Walk", and its release date was set for December 24, 2014. On November 10, 2014, it was announced that Hamasaki would be collaborating in a tribute cover album for Hikaru Utada, entitled Utada Hikaru no Uta, to be released on December 9, 2014. For the album she contributed with a cover of Utada's 1998 single "Movin' on Without You", which was arranged by the RedOne production team. The winter ballad trilogy single, "Zutto.../Last Minute/Walk", was released on December 24, 2014, and peaked at number five on the Oricon charts. With this achievement, Hamasaki became the first solo artist in Japan's history to have 50 singles within the Top 10 of the Oricon charts. As for artists in general, Hamasaki became the third artist with more Top ten singles since Oricon's foundation in 1968?being surpassed by groups Morning Musume and SMAP, with 57 and 53 Top ten singles respectively In December 2014 Hamasaki announced that she would be not attending the New Year show K?haku Uta Gassen for the first time in 15 years. She explained her decision stating that she wanted to lower her responsibilities and things she felt pressured to do, in order to focus on the projects she had for her career, mainly regarding her plans to expand her influence throughout Asia.
On February 15, 2015, Hamasaki made a surprise guest appearance during Singaporean singer JJ Lin's concert in Taipei, Taiwan. They performed a duet version of Hamasaki's 2000 single "Seasons", and announced that JJ Lin would be producing a song for Hamasaki's next studio album, A One. The album was released on April 8, 2015, including singles "Zutto...", "Last Minute", "Walk", Utada's cover "Movin' on Without You", and JJ Lin-produced song "The Gift", for which a promotional music video was also made. Between April and July 2015, Hamasaki embarked on her Arena Tour 2015 A Cirque de Minuit tour throughout Japan, which was planned as an expanded version of her previous Countdown Live concerts held in late 2014. The tour consisted of a 34-song setlist show with a duration of 3 hours and 45 minutes, her longest concert held to date. At the final show of the aforementioned tour, Hamasaki announced that she would start another tour in September, this time exclusively for members of her official fan club, TeamAyu. The TA Limited Live Tour, Hamasaki's first fan club exclusive tour in twelve years after 2003, began on September 29, 2015 and included a total of 16 concerts at 7 venues.
In April 2015, a new song entitled "Step by Step" began to be broadcast as the theme song of NHK TV drama Bijo to Danshi, and was subsequently released as a digital single on July 1. On August 5, 2015, Hamasaki released her sixth extended play, entitled Sixxxxxx. The mini album featured six new songs, including drama theme song "Step by Step", and "Sayonara", a new song featuring Taiwanese boyband SpeXial. "Sayonara" became #1 on digital downloads charts in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia, according to KK BOX, Asia's largest digital distribution site. In addition, Hamasaki participated as one of the headliners of the A-Nation Stadium Fes 2015 held on August 30 at the Ajinomoto Stadium, where she also performed a cover of Globe's hit ballad song "Departures", joined by Tetsuya Komuro and Naoya Urata onstage. She also recorded a cover of Globe's "Many Classic Moments", which was included in the group's tribute album released on December 16, 2015. On December 23, 2015, Hamasaki released a winter-themed concept album entitled Winter Diary: A7 Classical, which included songs from her previous two albums -A One and -Sixxxxxx- remixed with Classical arrangements, and also new song "Winter Diary", which was produced by Tetsuya Komuro. Hamasaki promoted the album by starting an Instagram account that would be active for only a month until the end of January 2016. She shared pictures of the music video shooting of "Winter Diary" recorded in Taiwan, and also the preparations for her 2015-2016 countdown live concerts.
2016: Made in Japan
On her last Instagram post, Hamasaki confirmed that she has been working on her seventeenth studio album for 2016. A 15th anniversary edition of Hamasaki's 2001 greatest hits album A Best was released on March 28, 2016. In May 2016, Hamasaki started her nationwide tour Arena Tour 2016 A: Made in Japan, which will be an expanded version of her 2015-2016 Countdown Live Made in Tokyo. On May 11, Hamasaki made a surprise release of her 17th studio album, entitled Made in Japan, through music streaming website AWA, where it reached 1 million legal streams after 5 days of release. The album is set to be released on physical formats on June 29, 2016. With the album peaking at number two on the weekly Oricon chart, Hamasaki became the solo-artist with the most top-ten albums (50).
Image and artistry
Time magazine has noted that Hamasaki lacked talents such as the dance moves of Namie Amuro, the "supermodel allure" of Hitomi, and the "vocal pyrotechnics" of Hikaru Utada. Her own fans even considered her high-pitched voice screechy. However, her music is sometimes considered one of the major forces in shaping Japan's current music trends; this has been attributed to her constantly changing image as well as her self-penned lyrics, though critics credit clever marketing strategies. Hamasaki is also noted for the visual aspects of her artistry: she is considered a fashion trendsetter, with her influence extending beyond Japan. The Guardian says that Hamasaki has "married accessible, mainstream hits with over-the-top costumes and high-concept videos". The widespread influence of her music and her constantly changing image has meant that Hamasaki has often been compared to Madonna.
Hamasaki's lyrics and image have gained a following predominantly among the Generation X of Asia, mainly because of the "conflicting or inharmonious beauty" of her fashion and lyrics; Hamasaki's fashions combine Eastern and Western elements, and her songs, unlike those of many of her contemporaries, mostly all have English titles but contained no English lyrics (until Rainbow). Music critic Tetsu Misaki believed that the juxtaposition of her fashionable appearance and her personal lyrics was one of her most important selling points. The popularity of her music extends beyond Japan; she has a "sizable [following] across Asia" and is one of the few Japanese singers whose albums have sold over 10,000 copies in Singapore. In 2002, however, Hamasaki's domestic sales began declining due to a sluggish Japanese market and increasing piracy in Japan. As a result, she began moving toward the Asian market in 2002, performing at the 2002 MTV Asia awards in Singapore, at South Korea's "Asia Song Festival", and at a concert in Beijing to celebrate Sino-Japanese relations. With her popularity declining (due in part to the rising popularity of other singers), she made a foray into the Asian market, starting with her first tour of Asia in 2007.
Musical style
Hamasaki's lyrics, all her own, have resonated among her fans, who praise them as being honest and heartfelt and "expressing determination"; in two surveys conducted by Oricon, respondents voted Hamasaki's lyrics as their favorite aspect of her artistry. Steve McClure of The Japan Times noted that Hamasaki has "developed a reputation as a thoughtful, introspective lyricist"; Barry Walters of The Village Voice comments that Hamasaki's lyrics "pack unlikely insights". Having "trouble voicing her thoughts", Hamasaki uses her lyrics as an outlet; she draws inspiration from her own (and occasionally her friends') experiences and emotions and tries to put them "honestly into words". She has stated that honesty is essential to her lyrics, saying, "If I write when I'm low, it will be a dark song, but I don't care. I want to be honest with myself at all times." This meant that she did not use English lyrics until her album Rainbow, as she felt that she could best express herself in Japanese. As with her musical style, the themes of her lyrics have varied. Her debut album A Song for ×× dealt mostly with themes of "loneliness and confusion", as did her second album Loveppears. Duty likewise expressed feelings of disappointment and confusion. Hamasaki began to take on a more global outlook with her following albums I Am... and Rainbow, branching out to wider themes such as faith and peace. Music critic Tetsu Misaki noted a large change in her lyrics style between her debut album A Song for ×× (1999), which mostly dealt with personal problems, and her following albums Loveppears and Duty. Misaki believed Hamasaki had begun thinking about her influence on society more, and began writing songs with important messages she wanted to express to her listeners. This was signalled by her not using first person pronouns as much, and instead using the words bokura (??, "we") and tsutaeru (???, "convey") more often. As Hamasaki matured, her lyrics began to express more confidence; themes in her later albums included love and the struggles of women. With Guilty, Hamasaki began to compose her lyrics not only as an exposition of her personal feelings but as encouragements for her listeners, an outlook she applied in Next Level as well. In songs such as "Talkin' 2 Myself" and "Mirrorcle World", Hamasaki deals with the "awareness and fighting spirit of surviving in a high-risk age" to encourage listeners; in "Rollin'" (from Next Level), Hamasaki writes, "The age is rolling around/At the speed of heading toward the end/Beyond the border/Disappointment and hope fight with each other". In addition to personal experiences and feelings, Hamasaki bases lyrics on sources such as historical events. The life of Joan of Arc was the inspiration for "Free & Easy", while a story told to her by her friend about a saint named Mary served as the basis for "M"; the September 11 attacks inspired "A Song Is Born".
In addition to writing her own lyrics, Hamasaki has also involved herself in other aspects of production such as artistic direction. Though Max Matsuura is officially credited as the producer of her records, he said of Hamasaki, "Ayu is a very meticulous worker behind the scenes. A lot of the work she does by herself is more in the producer's arena. I think really we should say 'Produced by [A]yumi [H]amasaki'." Until her single "M", however, Hamasaki left the task of composing to her staff; as she has explained, "I'm not a professional; I lack even basic knowledge about writing music." However, she started to compose her own melodies after her staff had failed to compose a tune for "M" that appealed to her. Wanting to produce works faithful to her visions, Hamasaki took control of most aspects of her artistry. I Am... is representative of this stage in Hamasaki's career; she directed the production of its songs, videos, and artwork. She began to compose less after I Am...: whereas nearly all of I Am... was her work, only nine of Rainbow's fifteen tracks were composed by her. She was even less involved in the composition of subsequent albums, composing two tracks on Memorial Address, three on My Story, and one on (Miss)understood; since Secret, none of the songs on her studio albums have listed her as a composer. With later albums, Hamasaki also began to delegate to her staff tasks she had once handled herself. Hamasaki cites Madonna, soul musicians Babyface and En Vogue, and rock bands Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple as her influences and states that she admires Michelle Branch, Kid Rock, Joan Osborne, Seiko Matsuda, Rie Miyazawa, and Keiko Yamada; these diverse influences have led to the variety of her own music. Hamasaki began commissioning remixes of her songs early in her career, and this practice also influenced the diversity of her music. Found on many of her records, these remixes span different genres of electronic dance music including Eurobeat, house, and trance, as well as acoustic genres such as classical and traditional Chinese music. She has employed Western as well as Japanese musicians; among those she has worked with are Above & Beyond, the Lamoureux Orchestra of France, and traditional Chinese music ensemble Princess China Music Orchestra. Hamasaki has released more than a hundred original songs; through them, she has covered a wide range of musical styles, such as dance, metal, R&B, progressive rock, pop, and classical. She uses different instruments and techniques including piano, orchestra, gospel choirs, guitars, traditional Japanese strings, music boxes, and effects such as yells, claps, and scratching.
Hamasaki is often involved in the artistic direction of her music videos. They are often artistic productions through which Hamasaki tries to convey the meaning or feeling of their respective songs. The themes of the videos are varied; she has made "sad and fragile" or "emotional" videos ("Momentum", "Endless Sorrow"), "refreshing" summer videos ("Blue Bird", "Fairyland"), surreal or "scary" videos ("1 Love", "Marionette"), and humorous videos ("Evolution", "Angel's Song", "Beautiful Fighters"). Additionally, many of the videos contain short storylines, some of which use symbolism to convey their respective messages. The video of "Voyage" depicts Hamasaki as a woman in a mental hospital whose previous incarnation was a woman in feudal Japan who was sacrificed to the moon; the video of "Endless Sorrow" features a young boy living in a society where speaking is forbidden by law. In the video for "Free & Easy", Hamasaki portrayed a "twenty-first-century Joan of Arc" to convey her message "freedom cannot be easily obtained; there is a price to pay for it" and to express her opposition to her marrying at the time; the video for "Ourselves" featured masked people destroying "effigies of [Hamasaki's] past" such as photographs and album covers to symbolize destruction and rebirth. Additionally, the videos of "Fairyland", "My Name's Women", "Jewel", "Green", and "Virgin Road" are among the top twenty or so most expensive music videos, making Hamasaki the only non-American artist to hold such a distinction. Hamasaki is also involved in the production and artistic direction of her live performances; they, like her videos, are often lavish productions and use a variety of props, extravagant costumes, and choreographed dances. She has used large video screens, fireworks, simulated rain drops, trick stage floors, and suspended devices.
Public image
Hamasaki's influence goes beyond music; she is often considered a fashion icon and trend-setter, a status attributed to her tight control over her image. Besides her frequent appearances in fashion magazines, such as Vivi, Popteen, and Cawaii!, Hamasaki has often been lauded for her trendy choices in apparels and accessories; Oricon has repeatedly named her the "Most Fashionable Female Artist". Many aspects of Japan's fashions?including clothing, hair, nails, and accessories?have in some way been influenced by her. As with her music, trends Hamasaki started have spread to Asian countries as Taiwan, China, and Singapore. Among the trends Hamasaki has started is hime-kei (a look inspired by the fashions of 18th century French aristocracy); she has also heavily influenced the kogal subculture. Hamasaki's constantly changing image is apparent not only in her fashion photo shoots and commercial endorsements but also in her record covers, an element she considers essential in conveying her message. She has portrayed herself as a vine-clad "peace muse" or "Greek goddess" (on her album I Am...), as a "twenty-first-century Joan of Arc" (for her single "Free & Easy"), and as a "funky Lolita". Though Hamasaki has portrayed herself in earlier releases as a "girl next door", she has adopted a more sexualized image since the release of Loveppears. The covers for records including Loveppears, I Am..., Rainbow, and Party Queen feature Hamasaki in states of partial nudity, for which she has generated controversy. Hamasaki also garnered criticism after she modeled bra for lingerie manufacturer Wacoal, though most of the criticism alleged that Hamasaki was only trying to "play catch-up" with Kumi Koda, who gained popularity for her overtly sexual image.
Hamasaki has accepted offers by numerous brands to endorse their products. Throughout her career under Avex, she has promoted products that ranged from electronics (Tu-Ka cell phones and Panasonic) to various snack foods. Among the products she has advertised on television are the Honda Crea scooter, KOSÉ cosmetics, Mister Donut donuts, and Boss coffee. As well as serving as background music for television advertisements, some of Hamasaki's songs have been used as themes for video games, television shows and motion pictures, such as Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams, InuYasha, Shinobi: Heart Under Blade and Tales of Xillia. Although Hamasaki initially supported the exploitation of her popularity for commercial purposes, saying that it was "necessary that [she is] viewed as a product", she eventually opposed Avex's decision to market her as a "product rather than a person".
MTRLG
Hamasaki launched her own fashion brand, MTRLG (Material Girl), in 2001; the clothes were sold at MTRLG boutiques and at Mise S*clusive stores.
Ayupan
In 2002, Hamasaki created Ayupan, a cartoon version of herself that appeared in a line of merchandise (mainly figurines) and in a 2003 cartoon. For her 2007 tour Tour of Secret, Hamasaki collaborated with Sanrio to create a line of merchandise, "Ayumi Hamasaki x Hello Kitty/", that features Ayupan and Hello Kitty together. The merchandise included cell phone straps and Lumix cameras decorated with a picture of Hello Kitty behind Hamasaki's "A" logo; the former product was a result of a collaboration with Sanrio and Japanese fashion brand Ash & Diamonds, the latter a collaboration with Sanrio and Panasonic.
Ayu ready?
She briefly hosted her own television show, Ayuready? (October 2002), on Fuji Television. The talk show, aired on Saturday nights from 11:30 to midnight, often featured her performing songs with guests, among whom were Goto Maki, Puffy, and Akina Nakamori. To promote the program (and her album Rainbow), Hamasaki opened a restaurant, Rainbow House, on Sh?nan Beach; it was occasionally used in episodes of Ayuready?. After less than two years, the last episode aired in March 2004.
In March 2011, Hamasaki donated 30 million yen to relief efforts for the T?hoku earthquake and tsunami. She also collaborated with fashion magazine ViVi to sell charity T-shirts.
On January 1, 2011, Hamasaki announced her engagement to Austrian actor and model Manuel Schwarz, whom Hamasaki met in August 2010 on the set of her music video for "Virgin Road". On January 2, her office announced that she and Schwarz had married in the United States the day before. However, on January 16, 2012, Hamasaki announced on her website that she would divorce Schwarz. The reason for the divorce was that, initially, Hamasaki wanted to move in with Schwarz in the United States but due to the earthquake and tsunami that hit her home country in March, 2011, she strongly desired not to leave Japan.
On December 13, 2013, it was announced on her official TeamAyu site that Hamasaki had become engaged to an American medical student 10 years her junior, whom she had been with since the spring of that year, adding: "As my partner is an ordinary student, I would be very happy if you could watch over us quietly."
On March 3, 2014, the singer announced on her fan club site "Team Ayu" that she was officially married. According to her agency, the couple already finished their marriage procedure in the United States near the end of February. On the 3rd, Hamasaki's mother, as a deputy, submitted the marriage registration to Japan.
On September 11, 2016, Hamasaki announced that she and her husband had separated. On September 30, 2016, she announced that her divorce had been finalized.
In January 2008, Hamasaki announced on her blog that an inoperable condition, possibly tinnitus or Ménière's disease, had caused complete deafness in her left ear. She had been diagnosed with the condition in 2006 and that the problem dated to 2000, when she developed an ear infection but continued to perform against the advice of doctors. Despite the setback, Hamasaki stated that she wished to continue singing, and that "as a professional", she wanted to "deliver the best performance for everyone". On May 20 2017, she wrote that she is also losing hearing in her right ear, and had experienced dizziness and nausea. She vowed to continue performing, writing: "The stage is where I belong. It's the only place I really, truly exist. I don't know anything else."
A Song for ×× (1999)
Loveppears (1999)
Duty (2000)
I Am... (2002)
Rainbow (2002)
My Story (2004)
(Miss)understood (2006)
Rock 'n' Roll Circus (2010)
Party Queen (2012)
Love Again (2013)
Colours (2014)
A One (2015)
M(a)de in Japan (2016)
Concert tours
New Years countdown concerts
List of awards received by Ayumi Hamasaki
List of best-selling music artists
List of best-selling music artists in Japan
List of J-pop artists
Media related to Ayumi Hamasaki at Wikimedia Commons
Official website (in Japanese)
Ayumi Hamasaki's channel on YouTube
Ayumi Hamasaki on Internet Movie Database
Ayumi Hamasaki at Oricon
STEP you
(miss)understood


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15 S. Dubuque St | Iowa City IA 52240 | 319-337-2681 | 1-800-295-BOOK (2665) | Contact Us
Prairie Lights Books
Bim, Bam, Bop . . . and Oona (Hardcover)
By Jacqueline Briggs Martin, Larry Day (Illustrator)
An irresistible read-aloud picture book, in which a little odd-duck-out discovers her unique strengths
When these ducks go to the pond, it is Bim, Bam, Bop . . . and Oona, always last. They're all ducks, but Bim, Bam, and Bop are runners, and Oona's a waddler. "Last is a blot on my life," she says to her frog friend, Roy. "I don't feel as big as a duck should feel." But she's good with gizmos, Roy reminds her. So Oona tinkers with things, scraps, and strings, and eventually creates just the right gadget to get her to the pond first.
Spunky Oona will inspire and delight all who see her final triumphant creation. With its fun read-aloud words (from Brrrrrring to OOO-hoolie-hoo!), her story is wonderful to hear. Its charming illustrations invite readers to imagine our own new gizmos, and her victory reminds us to look for our own special gifts. A tale about being true to yourself, building confidence, and finding friendship, Bim, Bam, Bop . . . and Oona is sure to bring smiles to readers and listeners of all ages.
Jacqueline Briggs Martin has published twenty-one books for children. Her picture book biography of a self-taught scientist, Snowflake Bentley, won the 1999 Caldecott medal. Chef Roy Choi and the Street Food Re-mix (cowritten with June Jo Lee) was a Sibert Honor book in 2018. Creekfinding: A True Story, published by the University of Minnesota Press, was one of the New York Public Library's 100 Best Books of 2017; it was the Green Earth Award winner in 2018 and a Riverby Award winner.
Larry Day is the award-winning illustrator of many books, both fiction and nonfiction, including Lion, Lion, one of NPR's Best Books, and Not Afraid of Dogs, winner of the Golden Kite Award. George Did It! received the Monarch Award, and Colonial Voices: Hear Them Speak won seven state awards, including the Carol Otis Hurst Prize. The Society of Illustrators has awarded Day three gold medals (so far).
"A tale to encourage young readers to find and follow their gifts, the story of Oona is also one of friendship and courage. It's filled with literary devices, including simile, metaphor, and a bit of alliteration accompanies detailed, full-page spreads in pen and watercolor."—School Library Journal
"Budding engineers of any species will agree that Oona has well earned the right to feel 'just as big as a duck should feel.'"—Kirkus Reviews
"Bim, Bam Bop … and Oona invites young readers to think about how their own 'being different,' can be an opportunity to use their own special talents and truly 'fly high!'"—The Pirate Tree
"The pen-and-watercolor illustrations, immersively detailed, bring this farm fantasy to life as a lovely world."—Arkansas Democrat Gazette
"Spectacular."—Star Tribune
Publisher: Univ Of Minnesota Press
Publication Date: February 5th, 2019
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Concerned Citizens of Cedar Springs
Started 1 petition
Petitioning Cedar Springs Board of Education
Petition for the removal of Superintendent Laura Van Duyn
This petition serves as the community's voice to remove Cedar Springs Public Schools Superintendent, Laura Van Duyn. The atmosphere has become one of bullying, intimidation and pitting people against one another. Collaboration is no longer wanted and many educators feel trapped. Staff members who ask questions are reprimanded, reassigned or removed. The culture changed overnight. The toxic atmosphere has led many quality educators to seek employment elsewhere. Surrounding top flight schools such as Rockford, Hudsonville, East Grand Rapids, East Kentwood and Grandville are now home to former staff. Our district has seen over 75 staff members leave in three short years. Even if half of those people left because of the atmosphere, it would be problematic. With the mass exodus of staff, changes to philosophy and different leadership, proficiency scores are dropping during Dr. VanDuyn's tenure. Teachers continue to work tirelessly, but repeatedly face the elimination of programs and resources. Instructional coaches have gradually been slashed one after another. This is widely proven through research as the most effective way to develop teachers and is one of the only professional development models proven to impact student learning long term. Another successful program known as GATORS, which provided students with intensive reading support, has been eliminated and replaced with interventions such as "the super switch." Lab classroom experiences to develop teachers' skill sets, and district instructional rounds, which provided crucial building/district wide data, have also faced drastic changes and major cutbacks. Staff members have advocated for such programs and are left feeling as though they do not have a voice in their students' futures. · In 2016, only 45% of students were proficient in English Language Art at the end of third grade. This is lower than the state and Kent County average. · In 2017, even fewer students were proficient in the same area. Only 34.5% of students were proficient by the end of third grade, again below state and and Kent ISD averages. · On the most recent assessment results, Cedar Springs fell below the state and Kent ISD average of students proficient, as measured by the MSTEP, in all subjects, in all grades that take the test (3-8). We also fell below the State and County averages on the SAT College Readiness benchmark, the statewide assessment at the high school level. Cedar Springs should not be a below average district, we do not have below average students and we do not have below average teachers and support staff. There are many factors to this, all of which are problematic. Our students deserve educational programming in which our staff have a voice. Finally, we have lost our identity and history. Dr. VanDuyn severed a twenty year relationship with the Cedar Springs Post. The Post served as a historical account of all things Red Hawk. She also dissolved a decades long relationship with a foreign exchange student program that brought the district hundreds of thousands of dollars. Our town, school, culture and civility have been torn apart. In a recent survey taken by staff and parents, the question "Please suggest the single most important thing to improve Cedar Springs Public Schools" was asked. The most frequently given answer was to change the superintendent. The same question was asked of parents, and new leadership as superintendent was the second highest response, behind only improving school security. With the toxic environment the staff has had to endure, the unusual mass exodus of staff, poor financial decisions and most importantly falling proficiency with students, we the alumni, taxpayers and citizens of Cedar Springs come to you with a clear and powerful message. We have lost confidence in your sole employee, Dr. Laura VanDuyn. We ask that you hear our voice as we the people of Cedar Springs request the immediate removal of Dr. VanDuyn as Superintendent of Cedar Springs Public Schools.


WASHINGTON—President Trump touted U.S. progress in the race to next-generation 5G wireless infrastructure Friday—pushing back against critics who contend China is inching ahead—as his administration unveiled initiatives designed to advance the networks' rollout.
Next-generation 5G is expected to mark a significant step forward in wireless technology, boosting speeds dramatically and potentially fostering the development of applications such as self-driving vehicles, interconnected or "smart" cities, and linked devices in factories and homes.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai earlier this year said U.S. wireless companies have established an early lead in 5G in some respects. Cellphone carriers have echoed that message by highlighting their first 5G investments. U.S. firms are expected to be testing more than 90 pilot network installations by the end of the year, for example.
But many experts say Chinese firms like Huawei Technologies Co. are playing a dominant role writing the 5G engineering standards that will decide how future networks function.
Huawei, already the world's largest telecom equipment supplier, is further helped by China's generous support for domestic 5G infrastructure projects, U.S. officials say. That could give China an advantage in marketing 5G around the world.
The president pushed back on critics who have advocated for a much larger government role in establishing a 5G network to counter China.
"We don't want to do that," he said, contending that relying on the private sector to build out networks would be both faster and better. Mr. Trump's top economic advisers have advocated a more market-based approach to 5G in the U.S.
One move would place a large amount of airwaves—roughly 3,400 megahertz in three different spectrum bands—on the auction block, giving wireless companies and others the airwave capacity to set up 5G networks. The FCC described the auction—now planned for December—as the largest in American history.
Another move would create a new $20 billion funding program to assist in deployment of broadband in hard-to-serve rural areas, which the FCC says will support future 5G technologies. The agency estimated the program—an extension of an existing connectivity program—will connect up to 4 million rural homes and small businesses to high-speed networks over the next decade.
FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, a Democrat, said the administration has mishandled 5G rollout, hurting U.S. chances. "So far, this administration's interventions on 5G have done more harm than good," she said, citing tariffs on some 5G equipment made overseas as one example.
The question of who is actually winning the race to 5G is a complex one, several experts say.
Some said U.S. officials are looking at the race too narrowly, and should focus more on developing the applications that will use 5G capabilities. That is what allowed the U.S. to dominate the development of smartphones, cloud computing and other breakthroughs of the last decade, said Chetan Sharma, a consultant. Those new applications will include artificial intelligence and robotics, he said.
Some Wall Street observers, meanwhile, are skeptical the policies announced Friday would do much to change the daunting math for private-sector companies tasked with building the costly new networks across the U.S.
"For all the talk of internet-of-things and smart cities, nobody has really identified viable revenue models for a 5G network," said Craig Moffett, a telecom industry analyst for research firm MoffettNathanson LLC. "Making it work will be mind-bogglingly expensive because you need small cells on every block," he added.


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USA vs. Chile, 2019 friendly: What to watch for
Let's get another one.
By Donald Wine II@blazindw Mar 25, 2019, 6:00am PDT
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The United States Men's National Team get back at it tomorrow night in Houston as they take on Chile in friendly action. After a terrific defensive performance against Ecuador, resulting in a 1-0 victory, they will take on the 2-time defending South American champions, who are coming off an up-and-down series of performances after not making the 2018 World Cup. Can the USMNT continue to defend under Gregg Berhalter's system to put another clean sheet in the books? Or, will the test of La Roja be too much?
W (1-0) - Ecuador - Friendly
W (2-0) - Costa Rica - Friendly
W (3-0) - Panama - Friendly
L (0-1) - Italy - Friendly
L (0-3) - England - Friendly
L (1-3) - Mexico - Friendly
W (4-1) - Honduras - Friendly
L (2-3) - Costa Rica - Friendly
W (1-0) - Mexico - Friendly
L (0-3) - Peru - Friendly
Offensive aggressiveness. Against Ecuador, the USMNT had only 5 shots and 2 on target, with Gyasi Zardes' deflected goal being the only one to find the back of the net. That's down from the two matches during January Camp against Panama and Costa Rica, where the USMNT had a combined 29 shots and 10 on frame. The USMNT needs to create their chances and take them when they materialize. If they spread out Chile's defense, there will be lanes to attack. Go at them, get off the shots, get goals. Easier said than done, but aggressiveness is the key.
Defensive communication. The communication on defense against Ecuador was great, as there was a clear plan and the team executed it to perfection. They only allowed 1 shot (0 on target), which is a testament to the work they did to keep Ecuador at bay. Chile is a better test defensively for the Americans, however. They'll need to continue to talk, especially as the hybrid 4-3-3 formation shifts, so that no one is caught in a bad position.
Can the left side hold? Much of Ecuador's attack centered on trying to exploit the left side of the American defense, but they held strong. Seldom did they get beat by an Ecuadorian player with the ball. That will be an even bigger point of focus tomorrow, with Weston McKennie out and not able to provide cover on that side in the midfield and tracking back on defense. If the USMNT come out with a victory, it will be because the left side was able to stay together and keep the Chileans in front of them.
Lineup Prediction
Gregg Berhalter stated after the match Thursday night that there would be "some changes" to the lineup. Weston McKennie suffered what is believed to be an ankle sprain Thursday night after falling awkwardly after jumping for a header. Tyler Adams was sent back to RB Leipzig, and Jesse Gonzalez is back in camp after returning to FC Dallas for a weekend match. Wil Trapp also subbed off early with what looked on field level to be a knock. So, with 23 players in camp and 2 of them injured, Berhalter will likely shift some players around in his lineup.
USMNT vs. Chile predicted lineup
In goal, expect Ethan Horvath to get the start against the Chileans. Sean Johnson didn't have much to do against Ecuador, but Horvath may have to make some saves tomorrow night. On defense, with Adams gone, Nick Lima assumes the right back/defensive midfielder hybrid role, one he had during January Camp. He understands the responsibility, and Berhalter trusts him with that position. On the left, Daniel Lovitz will be in charge. As the only natural left back on the roster, he will have a lot of ground to cover. In the middle, we could see a centerback pairing of John Brooks and Omar Gonzalez. Gonzalez, who did not dress against Ecuador, is the surprise addition to camp, and Berhalter will likely give him a chance. Brooks performed well against Ecuador and he will be able to help Lovitz on the left side.
The midfielders will be Michael Bradley on the right, Cristian Roldan on the left (who will have license to move up), and Christian Pulisic in the middle serving as more of an attack midfielder. Bradley will sometimes shift to the left as Roldan moves forward, allowing Lima to slot into the right side of the central midfield. Sebastian Lletget will be available as a substitute and expect to see him come on for Pulisic sometime in the 2nd half.
Up top, look for DeAndre Yedlin to be on the right. He was effective on that side in his substitute appearance Thursday night, and he will be responsible for also helping out on defense. On the left, we'll see Paul Arriola again, but expect Jonathan Lewis and Corey Baird to come in early as well to get some playing time. In the middle, Christian Ramirez, who also did not dress against Ecuador, could get the start as Berhalter looks to evaluate the depth at that forward position.
If there's a match where the back line will have to deal with some adversity, it will be this one. Chile may not be the Chile of a few years ago, but they're still really good. The USMNT get a goal, but they give one up as well. In the end, they walk out of there with a 1-1 draw.
Wrapping January Camp for Leeds United States We discuss what to take from January Camp, and Wes joins the U.S. Leeds National Team.
USMNT midweek viewing guide: Fighting for places Many of this week's midweek club matches feature teams meeting opponents who are just above or below them.


This page explains Porter's obligations and your rights in the case of an oversold flight, and how to seek resolution if things don't go as planned.
Occasionally we may not be able to provide you with a seat on a flight you have a confirmed reservation on, even if you have checked in on time and you meet all the reservation requirements.
Porter has a Denied Boarding Policy to ensure that in case of an oversold flight, we provide fair treatment and compensation to all Porter passengers, in addition to meeting all regulatory requirements.
a confirmed seat on a later flight.
whether a passenger is traveling due to death or illness of a member of the passenger's family; age of a passenger; whether a passenger is an unaccompanied minor; whether a passenger is a person with a disability; the fare class purchased and/or fare paid by a passenger.
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Porter will make any involuntary denied boarding payment in cash on the day and at the airport location where the denial of boarding occurred.
However, if alternate transportation arranged for the passenger's convenience departs before the payment can be processed, then a cheque payment will be issued within 24 hours after the denied boarding occurs and sent by mail to the address provided.
Complete terms and conditions relating to your rights in the event of involuntary denial of boarding can be found in our Domestic Tariff (see Rule 18), our Canada-U.S. Transborder Tariff (see Rule 90) and our International Tariff (see Rule 20).
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We review all complaints and concerns promptly and respond as quickly as reasonably possible. Some complaints, suggestions or recommendations may, however, require more time and effort to address. Normally, a full response and explanation will be given within 30 days or as soon as reasonably possible.


One of the coolest ways to share M3 scores with physicians, and other healthcare providers, is via the Provider One-page Report. Provider One-page Reports may be downloaded on-demand, AND, automatically emailed via secure link from the M3 system directly to your providers, if desired.
To see if your organization is currently subscribing to Provider One-page Reports, do the following.
If you don't see the link that reads, "Download Monthly One-page Provider Reports", click here to see sample report and then drop me an email if you would like to add Provider One-page Reports to your practice's M3 subscription. We will customize the report so that the four focus questions align with your organization's strategy and culture.
Detailed provider reports are also available. After clicking on "Downloadable Reports", just click, "Download Monthly Provider Reports" to download the more comprehensive, detailed provider report for each of your providers.
Another good way to share M3 information with providers is to simply provide them with a user name and password. MedicalGPS does not charge extra for additional M3 users — you may have as many users as needed, including your providers. To add an M3 user account for your practice, do the following, or feel free to reach out to our support team.
3) Click "Add a New User" (look for the link toward the top of the page).
M3 real-time alerts are exactly that — alerts that fire-off to the practice manger, or their designee, immediately whenever a patient takes a survey that triggers required action. As an admin-user for your practice's survey, you may add and remove team members to the real-time alerts as needed. Here's how.
Every 90 days the M3 system will require a new password. You may of course change your password more frequently, if you so desire.
When you do reset your password, many web browsers will auto-fill the user name and/or the password data entry fields, in error, with your email address. When that happens an error message occurs. Make sure the user name and the password fields are not being auto-fuilled with your email address.


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Selected: Greenpeace Philippines Change Country
#Energy #Justice
New Greenpeace report estimates coal plant emissions could kill 2,400 Filipinos per year
by Greenpeace Philippines
MANILA, Philippines, 3 February 2016 – While coal is king in the Philippines, a new Greenpeace Southeast Asia report has revealed for the first time the current health impacts of existing coal-fired power plants, as well as projected health impacts of operating and planned power plants in the Philippines.
The report, Coal: A Public Health Crisis. Diseases and deaths attributed to coal use in the Philippines showed an estimated 960 premature deaths each year due to stroke, ischemic heart disease, other cardiovascular diseases, and respiratory diseases. If the new power plants are to be developed, premature deaths may rise up to 2,410— more than double the current number of people dying from coal-related pollution in the Philippines.
"Results of the research show that coal-fired power plants expose everyone in the Philippines to toxic pollution, resulting in hundreds of premature deaths every year," said Lauri Myllyvirta, Senior Global Coal Campaigner at Greenpeace International and also one of the authors of the research. "Leading economies from the United States to China and Europe are already relaying on modern, renewable energy sources for their additional power needs, showing that this is a real option for Philippines as well."
More than one-third of the energy used to generate electricity in the Philippines comes from burning coal. Currently, the country has 17 operational coal plants, with 29 more approved by the Department of Energy (DOE), set to begin commercial operations by 2020.
The report is based on research carried out at Harvard University on the impacts of emissions coming from coal-fired power plants on the air quality of selected countries in Asia. For the Philippine version, Greenpeace collaborated with HealthJustice to write the report, with support from Health Care Without Harm – Asia and the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice.
Coal use harms the environment and public health at every stage of its life cycle. Coal-fired power plants emit sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxide (NO2) and other gaseous pollutants in the air that can react chemically to form particulate matter that is 2.5 µm in diameter.
Aside from generating particulate matter, coal combustion also affects health indirectly by contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. Climate change can bring extreme heat, lead to natural disasters, and eventually increase diseases transmitted through insects such as malaria and dengue.
The study evaluated 13 operational coal-fired power plants in the Philippines with a combined installed capacity of 3,799.10 megawatts (MW), as well as the potential impacts of plans to build 29 new coal-fired power plants with a total capacity of 11700MW, which could dramatically increase levels of sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxide (NOx) and PM2.5 emissions.
"This pioneering study is an important addition to the growing body of health and scientific research on the adverse impacts of coal-fired power plants, not only to the environment, but to human health as well," said Reuben Andrew Muni, Climate and Energy Campaigner for Greenpeace Philippines. "We strongly recommend for the DOE, the DOH and other policy-makers to read it and take heed as it presents a strong case on why the Philippines should end its dependence on coal-generated electricity now, not only for economic, environmental and climate change reasons, but on public health grounds as well."
"This new study just confirms what we already know about the health effects of coal based on international evidence. For the longest time, we have been ignoring the environmental case for the phase out of coal. I hope that this time, the public health argument will convince us that coal is not the way to go towards a clean, sustainable and healthy energy future," said Dr. Renzo Guinto, Campaigner for the Healthy Energy Initiative, Health Care Without Harm-Asia.
"New coal plants are a lose-lose proposition for the public. Increasing dependence on coal will consign us to dirty air for 30 or more years, as coal gets more expensive and other countries abandon it as an energy source. There is a way out of this vicious cycle. We must embrace renewables through a strong, health-driven energy policy," said Atty. Ipat Luna, a Trustee of HealthJustice-Philippines.
"Coal burning is a proven nuisance to health and the climate. The more coal plants and mines are commissioned by the government, the more people and communities are placed in the direct path of perdition. Undoubtedly, it is a kiss of death to host communities and vulnerable nations like the Philippines. We thus demand for a moratorium on new coal plants, phase out of existing ones, and for a just transition to renewable energy options" said Atty. Aaron Pedrosa, SANLAKAS Secretary General and PMCJ Energy Working Group Head.
Considering the Philippines' rising population, poor health outcomes, and the scarcity of resources needed to adapt to the worst effects of climate change, Greenpeace recommends that the country should end its heavy dependence on coal as an energy source and accelerate initiatives involving renewable energy (RE) resources to meet its energy demands. RE is emerging as the energy of choice for an increasing number of communities and local government units (LGU). The report recommends that the government phases out of coal and fully embrace RE sources in the Philippines based on public health considerations.
Download the pdf version of the report here.
Notes to the Editor:
[1] World Health Organization (2015). Climate change and health factsheet. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs266/en/
Reuben Muni
Climate & Energy Campaigner for Greenpeace Philippines
Email: [email protected] Mobile: 0917-8069084
Therese Salvador
Media Campaigner for Greenpeace Philippines
#Climate #Justice
First-ever finding on corporate responsibility for climate crisis issued by CHR; Groups hail landmark climate justice victory for communities
by Greenpeace Philippines December 10, 2019
Civil society groups and communities across the Philippines today hailed the pronouncement of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) of the Philippines that the world's biggest polluting companies are responsible…
Greenpeace reactive on Philippine Commission on Human Rights' announcement
by Greenpeace Philippines December 9, 2019
Today, on the sidelines of COP 25 in Madrid, the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines (CHR), represented by Commissioner Roberto Cadiz, announced that the 47 investor-owned corporations, including…
Energy companies' coal proposals set to deepen PH overdependence on fossil fuels
by Greenpeace Philippines November 22, 2019
Big energy companies are hindering the Philippines' transition to a low carbon future.
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WBPWD/EE-I/CTD/NIT1/2019-20 - Erection Of Temporary Pandel, Counters, Supplying Chairs, Tables Etc. At The North Side Campus Road Of Netaji Indoor Stadium For Parliament Election 2019 Under 24 Kolkata Uttar Parliamentary Constituency.
Erection Of Temporary Pandel, Counters, Supplying Chairs, Tables Etc. At The North Side Campus Road Of Netaji Indoor Stadium For Parliament Election 2019 Under 24 Kolkata Uttar Parliamentary Constituency.


THE BALL club is in the cellar, stars unloaded. Its most recent publicity was for cops beating a guy on the ground. A dock restaurant fell into the river. A neighborhood is actually sinking.
Philadelphia is on display when the nation's eyes are on a political convention so scripted, devoid of happening and under control that those eyes will inevitably stray to the periphery.
They will see a burgeoning downtown, tremendous investment in arts facilities, convention center, bubbling new restaurant and nightlife around the 18th-century tourist sites. This is Mayor John Street's town, full of optimism and vitality.
Beyond the glare is the dark side, the slums, crime and drugs, community distrust, school system disruptions, municipal labor unrest and other ills of urban America just a cab ride away.
Philadelphia, to a lot of people, is Baltimore writ large. And so Baltimoreans can only wish it well during this week in the spotlight, cheer, hope it shows to best advantage and nothing goes wrong.
The Republicans will soon go back where they came from, but the city endures. It's a great place and always was. The Republicans are to be congratulated for putting Philly's latest renaissance on display.


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Five Tribes Review
There were a lot of great games released at Gen Con this year. Five Tribes, from Days of Wonder and Bruno Cathala, was one of the most talked about - and hardest to get.
Now that the game has finally hit distribution, does it live up to all that hype?
No "board" but still takes up a lot of space!
Looks good doing it, though.
Five Tribes is a part logistics puzzle, part action selection, part point salad game that pits players against one another, each of them trying to best maneuver the five tribes of the "Land of 1001 Nights" in order to become the next Sultan!
The game board is made up of 30 individual tiles, which are arranged randomly before each game. Meeples of 5 different colors are placed on these tiles, also randomly. Players will take turns picking up a group of meeples from any tile on the board, and dropping one off at a time, mancala-style, until they drop the last meeple they picked up. One important rule when choosing which tile to end up at - there must already be a meeple on the tile the player ends with that matches the color of the meeple she is placing on the tile.
Days of Wonder has included some large, but superb player aids.
Once the player finishes distributing the group of meeples she picked up, she performs two actions. First, she picks up all of the meeples on the tile she ended on that match the color of the meeple she placed there (always at least two because of the rule I mentioned above), and executes that tribe's action. If the player was able to pick up all of the meeples on a tile (because they were all the same color of the meeple she placed there) she gets to place one of her camels on the tile, and will score that tile's depicted points at the end of the game. Then, she also gets to perform the action of the tile she ended on.
The leftmost tile allows a player to
buy 2 goods cards for 6 gold.
The actions of the tribes and the tiles are quite varied and give players the opportunity to score points in a variety of different ways. Some allow players to get money right away, which can be used in game, or exchanged 1:1 at the end of the game for points. Some allow players to acquire powerful Djinns which can grant either in-game or end-game bonuses. And others will allow players to go to the market, and attempt to assemble sets of goods card which can be traded in for large amounts of points/money.
Gameplay continues until either one player places all of her camels or there are no legal moves left (no groups of meeples can be distributed in such a way that the final meeple to be placed will be the same color as one already on the destination tile).
The biggest potential problem for Five Tribes is how many options players are presented with, all at once. Five Tribes is not a game that starts off at a reasonable pace, and then ramps up as the game progresses. For the most part, from when the game begins, the number of choices for the players is gradually decreasing, as more meeples are removed from the board, and more tiles become owned by players. That not only can make the game intimidating and difficult to learn for new players, but it can also lead to a lot of analysis paralysis for experienced players. This can lead to awful amounts of downtime for the rest of the table. This also, however, means that player turns are almost never boring, and each point earned by players really feels like the result of proper planning and execution.
One of the most exciting parts of Five Tribes is something I haven't mentioned yet - bidding for turn order. Before each round, players will bid for turn order. There is a bidding track, like in Amun-Re or Vegas Showdown, where the values are fixed, and in turn order of the previous round, players place their bidding pawns on the amount of money they are willing to pay for turn order. This is interesting in itself and leads to a bit of bluffing and gamesmanship, but keep in mind also that at the end of the game, money is converted into points at a rate of 1:1.
The main mechanism of Five Tribes, the manacala-esque distribution of meeples is so much fun and super satisfying. Players are challenged each turn to both get as many points as they can (hopefully more than they bid for their turn order) as well as keep from setting the other players up to either take ownership or a tile or otherwise have a huge turn.
Five Tribes absolutely lives up to the hype that surrounded it during Gen Con. The game is a solid 9.0 in my book - one of my favorite releases this year.
Labels: 9.0, area control, auction, bruno faidutti, Days of Wonder, euro, five tribes, mancala, random set up, set collection, strategy
Knee Jerk Kickstarter Preview
Dead of Winter Review


The Registry of Supreme Court of India has invited applications from the eligible candidates for the posts of Editor and Assistant Editor, Supreme Court Reports.
A degree in Law of a Statutory University in India recognized by the Bar Council of India or any State Bar Council for enrolment as an Advocate.
An Attorney of High Court in the territory of India.
Minimum 3 years service in a Class 1 Gazetted post in Government service.
Minimum service of 7 years of which minimum 4 years in a Class-II Gazetted post in the Supreme Court/High Court or collectively in High court and Supreme Court.
copy of practicing as an Advocate in High Court/Supreme Court/working as a Reader or Lecturer in Law of a recognized University/Class-1 Gazetted Post (for exact proof of experience showing duration and date from-to) duly attested by appropriate Gazetted Officers.
Envelope superscribed with "APPLICATION FOR THE POST OF....................." containing application completed in all respects to reach the Registrar (Admn.I), Supreme Court of India, Tilak Marg, New Delhi-110201.


This month marks a year since I started PHAZE Magazine.
PHAZE has become a very important part of my life and although this magazine is an entity of itself, it is a reflection of my journey as a creative, an artist and ultimately how I express myself. PHAZE is inspired by all of the art and creative people I know, both online and in person. This magazine is an extension of all the artistic mediums I've honed in on during some point of my life: photography, design, writing and many others. Since the start, multimedia has always been my goal and I strive to deliver the best content in music & art through various forms, so our audience can experience it as well. Over the past year, PHAZE has expanded and grown into a platform that I am extremely proud of, and my heart is full and excited for all that is to come in the future. I am so happy with all that we've accomplished and I couldn't have done it without my amazing Team, our audience and the creative community amongst us. Being Editor-in-Chief of PHAZE — creating, managing, curating and everything in between— has been a very intense and gratifying experience. To be honest, it still feels like I created PHAZE just a couple of months ago, and to think a year has passed is crazy.
This past year, I have been able to accomplish some of my biggest goals for PHAZE, even when it felt like things would not come together or were somewhat impossible. Before the launch, I knew PHAZE was going to be five things: An online magazine, a print magazine, a radio show, a platform & community for emerging artists in music and art, and finally, something that once I began...I was never giving up on. All these five things are still true.
January 2017, I began brainstorming for PHAZE. Summer 2017, I began building and gathering content for PHAZE from concerts and artists I had captured over the years. August 2017, I finally choose a name for our platform, PHAZE, which was inspired by a Tumblr name I had in high school. August 2017, I found our Team. September 2017, we launched PHAZE with our online magazine. January 2018, we launched our first print magazine. February 2018, we started our first radio show. Summer 2018, we took a short hiatus. September 2018, we're back again with a second PHAZE of artists, work and content.
However, in September 2018, I also moved to London to study abroad.
Studying abroad in London right now is one of the best experiences of my life. Although I am still managing and working on PHAZE while abroad, it is so surreal to think that as I take this new journey across the world, PHAZE will too. I have been in London for about three weeks, and the rappers, photographers, DJs, stylists and overall creatives I have encountered so far are some of the most genuine and talented people I've ever seen. As I experience and connect with other creatives, so will PHAZE. As I dive into the UK-British art world, so will PHAZE. This is all to say that being in London right now has allowed me to see just how global PHAZE can be. Looking at our website and content views, we reach so many people from across the world on a daily — and hourly — basis. This morning alone, people from L.A., Greece, Israel, Russia, Australia, Belgium, Kenya, The Netherlands and Mexico have viewed our content. To me, that is so insane and it motivates me as Editor-in-Chief to continue to work hard and push PHAZE out into the world as much as I can.
PHAZE will always continue to grow, expand and change.
As we celebrate our one year anniversary, I want to take the time to acknowledge that not everything is easy. Being Editor-in-Chief is a very hard and demanding job, and it never stops. Before PHAZE, I had never done anything in the Editorial field, and journalism was something I was just starting. But I knew that just like the people I wanted to feature on PHAZE, I was a passionate and dedicated artist at heart. I have always enjoyed every aspect of being able to create, especially putting time and hard work into something and watching it manifest into everything you wanted it to be. That is exactly what PHAZE has been for me and that is why I enjoy every second of this intense journey.
For every struggling, unmotivated, anxious, self-conscious or doubtful artist out there, I want to tell you that it is okay. It is okay to feel how you feel, but just know that this feeling won't last forever. Even as Editor-in-Chief, I don't always know the next step or find solutions right away. While running PHAZE, I have learned to accept trial and error as a natural part of growth. No matter what the situation is, I lead with my heart, positivity and our mission statement. I know that if I stay true to these, things will always work out for the better. Life is not a straight, upward path. There are always a few bumps, so recognize that and embrace it, and moving forward with whatever you're doing in life will become a little easier.
This reflection is both a look forward and backwards.
I appreciate everything PHAZE has become. Thank you to the artists who we've featured and those who submit to be apart of the PHAZE. Thank you to our followers, readers, and overall audience. No matter if you're on the magazine or simply support it, thank you for being apart of the PHAZE. Continue to believe in us and everything we want to do for the artistic community around us. My Team and I are dedicated, and we promise the future holds so many great expansions and aspects of PHAZE that we want you to be apart of.
On a final note, I just want to say that when managing PHAZE, I always decided to lead from behind the curtain as a way to make PHAZE stand on its own, separate from who Neah is as a person. But as this reflection has pointed out, that is nearly impossible, and doesn't leave a lot of room for transparency. So I just want to say that as Editor-in-Chief, I am here and I am just like you. I am an artist, a creative, a student, a young adult, a person in a social media and technology intense world, and a human being and a soul before all those things.
Over the next few months, we will be doing a "Meet the Team" series to introduce ourselves to you all! And with this letter, I'll start first!
I love food so this list can get long..
I am working for NBC (US) and media company called Mediablaze (UK) this fall!


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Arms Archives - ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive
Lockheed Martin Says 'Looks Forward' to Defense Industry Localization in Saudi Arabia
by Musaid Al-Zayani | Oct 9, 2017 | Saudi Arabia
Dubai- Lockheed Martin Saudi Arabia's Chief Executive Alan Chinoda said that the arms deal brokered during the US President's visit last May encompasses the settings of a Saudi-US partnership and encourages the exchange of intelligence. Lockheed Martin has partnered...
$3.8 Billion in Arms Sales to Bahrain
by Asharq Al-Awsat | Sep 10, 2017 | Middle East
Washington- The US State Department has approved arms sales packages worth more than $3.8 billion to Bahrain including F-16 jets, upgrades, missiles and patrol boats, the Pentagon said on Friday. The proposed sales include 19 F-16V jets made by Lockheed Martin Corp...
Iran Exploited Gulf Waters to Extract Fugitives, Smuggle Arms
by Turki al-Suhail | Aug 26, 2017 | World
Riyadh- Saudi investigations showed that a terror ring of five members linked to the architect of the Khobar tower attack, Ahmed Ibrahim Al-Mughassil, have revealed crucial intel on the arms and drug trafficking industry in the kingdom's eastern province, Qatif....
US Sends Heavy Arms to Kurds after Freezing Its Support to 'Free Army'
by Caroline Akoum, Youssef Diab, Taha Abdel-Wahed | Jul 21, 2017 | Middle East
Beirut, Moscow- Syrian activists published on Thursday photos of heavy vehicles sent by the US Army to the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces in northeastern Syria, only hours after reports said the US administration of Donald Trump decided that the Central...
Saudi Arabia Provides 50% of Arms Purchases by 2030
by Nayef Al-Rasheed | May 21, 2017 | Saudi Arabia
Riyadh- Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan said that the agreement signed on Saturday with the US to localize the arms industry in the kingdom will provide 50 percent of the kingdom's purchases of arms in 2030. He said that details of the agreement -one...


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Archive for the 'Nigel Kneale' Category
31 Days of Horror, Day 20. Halloween III: Season of the Witch.
Posted: October 24, 2016 in Cinema / Film, eighties, Halloween, John Carpenter, Michael Myers, Nigel Kneale, Reviews, Season of the Witch, The Shape
The Halloween series is full of more highs, and lows than Annie Wilkes on a cocaine bender, but one entry I feel gets more hate than it deserves is Halloween III: Season of the Witch.
Season of the Witch was conceived after Carpenter, who was approached to make a sequel to Halloween II, stated he'd only do it provided the film wasn't a direct sequel, and didn't contain Michael Myers, seeing the potential for the series to become an anthology taking place on Halloween. After the lacklustre response to the film however, the idea was scrapped.
The producers hired author Nigel Kneale to write at Carpenter's behest, mainly due to his admiration for the Quatermass series. Kneale stated when writing the script that he didn't want there to be horror for the sake of horror, and wanted to focus on psychological shocks rather than physical ones, but Dino De Laurentiis, the film's distributor wasn't fond of it, and requested he ramped up the graphic violence. Displeased with the changes, Kneale requested his name be removed from the film, and Tommy Lee Wallace, (now known mostly for his adaptation of Stephen King's, It) was hired to revise the script.
The film follows Ellie Grimbridge, (Barry Bostwick from the Rocky Horror Picture Show's better half) and Dr. Dan Challis, (Carpenter mainstay, and horror legend Tom Atkins) as they investigate the murder of Ellie's father. The two soon discover that Silver Shamrock Novelties, ran by Conal Cochran, are responsible for his death, and uncover their heinous plot to sacrifice children in an attempt to resurrect the age of witchcraft.
The problem many have with Season of the Witch, isn't its insane, and borderline nonsensical plot involving microchips containing fragments of Stonehenge inside Halloween masks that summon swarms of snakes and bugs to kill their wearer, but rather the lack of relation to its namesake. Had the film been released on its own, without an attachment to the Halloween series, I feel a lot of the hatred it's garnered over the years would be nonexistent.
The film is genuinely unsettling, relying on the taboo nature of its plot, and use of psychological warfare in place of gore to invoke fear in the viewer. The atmospheric score composed by John Carpenter, and Debra Hill works to further elevate said discomfort.
I love Season of the Witch, and have lauded it for years. Granted, there are some jarring issues with the plot, (more than likely caused from the script's various revisions) that much I'm willing to admit, but on its own the film stands as a disturbing piece of horror cinema, and I'd place it above the Rob Zombie remakes without regret.
Thanks for reading my dearest darklings, and I apologize for the tardiness of my posts as of late. My two, and a half year streak of being sickness free was recently obliterated, and I've been resting up, conjuring more horror to share with you throughout the remaining days of the month.
Until next time skiddies, stay scared.
Eleven more days til' Halloween!