Who is this melody. then? A short quote from wikipedia reveals more

melody. is a Japanese American born in Hawaii. Her full name is Melody Miyuki Ishikawa. She has three younger sisters, one of whom, Christine, is also involved with the music industry in Japan. She became most popular in Japan when her song “Over the Rainbow” from The Wizard of Oz was used in a commercial for Mitsubishi. Melody is currently a vegan. She is not to be confused with “MELODY”, who sang the theme song for the CBC drama “Kids War” in Japan.

Mostly recently, melody.’s latest single “Lovin’ U” debuted on the Oricon Weekly Charts at #16. The single includes the B-side “Our Journey.” Which, was the theme song for the 2006 movie Gen Yu Den starring Rena Tanaka, who also co-wrote the lyrics to the song.

Participation in Need for Speed Carbon game.

Does it ring a bell? I have heard one of her songs (‘realize’) once, back when it was in the 2005 Weekly Best 30 Oricon chart. 

This album ‘Be as one’ has a very balanced mix of tunes. Sad, happy, and yet an upbeat and catchy album I would say. It is probably not too pop-ish as well.

Tracklisting

1. Be as one
2. see you. . .
3. De ja Vu
4. realize
5. Close Your Eyes – English Version
6. Promises
7. Dear Love
8. Take a chance
9. Nest to You
10. Stay with Me
11. Gift of Love
12. miss you (nagareboshi REMIX)

I particularly like ‘realize’ , ‘Close your eyes’ , ‘Take a chance’ and ‘Next to you’. I could probably describe them as very powerful songs, one to motivate you :) ‘Take a chance’ would be at top if I had to choose from these 4 selected.

You can find this album on the internets, though I urge you to support this artist by buying this album. You might also have realized that Yumi, one of your crew member for NFS:Carbon is actually casted by melody. as well. 

P.S. I think I’ll take about 100 out of my paycheck to grab all YUI’s singles, albums and the  タイヨウのうた movie DVD ^^

Anyway, the 2 images below are of Nao from Mabinogi.

^ Click for a meaner and bigger image.

I’m still new to this digital photography stuff. Above picture(s) not that well taken due to the distracting background (Books, Soft toys).

My current camera is a Canon DIGITAL IXUS v3 <Link>. It’s a hand-me-down from my sister last dec. The CCD sensor started screwing up recently (Purple overlay on images). But that’s not the point anyway.

Below, I googled some guides/tips/hints on photography taking. I believe that to ‘master’ the art of taking great photos, you got to know your camera well. Of course other factors such as lighting, timing matters. But there’s always ways around those. Read the manual that came with your camera, or the online manual(s) found in your camera’s ‘brand’ site.
Taking Pictures – Kodak <Link>

Top 10 Photo Taking Tips <Link>

10 Top Digital Camera Shooting Tips <Link>

How to Make Great Photographs <Link>