2011 in review

It is now the evening of 2011 December 31st in Japan…a few hours ’til New Years Day 2012.

So, what do you think the five biggest news stories of 2011 were?

I think I’d say:
● The 2011 March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Tohoku, Japan.
● The ten year anniversary of the 2001 September 11th terrorist attacks in America.
● The death of Muammar Gaddafi on 2011 October 20.
● The death of Osama bin Laden on 2011 May 2.
● The Occupy protest movement.

Which events epitomized this past year to you? Tell me in the comments section of this post.

Here’s a YouTube video that shows many photos and videos of this year’s biggest news through a series of “Google searches“:

Buy a KISS car to help Japan

The English car company Mini Cooper has teamed up with the American rock band KISS to help Japan.

...meets...

The car company has painted four of their “Mini Countryman” cars with KISS make-up (one car for each of the original KISS members’ make-up) and they are currently being auctioned for charity via e-bay.

The auction ends at 4:00PM on 2011 June 8 (PST in the U.S.) (which is 8:00AM 2011 June 9 in Japan), so now is your chance to bid if you want one (or more) of these cars.
The current bid (when I wrote this post) is US$30,200 (about ¥2,421,834) for the cheapest one (the “Ace Frehley” design) and US$31,300 (about ¥2,510,047) for the most expensive (the “Gene Simmons” design).

All proceeds from the auction of these cars will be donated to UNICEF to help the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in northern Japan, as well as victims of other disasters around the world.

Here’s a picture of the cars (all of them are autographed by the current band members of KISS, incidentally):

I’m a big fan of KISS, but some the merchandise they release is too “over the top” for my taste (ie: the “KISS Casket“).
I can’t imagine myself driving around in one of those cars…but if I had to chose one—I think the “Gene Simmons / Demon” design is the best of the four.

It is very generous of KISS and Mini-Cooper to do this to help people in need.

How about you? What do you think of these cars?

Songs For Japan

A number of American and European pop musicians have contributed songs for a charity album for the victims of the recent disaster in Japan.

The album is titled “Songs For Japan“.

 

"Songs For Japan" album cover

I assume that all of the artists that appear on this album are famous…but I personally have only heard of a few of them (and I like even less of them).

The musicians and track listing on this album are as follows:

01. John Lennon “Imagine”
02. U2 “Walk On”
03. Bob Dylan “Shelter From The Storm”
04. Red Hot Chili Peppers “Around The World”
05. Lady Gaga “Born This Way”
06. Beyonce “Irreplaceable”
07. Bruno Mars “Talking To The Moon”
08. Katy Perry “Firework”
09. Rihanna “Only Girl (In The World)”
10. Justin Timberlake “Like I Love You”
11. Madonna “Miles Away”
12. David Guetta “When Love Takes Over”
13. Eminem “Love The Way You Lie”
14. Bruce Springsteen “Human Touch”
15. Josh Groban “Awake”
16. Keith Urban “Better Life”
17. Black Eyed Peas “One Tribe”
18. P!nk “Sober”
19. Cee Lo Green “It’s OK”
20. Lady Antebellum “I Run To You”
21. Bon Jovi “What Do You Got?”
22. Foo Fighters “My Hero”
23. R.E.M. “Man On The Moon”
24. Nicki Minaj “Save Me”
25. Sade “By Your Side”
26. Michael Buble “Hold On”
27. Justin Bieber “Pray”
28. Adele “Make You Feel My Love”
29. Enya “If I Could Be Where You Are”
30. Elton John “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me”
31. John Mayer “Waiting On The World To Change”
32. Queen “Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)”
33. Kings Of Leon “Use Somebody”
34. Sting “Fragile”
35. Leona Lewis “Better In Time”
36. Ne-Yo “One In A Million”
37. Shakira “Whenever, Wherever”
38. Norah Jones “Sunrise”

This album costs US$9.99 and is available from i-tunes exclusively. All of the money from this album will be donated to the Red Cross of Japan to help the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in the Sendai area of Japan.

Click here if you want to buy it.

Metal condolences to Japan

A number of heavy metal, rock and pop bands have written messages of condolences and concern to the people in Japan who were affected by last Friday’s terrible earthquake and tsunami in the Sendai area.

Japanese flag and sakura image from the KISSOnline.com website.

KISS, who recently postponed their Japan tour, wrote on their official website:

To all our loyal fans, friends and their families devastated by the effects of the earthquake in Japan: We stand side by side with you in support and you will remain in our prayers through this time of tragedy.

(Signed) Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Eric Singer, and Tommy Thayer

Iron Maiden, who had concerts scheduled near Tokyo on March 12th and 13th (one and two days after the earthquake) and had their flight to Tokyo diverted to Nagoya, Japan and their concerts canceled, had this to say on their website:

We are extremely saddened by the calamitous events of the last day or so which led to the cancellation or our two shows in Tokyo. Our deepest sympathies go out to everyone affected by this disaster — our fans in Japan, the people of Japan and those in many other places suffering from the Tsunami. We are also aware that a number of fans flew into Tokyo from various parts of the world to see a Maiden show there and we hope you guys are safe and sound. We have had a long relationship with this wonderful country and have always been made to feel most welcome – this would have been something like our 16th tour. Our sincerest condolences to all those who have suffered and to the families and friends of those who tragically lost their lives.

– Iron Maiden

 

Mr. Big are very popular in Japan…maybe even more so than even in their home country of America.
They have a number of “Live In Japan” albums, their lead singer has two solo albums on which he sings remakes of Japanese pop songs in English, and their guitarist moved to Tokyo a while back for a year or so with his Japanese wife.

They wrote a message to the people of Japan in Japanese on their website:

To our brothers and sisters in Japan:
この大地震で被害を受けている皆様へ：どうか気を強く持って下さい。皆様が助け合って、立ち直られますことを僕たちも心から願っています。
-Mr. Big

(I’d translate it as:
“To our brothers and sisters in Japan:
To the victims of the giant earthquake: Please have a strong mind. With everyone’s help, we hope you will be back on your feet again.”)