WIABIS has posted before on how much we love Japan. We are too poor to go to Japan anytime in the near future, but there is lots of Japan in movies, on the internetz and on the YouTubez. We just finished watching Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away. Have you seen ‘em? I highly recommend these animated films by Hayao Miyazaki. They are really really amazing!
My recent discovery on YouTube happened by accident while I was searching for Karen Carpenter. I really like watching videos from the 70s of Karen Carpenter performing on YouTube for some reason (don’t ask). I like watching ABBA a lot too, but we won’t get into that. Well, I clicked on a video expecting Karen and heard her exact same voice coming out of the mouth of a beautiful Japanese woman. Everyone knows that the Japanese are fond of karaoke, so it seems fitting that Japan has produced some downright convincing imitations of American pop stars. Here are a few videos of Japanese impersonators that I found that blew my mind:
Karen Carpenter:
In this one, Richard Carpenter even showed up to play piano. This lady must be a pretty high caliber impersonator if she’s got Richard showing up to her gigs.
Okay, so it’s blatantly racist and pretty terrible that they are in blackface, but the impersonations here are surprising for people who aren’t even singing in their native tongue.
Louis Armstrong:
Stevie Wonder:
Frank Sinatra:
If you haven’t noticed yet, our transformation from homeless bicycle tourists to yuppies is nearly complete. I am afraid we have gone too far and there is no turning back now. Our lives aren’t very interesting anymore, so I have to look beyond my own life for blog fodder and entertainment. We are, however, still pretty broke, so I certainly can’t go out on the town and pay for this entertainment. No, I have to get it for free from Karen Carpenter on YouTube. Thanks Karen!
-L
It’s comforting to know that I am not the only freak watching 70’s music on the web instead of porn.
Check out these two. They’ll defiantly get you back in the mood to hit the road!
hey tom. yeah we met tim and cindy travis a little over a year ago…they came through tucson. nice people. i do think what they are doing is awesome, and we set out from tucson with intentions of doing what they do.
unfortunately, we didn’t have the initial lump sum of money saved up that they did…i think that set us back from the start. those two saved up a bunch and rode straight down to south america. pretty cool. they wrote a book and earned some money after that…they got sponsors, website advertisements. they are pretty set now because of that.
beyond the money, i think i have realized that i don’t want to live as a permanent nomad. though i once had dreams of letting everything else go, i have realized that you miss out on a lot when all you do is travel. it is amazing and you experience so much, but certain aspects of life are a little devoid. i don’t enjoy interacting on a surface level with everyone i meet. this year has been really hard for me because of that. i enjoy being part of a community, and i gave that up when we left tucson and haven’t really had that since.
nausicaa of the valley of the wind
yes, i like that one as well!
an anonymous commenter? wow that’s a first!
Regarding that last Vid…Not many women can sing like that and play the kit that well. Way Hot! BTW, just because you got a real mattress doesn’t make you yuppies. How much of a bribe would it take for you’s to be back spinnin the pedals as road dawgz again? This is getting way too predictable. Give us a figure. Would you leave your yuppie lives tomorrow for a couple thou?
i would do anything for a couple thou.
I’m glad you said that.
We’re going to have fun when you come to Tucson next week.
and i mean ANYTHING!
I am glad your standards have fallen because the only bike we can find for you here is a recumbent.
the horror! the horror!
Nothing says “sexy” like a recumbent.
whole ‘nother meaning of getting ‘bent.
oh yeah…a lot of people don’t know that karen a pretty amazing drummer because a lot of times you only saw her singing. and her voice…i LOVE her voice.
I miss Elmo.
random, sebastian!