Japan: 10 days and counting...

Ok. So many of you know that I ran the Pokemon League at Compleat Games & Hobbies... well, I started the dern thing! And, in the process, I became a pokemaniac myself. Yeah... it sucks. (laughs)

So I NEED to go to the Pokemon Center in Tokyo. Yup, they made an actual Pokemon Center!

And here's some Poke-links for your Poke-day.

Pokemon Elite 2000

Journal

PokemonCenter.com

Bulbapedia

Who Are You?

Personally, I'm more Wario... without the evil...

Japan: 12 days and counting...

While getting things prepared to get ready to go to Japan on September 9th, I came across some sites I would like to share:

http://jamie-sam.livejournal.com/

http://blog.wired.com/games/index.blog?start=1151599883&topic_id=1044505

Tokyo Pocket Guide to the Ginza

So anywhoo... been getting maps marked, guesthouses and hostels confirmed, itinerary settled, and money ready to convert to Yen. I can honestly say that it has been DAMN hard to get to sleep these past few nights.

When we get to Japan, I am going to try to get on the free internet wireless that our guesthouses provide and post thoughts and the like when I can. This page will have the link to get to that site at the very top.

Real-Life Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan!

This is so cool.



Life imates DS games. This NHK news broadcast shows a group of Ouendan-like cheerleaders from Kwansei Gakuin University in Hyogo who are encouraging the down-and-out.

Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! is a DS rhythm game in which a troupe of male cheerleaders help out the underdogs. Likewise, these college students are supporting people such as Osamu Kuwazaki, a forty year-old salaryman still unable to find a wife. To find the encouragement he needs, Kuwazaki listened to the cheerleaders bang drums, scream and watched the female rah-rah girls do high kicks.

(from Kotaku)

Favorite Movies

Going on the line that Derek's newest podcast (podcast 11) goes on. Personally, I cannot say that I can put more than three movies of any genre on here. There's lots of good movies... but we're talking favorites here. And I cannot put 'Foreign' as a category since the sheer number of movies from other countries are making their way into theatres is rising daily. This list also includes 'guilty favorites'.

Horror/Scary:
*The Ring - this was just good scary. Little to no blood and gore... it was just scary.

Romance:
*Amelie

Superhero:
*Batman Begins
*X-Men 2
*Superman Returns

Adventure:
*Raiders of the Lost Ark
*Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Sci-Fi:
*The Matrix (the first movie)
*Star Trek IV

Comedy:
*Tampopo
*Geisha Boy - And it's probably because I like Japan and Jerry
*Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Drama (given that I hate dramas):
*Bin-jip ('3-Iron' in the USA)
*Stalag 17

Family:
*Adventures of Mark Twain (claymation)
*Matilda
*Nanny McPhee

Musical
*Jesus Christ Superstar
*My Fair Lady

Animated:
*The Emperor's New Groove
*My Neighbor Totoro
*Howl's Moving Castle

All-time favorite (like Best Movie in the Oscars... it can be any genre):
*Night at the Opera

Keep in mind that I may like other movies, but these are my favorites. They may be bad movies to some, but if I want to watch these movies over and over... and even own them... then they're my favorites.

Collin does it again!

He finds just the best stuff, man.

Today he found this great video the "instructs" the correct procedure for Japanese things. It's all very funny with (unfortunately) lots of inside jokes that you would only get if you knew that it was supposed to be funny or know the customs. Some of it is real... much of it is exaggeration or double-meanings or out-right lies.

Figurines... damn. Not another collectible thing...

I love the live-action comic of REPROGRAPHICS (besides the fact that it's done in my old hometown of Boulder, Colorado).

Well, he posted a comic last week of a product called the 'Dunny'. I had heard of these before and had considered picking them up. I'm incredibly interested in the vinyl collectible figurines of graphic artists.

GAH! Why did he have to make them look so appealing!?! GOTTA CATCH... er... COLLECT THEM ALL!

Oooh... I wonder what things they have in Japan that are similar. We'll see in a few weeks, now, won't we?

How da hell does di ting woyk?

I'm going to be trying to connect to blogger this week and post a few blog-things from my Pocket PC so that when I got to Japan I can let you all know about some of our goings on. I don't think there is a way I can upload pictures from my digital camera without a real computer... but we can save the pictures for another time and place.

Leaving on September 9th!

They announced it!!!

The second season of the new Doctor Who will be on Sci-Fi starting September 29th! Do the happy dance!

Hi. I'm a Wii... and I'm a PS3.

My wife's book of poetry is almost out!

We got in the two free copies just last night... i'm so excited for her. Here's the Amazon info.

I'm a PC... I'm a Mac... and i'm LINUX!

Others here. Cool. Very cool.

Portability

Security

Performance

Gaming

Networking

Monday Music

Muse - Knights of Cydonia



Bask in the kitch-iness of the warming glow of TV's warming glow.

I am ninja

Funny funny stuff. Here's some links to you tube with some favorite ninja questions/answers.

Minjas

Pirates of the Carribean 2

Ninja Conventions

Why are they after me?

And gawd help me, I love 'Hope is Emo' too...

The project...

So I have been away from posting for a while while I tried to figure out if my new 'project' was goign to hold my interest... it has.

So, here it is. The reason I have been so busy and not able to post much.

SUPER GROUP

I was watching VH1 recently and saw a new show called "SUPER GROUP" where they did the 'fantasy rock group' and made it 'real': "Motor City Madman Ted Nugent, Former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach, Anthrax's Scott Ian, drummer (Led Zeppelin heir) Jason Bonham and Biohazard's Evan Seinfeld."

SO! What's your own 'Super Group'? The rules are that they must be alive and still able to play, they must have similar tastes in music (no Beethoven with Eddie Van Halen), no foreign artists (this includes GACKT, Grace (laughs) ), and no two people from the same group (however they could have played in the same group for a short time).

AND don't just put them in your list JUST because you like them... people may ask for you to defend your choices (for example, I wasn't going to put in John Linnell from TMBG. I like them, but he doesn't fit in the band 'scheme').

Spin D.J. Is a Gawd

Thanks, Collin.

This one's a toughie.

Although some might look for me in West Virginia - I've lived in fair, misty towns - Moriarty's puzzle rose above the scum to weave my draft. What am I?

6/6/06 was actually a pretty good day!

* I got a lot of work done at work
* Trevor came by my house and sold me his X-Box for $50 (complete with 2nd controller, DVD stuff, and games)
* I went to see a SkySox game with my wife and we had a really good time (Sox won 8 to 4)
* I heard some pretty good music all day

Yup. Pretty good day.

As for the Trevor giving me his X-Box... he said that he felt he should 'donate' it, but wanted to get Elder Scrolls. So I told him I'd buy it for him. He also told me that he got the 360 and he loves it. Well, we'll have to have another C.H.E.E.T. night here sometime. July?

I had a friend since I was 13...

I had a friend since I was 13. His name was Philippe. We were really close friends and one day we got into an argument about religion. We since have not spoken... going on 3 years now.

I have had some dreams lately about him and my wife Jen has said that I should bury the hatchet and seek him out again. I was thinking that it was a good idea until today when I re-read the emails that I had saved that were our arguments. I had saved them so I could refer to them again should he deny something he or I said. Yeah, pretty fucking petty of me, but I did it anyways.

Now, I'm not so sure that I want to try for another friendship with him. Trying to convert people and having little tolerance for other beliefs is a difficult and dangerous way to think... and although Jen has seen him and spoken with him a few times, and even that she said that he has expressed interest in becoming friends again... I really don't know if I can deal with his close-minded views. I know that's probably very close minded of me to say, but "burn me once, shame on you... burn me twice, shame on me".

What do you all think?

*****
*****

I also found this poem I wrote on the spur of the moment and sent in one of the last emails to him:

"Steer your boat alongside mine,
And let us sail into the future together.
But do not think that your boat is better than mine nor will I,
And we shall bring peace to the world together.
And should our crafts falter, or should we fail,
Help me as a brother would and help me set sail once more,
With you believing in your boat,
And I in mine."

----"My Boat Asail"