J-Pop Thoughts/Rants

Maybe it's because I've been in Japan for over a year now, but I'm beginning to feel the same way towards Japanese music as I do towards American music. That is, 25% of it is pretty good, while the other 75% is pretty much rubbish. I watched Music Station on Friday night for the first time in ages because 東京事変 (Tokyo Jihen) was performing, and while they were incredible, I found myself hating the world whenever any of the other artists were on the screen. 東京事変 is just so much better than anyone else right now that it's actually sort of comical. And while we're at it, some other random J-pop musings:

-I still think GIRL NEXT DOOR is pretty decent as a group, but I kind of want to punch Chisa in the face. She's just so...what is the word? Dumb.

-Ding-dong, the witch is dead! Koharu Kusumi graduates from Morning Musume this month! That's the best MM news that we've had in years. Just kidding (but not really). That being said, I honestly thought that「気まぐれプリンセス」was a really good single. Kind of a whimsical throwback to the days when their songs were a little more goofy and fun.

-Kimura Kaela will be making her first appearance on this year's 紅白歌合戦, which means that I'll probably be tuning in.

-New DAI single,「君がいない未来」. They've been putting out a whole lot of material since reuniting. I think it's a pretty awesome song, but hey, of course I do.



Ban-chan is looking really good here.

That's More Like It

November 28, 2008: My not yet fully operational Death Star.

November 27, 2009: Now witness the firepower of this FULLY ARMED and OPERATIONAL battle station!



Gonna go for my run an hour early because 東京事変 are performing on Music Station tonight. I guess this is how all my students feel whenever Arashi is on TV.

Thanksgiving Day 09

Listening to:
Do As Infinity
Gates of Heaven

I guess that I was too busy adjusting to life in Japan to miss Thanksgiving when I first arrived here, but I'm really craving a home-cooked Thanksgiving meal this year. I never really thought too much about it, but given that I caved and flew home for Christmas last winter, this year will mark the first time that I'm really spending the holidays away from my friends and family. Not to say that I don't have friends and family down here, but Thanksgiving and Christmas don't quite mean the same thing in Japan, or in the case of Thanksgiving, it really may not mean anything at all. Nevertheless, I've got an abundance of things to be thankful for this year, so cheers to that. In the end, it's about you being fortunate and lucky enough to realize it, not the turkey and stuffing.

...but I'd really kill for some good turkey and stuffing right about now.

ついにハイビジョンTV！

Mitsubishi 32V. The store only had 3 in stock, but I managed to nab the last one by showing up first thing in the morning. Unfortunately, I was running on 4 hours of sleep and forgot to pick up an HDMI cable for the PS3. Oh well. The lame coffee table setup is just temporary until I get a proper television stand.



My old TV is going into the bedroom with the PS2 for those rainy day/typhoon Persona 4 sessions.



update: Got an HDMI cable, and indeed, the difference in picture quality at 1080p is pretty staggering. That Advent Children Blu-Ray disc is gonna get quite the workout.

Lesnar Out With Ruptured Intestine

What doctors had originally diagnosed as mono turned out to be a big ol' hole in Brock Lesnar's intestine. It's as yet unclear as to what effect this will have on Brock's fighting career. Dana has gone on record saying that he's unsure whether or not Lesnar will ever fight again, while Lesnar's coaches have been saying that he'll be ready to go in 6 months. Whatever the case, Lesnar has had this problem for about a year now according to his doctors, which means that Brock beat Randy Couture for the title and dominated Frank Mir while his intestine was ruptured. Alrighty then.

10-2, Top Of The League

Can't say that I told you so (because for once, I didn't), but the Suns currently hold the best record in the league at 10-2. As it generally goes with this team, they're one Steve Nash injury away from the lottery, but it's nonetheless incredibly strange watching a Suns squad hold their own on the glass and shut down opposing teams with 4th quarter defensive stands.



I expected them to be a playoff team with Nash pushing the pace again, but I didn't foresee them making quite this much noise early on in the season. It'll be interesting to see when (if) they come back down to earth.

Tekken 6 Impressions

Playing
Tekken 6
(PS3)

The new Scenario Campaign mode is very much like the Force modes of the past; a slightly awkward, Final Fight-style brawler that pits you against hordes of not-so-intelligent thugs, robots, soldiers, ninjas, etc. It can be fun for what it is, but it’s more frustrating than anything, as you continually get your combos interrupted by soldiers shooting at you with riffles from afar, or almost defeat final boss Jin, only to have him knock you into the air and repeatedly lambaste you with uppercuts until you die. On the plus side, it does provide an alternate way for you to customize your characters and earn cash, as bags of money and boxes containing equipment are scattered throughout the various stages that you brawl your way through. The cut scenes that are sprinkled in between battles are also nice, as they give some depth to new characters Alisa and the otherwise lame Lars Alexandersson.



To be fair, as far as extras go, Scenario Campaign mode is indeed a doozy. The meat of the game is within the fighter itself, and if you take into account the fact that Scenario Campaign is just a gratuitous extra mode, there's really not much to be complaining about. In spite of its flaws, there's still some fun to be had here in that somewhat repetitive Dynasty Warriors sort of way. Upon being robbed of your dignity and hope by Devil Jin in the "Nightmare Train" stage, it’s simple to concede defeat and get on to the actual game.



What sets Tekken 6 apart from Tekken 5? For starters, a handful of new characters, the newly implemented “rage” and “bound” systems, some spiffy new stages and a bunch of new customization options. This is all good and well, but once you get past all the tweaks and goodies, the game feels alarmingly like Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection. It’s still a dream for hardened followers of the series, as a handful of new additions to a favorite character's move list will likely be enough to turn veterans into giddy messes. You can literally spend hours in practice mode incorporating the new moves into your juggles and figuring out their properties, or better still, trying to effectively utilize the new bound system. Unfortunately, it’s just the hardcore players that will likely be enthralled with these nuances, as casual fans may be less than apt to notice them at all. The new rage system, while certainly the most overt addition to 6, won’t push players to adjust their style of play any. "Rage" activates automatically once your health bar is depleted to a certain level, at which point your character’s hands will glow red and their attacks will do additional damage for the remainder of the round.



While this does make comebacks a lot easier to pull off, the rage system, along with the collapsing floors, seem to offer more in terms of visual punch than anything else. Beyond these tweaks, what Tekken 6 basically offers is a streamlined version of the DR engine…which isn't to say that it isn't really damn good. The game is fast and hard-hitting, not to mention incredibly deep; arguably the best installment in the series to date, but you can’t help but feel that the title is lacking something as a true numerical sequel. Given the complete overhaul that Capcom gave Street Fighter fans with SFIV, Tekken 6 just feels, well, familiar. I’ll concede and call it my favorite fighter to come out this year, but it just won’t blow anyone away in what gamers have been calling the “year of the fighter.”

Two big knocks on the title: 1) the long loading times, and 2) the ridiculous lag during online play (or so people say, haven't tried it myself). If you can manage to get past that, Tekken 6 is nothing short of a must-have for fighting fans.

A Couple Things I Need In My Life

Wale's Attention: Deficit and Copper Foams (via Wale's twitter).



Tower Records is a good 45 minute drive away, but I'm making the trip to get my copy of the album on 11/10.

3-0, Top Of The Pacific

Had to say it while I had the chance. Tough to complain about starting the season 3-0, but also tough to celebrate when those three wins are over the Clippers, Warriors and Timberwolves. The schedule from here on out turns absolutely brutal with 16 road games over the next couple of months, not to mention three games against the Lakers, two against Orlando, two against Boston and two against the Cavaliers. Seriously?



On the bright side, J-Rich looked real good in his debut and Channing Frye is shooting 65% from beyond the arc. They're going to get mauled by teams that can rebound, but at least it looks like they'll be an exciting squad to watch.

LeBron VII "Red Carpet"

I was beginning to hate how Flywire was starting to find its way onto every other basketball sneaker on the market, so naturally, I couldn't help but feel that the Flywire gave LeBron James' latest signature shoe a distinctly "Kobe" or "Hyper-something-or-other" feel. Not surprisingly, once the LeBron VII loses the Flywire, you get a fresh, dare I say, GORGEOUS pair of kicks.







The nicest pair of non-retro, non-fusion sneakers that Nike has put out since the Jordan XX3. There, I said it.

To Drive Or Not To Drive

Spent about 6000円 at the pump today. These Japanese gas prices are killing me. It probably doesn't help that I tend to drive around aimlessly in the middle of the night for no apparent reason, but ah well. I figure that you have to pay for some of life's pleasures. You know, it wasn't much to look at, but my old Suzuki was a bona fide miracle as far as fuel economy went...that being said, I never, never want to go back to driving a 658-cc car again. Its affinity for gas aside, I've got precious little to complain about with my current ride. My new favorite thing to do is park my car next to someone else who drives my car.



The Chaser seems to be the vehicle of choice among JZX100 owners, but there's just something so sleek about the tail lights on a 平成12年 Mark II.

It Was A Good Day

Busy day at work, but in that satisfying way, where all your lessons run smoothly and all the other teachers ask for your help and seem to find you immensely useful, if only for one day. Capped things off by grabbing a copy of Tekken 6 on the way home.



I also briefly, briefly considered getting BAYONETTA, but logic prevailed in the end. I'll probably devote every one of my waking, non-working hours to Tekken for the next week or so.
Thoughts on the game later.

Brock vs Carwin Postponed

Brock forced to pull out of the fight due to illness. Bummer. The fight has been rescheduled and will now reportedly take place at UFC 108 in January.



So Tito Ortiz/Forrest Griffin II gets bumped up to the main event slot. I'm kind of interested to see the reaction that Griffin gets. Ortiz will no doubt get a huge ovation upon his return, but Griffin will probably take a little heat from the crowd after his embarrassing knockout at the hands of Anderson Silva. I mean, no shame in getting knocked out by Silva, but did Griffin really have to run away afterwards? (cue the "run Forrest" jokes)

As Skyzoo Would Say...

...my shoe game is Penny in 96. COPPER.

Dwight Howard Dominating Regular Folks

Watching Dwight Howard block children brings me so much joy.

KANSAI

Not exactly sure why I always find it necessary to type that in caps. It just seems appropriate. We did the smart thing and hit hostels and cheaper inns to save a little dough this time around, but regardless, I'm done traveling for the year. I mean it this time.



Gion, where we spent two nights.



The famous Kiyomizu Temple.



Osaka. The place gets infinitely better once the sun goes down.



Takoyaki.



The view from the top of (the exorbitant reproduction of) Osaka Castle. Quite nice, actually.



Ordering that Kobe beef like Shaquille O'Neal.

Next Stop...

...KANSAI. Be back in a few.

Cradle Rock Low

Steve Nash's signature joint for the 09-10 season. The tongue says it all: FRESH.







Kind of hard to imagine purchasing these sneakers as something to hoop in, but it'd make a pretty nice casual shoe to kick around.

EVA: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance

Evangelion: 2.0 was finally playing in town this past weekend, so I made it a point to check it out on the big screen. I was a little worried that the nerds would be out in full force, but Evangelion is such a big deal in Japan that normal people actually turned up for the premier. Go figure. While 1.o was more of a flashy retelling of the television series' first story arc, 2.0 turned out to be something entirely different; new characters, new Eva units, ridiculous animation, more streamlined storytelling and character development...dare I say, the finest thing to come out of Eva canon, ever. Without spoiling too much, newcomer Mari manages to be thoroughly interesting and entertaining without butting into the Shinji/Rei/Asuka dynamic, and to top things off, we even get a few glimpses of Kaworu's badass Eva Mark.06.





One last interesting thing was Anno's decision to repeatedly use Kare Kano music in any of the school scenes. While this could be construed as laziness on the part of the producers, it's a little hard to complain about lack of imagination when that familiar soundtrack helps to bring together those classroom exchanges as well as it does.

Not sure what direction 3.0 will take, but I certainly hope that the release comes sooner than later.

SUPER SFIV

Not that we didn't see it coming, but an updated version of Street Fighter IV will be hitting consoles sometime next spring. For owners of the original game, the updates have unfortunately been deemed too significant for DLC, so I imagine that there will be fairly sizable gameplay tweaks in addition to the roster additions. Good news for anyone who managed to resist buying SFIV the first time around. Personally, I'll likely end up purchasing the game again because this installment features 100% more T. HAWK.





The other 2 confirmed characters are Dee Jay and newcomer Juri (who looks she'll be a lot of fun to play). Word is that there'll be a total of 8 additional fighters in the game, and considering that the SFII roster has now been exhausted with the inclusion of T. Hawk and Dee Jay, we'll most likely be seeing more Alpha/Zero characters and hopefully some from SFIII. If Capcom isn't too worried about taking a few liberties with the story and timelines, the inclusion of younger versions of Alex, Makoto and Ibuki would make me very, very happy.

In With The New

Kenwood eXcelon DDX814. What's it do? There's not too much that it doesn't. Touchscreen display, Bluetooth support for your mobile w/ noise-canceling mic, iPod/iPhone direct control through the head unit, DVD playback, MPEG and DivX support, multiple USB inputs, navigation/satellite/HD radio ready, blah, blah, blah.











And of course, 2 Kicker CVR 12" subs in the back. I've already got Japanese people looking at me crazy.

Penny II Black/Copper

TOUGH. Nike is killing me with all these sick Penny II releases.

Rampage, Cro Cop Done

Weird week in the MMA world, as two of my favorite fighters, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, have announced their respective resignations from the UFC. Rampage's case is especially disheartening because he's fighting at his peak right now. Aside from dropping a questionable decision to Forrest Griffin, Jackson has won all of his fights since coming to the UFC, including convincing victories over Chuck Liddell, Wanderlei Silva, and Dan Henderson. Rampage is slated to play B.A. Baracus (of Mr. T fame) in the new A-Team movie, and it looks like he'll be pursuing a career as a full-time actor. You know, he's one of my favorite fighters and I hate to see him go, but if he can make a living without giving and receiving concussions, then good for him. Just would have been nice to see that Evans fight before he threw in the towel.



With Mirko, the writing was on the wall. Everybody gets old sooner or later, and it was about time for Cro Cop to hang up the gloves. His UFC run will inevitably put a dent in his overall legacy, but MMA fans will remember how scary a striker he was in PRIDE.



"Right kick, hospital. Left kick, cemetery."

Out With The Old

Farewell old factory head unit...



...it wasn't anything that you did or didn't do, it was just time to move on.

Ridin' Around Town (With Nowhere To Go)

My initial plan was to not mess around with the factory head unit because it looks so clean with the wood dash, but I'm going to cave and get something with a few more bells and whistles.



...but more on that later. Got limo tint on the rear.



Pretty crazy how 5% pops off of pearl white. On the negative side, I can barely see a damn thing out the back when driving at night.

「オーッホッホッホッホ！!」

It's Monday morning over here in Japan, but the weekend's really just beginning thanks to "Silver Week." We've got until Wednesday off, which makes for a whopping 5-day break from work. Apparently, the next time Japan gets this particular string of holidays is in 2015 (thanks, wiki), so I guess I should feel pretty fortunate that I happened to be around this year. What's weird is that I'm usually out traveling during these extended weekends, and as a result, I haven't been entirely sure what to do with myself at home over the past couple of days. For what it's worth, I did get a substantial bit of shopping done today: laundry detergent, milk, beef, green onions, eggs, shampoo, orange juice, Frieza's chair, etc.





Yes, in one of those odd impulse purchases that I'll undoubtedly have to explain in vain to house guests in the future, I ended up buying a フリーザ chair for my iPod.

$MELL LIKE THE VAULT

STEP TWO~!

Simpler Times

For whatever reason, I was perusing my old xanga blog the other day, and it really took me back. Don't get me wrong, I honestly don't miss xanga in the least, but I do miss a lot of the banter that when on between the boys back then. Just for kicks, I've taken the liberty of reposting a bunch of the golden nuggets that made me chuckle. A lot of the stuff is even funnier when taken out of context (and of course there's anything that R says, which doesn't make sense in any context).

LOL what if one day we were just at taco bell eating then all of a sudden onofre got up and starting kicking some guys ass. i wouldnt even spill my fruit punch.
-mike

i almost ran over Julian Sensley. that guy needs to learn how to use the crosswalk.
-me

We should go on a road trip this summer with a 10 lb. bag of trail mix, cause trail mix is a DEADLY WEAPON. When the shit goes down, you just pull out the mix- nothing is quite as devastating as that yummy blend of NUTS and RAISINS.
-me (shortly after watching the bonus video on the Rufio EP)

lol look linus said he loves boys
-mike

man, go to france or something. yeah, i'm sure you could get the money some how. idk, do what seta did for the band in high school, sell m&ms and stuff.
-onofre

Needless to say, I kicked that envelope's ass.
-me

white people think japanese are only good with numbers and not words. what morans~
-mike

yeah, someone assumed I was chinese cuz I told her my name is Ono. wat a fucking bitch.
-onofre

i think i'll also try driving around naked like chance. that seems like a good time.
-me

why is mikes page rated 18 and over. I can't go to his site.
-linus

It's kinda funny that the recording that plays when you call up Boost Mobile customer care is a black dude's voice. I half expected a Ludacris song to start playing when I got put on hold.
-me

man, i'd punch chance if he made me miss senses fail.
-onofre

Ok...I've been wondering about this for a while, but do you have to be a shitty driver to become a Costco member?
-me

speaking of gay, i did see you and chance order tortillas in a spinach dip once.
-mike

i took four straight classes once. it was the worst decision of my life. my stomach went crazy by the fourth one.
-onofre

If I don't shave for a few days, I've noticed that I begin to look sort of like Adam Morrison.
-me

subwoofers are fun. so are robots.
-mike

woah...is that girl in the game...geez.....that skirt is pretty short....all she has to do is stretch or pick up a pencil or something and its over!
-onofre (upon seeing a picture of Rikku in FFX-2)

like this |____| close or like |__| close?
-mike

Not to say that I'm stupid necessarily...just stupid during exams.
-me

AM all nighters are ex post facto claims for calling justifiability to next-day exhaustion.
-mike

i told you not to watch that shitty ass movie. it was the "king kong" of 1998. but at least king kong starred naomi watts.
-mike

King Kong also had that entire bug-sequence with the fucking 12 foot centipede.
-onofre

I knocked the fuck out on my doorstep and I think Ashtray came by and ate my taco while I was sleeping.
-me

Hello Kitty toaster. HER FACE IS BRANDED ONTO THE FUCKING TOAST. It's the bomb, baby.
-me

die scum
-mike (upon learning that I was feeling sick)

You'd be surprised how many times I try to crawl into that plastic tunnel of the play pen like at Burger King and get stuck cuz I'm too big.
-J

apparently she hasn't divulged her sex life to you yet. believe me, i was scarred for life.
-cr8

the other day some random guy tried to hit me with an egg while i was walking home. he was in a car passing by and missed me by a couple of feet.
-linus

what a frickin' waste of protein
-cr8 (in response to above news of linus being assaulted by egg)

Fermp!
-R

bing!
-R

ill have to go with the no panties.
-R

Eat pizza!
-R

You need something more powerful. Like Shaka Zulu
-R

You like dags tommy?
Dags, you like dags?
Dags, tommy dags!
How'bout mi caraven
-R

let's form a study group... that involves medicinal marijuana, of course
-mike

I always see the phoenix on your xanga and just now I thought of charles barkley and his shoes. remember those? those were sooo nice. i never had a pair though, only my sister. I had instead my fucking smooth british knights.
-onofre

"I had instead my fucking smooth british knights." Such a sick quote. If I ever write a movie script, that bad boy is definitely going to be in it.

なす！！！

I can't help but love how country my school is. I can teach a class, come back to the teacher's office, play with the dog, buy some vegetables, then go and teach another class. I ended up buying some eggplants from the vegetable lady without really taking into account the fact that I had no idea how to prepare them. So I did the next logical thing:



In this case, "the next logical thing" entailed snapping some photos of the eggplants next to my Eggplants. Tomorrow: eggplant mabo tofu. I smell disaster.

FFXIII Release Date (JP)

2009.12.17



Just in time for Christmas. Still kicking around the idea of getting an HD setup just for this game.