The horns

how i miss your ginger hair

Break Over, Am Sad

But this'll cheer me up.

Why I Went to Japan

Right, so I haven't posted on my blog in a long ass time. My friends who blogged, and actually who I made this blog to promote in some twisted way, have long since stopped posting on theirs yet I'm still going. Lord knows why, I suppose I don't feel the urge to get a tumblr, and Twitter is uninteresting to me.

Many of my peers show immense interest in traveling abroad to countries such as France or Spain, desires to jet down for a fake vacation in Cabo surrounded by Americans. These are great destinations, and I love the ones I've been to, but I always wondered why I never heard much interest in checking out Asian countries such as Japan. Sure, there were those few anime heads salivating at the chance to reach the motherland of all that is drawn inproportionately and super kawaii~ but I didn't fit in there exactly. The reason I needed to go to Japan, and thus needed to learn some Japanese, is a little bit different.

I'm writing this entry in order to hopefully encourage some of you non-existant readers to explore what Japanese media and culture has to offer through what inspired my trip.

Let's start with movies. I can remember clearly the days of Middle School and High School that I'd spend hanging out with a good friend Max. His father had an interest in Japanese flicks and would often order them online, meaning that Max's house was a treasure trove of foreign cinema that I was interested in way before I decided on my major here at the University. The few films I remember are:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116015/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0328258/

These are a bit on the ridiculous side, so view with caution. It was also at Max's that I experienced Alien, the Terminator series and more for the first time. Truly crucial.

Of course, as kids we all loved My Neighbor Totoro. Miyazaki can be credited for my youthful fascination with Japan, as I wondered what kind of country must inspire such beautiful artwork and fun loving stories. He may be the most consistent filmmaker ever, and certainly proves his genius with each work. I won't bother linking his films, but certainly check them out if you haven't...

Any of you that were glued to the television after 5 PM each day having finished your schoolwork may remember Cartoon Network and, more specifically, Toonami. I must've watched hours and hours of Anime television shows (DBZ, Gundam sup) that I barely understood at my age, wowed by the giant robots and fast-paced action scenes. Sure, it's pretty nerdy to admit, but anime is a partial reason for my trip East. Those quick to dismiss the artform thanks to the minority of very vocal and often strange fans should be ashamed of themselves.

Gaki No Tsukai is a television show hosted by comedy duo Hamada and Matsumoto. Each year, they hold a Batsu Game (Punishment Game), often centering around the contestants being unable to laugh without having their butts spanked by colorfully dressed employees weilding all kinds of weapons. The duo and their friends explore new areas of the workforce each year, spending a day in the life of a police officer or newspaper writer, all along the way being bombarded with funny situations and popular Japanese celebrities in attempts to earn a giggle. The show, which is translated and placed on YouTube, is freaking hilarious, and held my interest enough to make me drop Spanish in favor of starting Japanese my senior year of high school. No regrets!

I've probably taken 30 credits worth of Japanese cinema courses here at the University, and I'm calling quits now that I've finished my Tokyo Cyberpunk and Akira Kurosawa Film classes. I feel as though I've explored this country in film, and have loved every minute. Yet, as someone hoping to work in fiction here in the States, I should probably start focusing on what's moving and shaking here at home.

TL;DR Version: Movies and shows made me interested in Japan. You should check em out.

Ima use this bitch as a tumblr now

Writing Every Day of the Break?

Let's do it! Everyone needs to set productivity goals for a big break like winter break, right? So mine, as of right now, is to write each day as much as I can. I've learned from a friend that writing out things you want to do is a great way to get them done, y'know, create a checklist of sorts. So here is mine, feel free to do yours;

- Write once a day, for at least a couple hours.

- Gym each day, rotate swimming and cardios with lifting

- Eat healthy

- Read

- Work hard on Xmas gifts.

Peaches, babies.

Due Date review disappears, causes anger

So I typed up a long post about Todd Phillips' latest flick Due Date but couldn't get the Blogger interface to upload the movie cover correctly and now the post seems to have vanished. Awesome. Instead, you get cliffnotes!

- Not worth admission

- Manages to be only slightly funny with amazing cast

- Must have been rushed to capitalize on Hangover hype. Don't be fooled, this is nowhere near that funny.

- The opportunity for a great road trip movie is, sadly, mostly lost.

- It's funnier than Carlos Mencia. Then again, so is everything.

- Has some laughs, Galifianakis is his odd self.

- Is better than The Other Guys

If you enjoy dumb humor, you'll probably enjoy this. The shame is that it could have been bloody awesome but turned out to be a steaming pile of mediocrity.

Music Quick Fix

Let me first say that I haven't been into much hip-hop lately, preferring the synth and bass of crazy new electronica tunes over a genre that's new players are beginning to sound just like one another. Every new artist I'm hearing sounds a lot like their peers in... a bad way. That being said, here's some thoughts on a couple hip-hop albums I have checked out:

"The Shawshank Redemption" by Bishop Lamont

I was mostly unaware of the rapper Bishop Lamont up until he, coupled with DJ Skee, released the highly flammable N*gger Noize (forgive the language, it's just what it's called) DL can be found here. Needless to say, the dude murdered every single track on that release and it got a lot of spins at the casa de mi, pero I was wanting more after the first taste of Lamont... yet he disappeared. He had been rumored to be on Dre's label, heard whispers of him being "next" in the industry etc, but nothing major ever seemed to happen.

Fast forward to this year, and the homie drops The Shawshank Redemption, a new mixtape featuring some crazy production and a new direction for the artist. While Noize was more of a fun-goofy mixed with the hardcore, Redemption feels like Bishop has changed everything. The tracks here are slower paced, the lyrics more self-reflexive and soul searching. Indeed, it seems as though this rapper has become more focused. Yet, thankfully, there's still those tracks that get me laughing out loud while I walk to class. Some notable tracks:

"Anything" - I watched Reading Rainbow every day as a kid, and this is the first time I've heard a song sample their theme. Let me just say, I was giddy when I heard it come on... then the beat dropped. Holy shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit.

"Affirmative Action" - Sounds like a marching beat, the weird ass vocal sample in the background is distracting at first but fades into the background of the rest of the track. Lamont kills this.

"Get My Gun" - I'm not as into guntalk, but the drop and incorporation of the piano sample are simply too good to ignore.

"I Like Yo Face Bitch" - I don't care, look at that title. Hilarious. The chorus is hilarious too.

To be fully honest, I probably prefer his older mixtape just because I'm in a place in life where goofy ass rap is what I'm looking for. Yet this album delivers fun with serious business in a way that simply cannot be ignored. Please make sure to download it.

"I'm on my tupac shit, pre 96"/10

Download Link

"Soul Like Khan" by Soul Khan

[Had album art up but it stopped working so; Front Back]

If you've been paying any attention at all to the rap battle scene in the last couple of years, you should be well aware of Grind Time Now, the youtube sensation that has picked up speed and participants like no other battle movement I've ever seen. Cue Soul Khan, the glasses-wearing white guy from NY who swam in a sea of guntalking, lying, boring ass gangsta rappers and battled his way to the top. What may have seemed like an average white appearance was immediately shattered when Khan opened his mouth and spit some of the most savage and personal battle verses I'd ever scene.

Though I was always making sure to watch his battles (some of which can be found below this review), I hadn't explored any of his music. He's a member of a NY-based group called Brownbag Allstars, yet Soul Like Khan is actually his first solo album. Khan kicks off the piece with a short introduction track titled 6:30 a.m. It knocks pretty hard, and he introduces the listener to his sound immediately. I like this choice, you know exactly whether or not you're going to dig the album right away. Of course I was on board.

Soul Like Khan is a soulful album (no pun intended. Maybe), many of the tracks finding lyrical subject matter from Khan's reality and thoughts. What this means is... well... it's a very underground album, in the truer sense then a lot of "underground" hip-hop; the flow and lyrics match up with a sound I'd compare to Mos Def, Talib, a lil Sage Francis, maybe some Slug sprinkled in? That's not to say that he sounds exactly like any of these artists, but this album fits beautifully into a record collection of those mentioned above, and for that I applaud Soul Khan.

However, I do find myself wishing there were more tracks like "Knuckle Puck" on the album (shoutouts to D2: The Mighty Ducks!); hard hitting beats, great punchlines and bars, and good chemistry with guest artists. Of course, it's silly of me to expect goofy shit on a serious piece like Soul Like Khan so it's not an entirely valid criticism.

"[Soul Khan] exhales oceans"/10

Short Writing, Reviews, and... moar?

Sup soul sistas.

Harry Potter 7 pt. 1 (2010, dir. David Yates)

The latest installment in this epic series certainly didn't disappoint when I saw it on Saturday, but I became immediately conflicted about it after leaving the theater with my girlfriend. Here's the skinny; on one hand, I loved the books a lot and the rich world they created was truly addicting and amazing (Dear Twilight, kill yourself) and I always felt like the movies captured a lot of the magic (no pun intended) of the books. However, the films themselves (as films) aren't... really that good. The chemistry between Ron and Hermoine is decent, but every emotional beat between Harry and Hermoine feels absolutely forced and borders on outrageous. Indeed, I laughed when Harry dances with Hermoine in order to get her to cheer up. Similarly, all the "comedic" lines fall flat if you've graduated elementary school, and so do the sad scenes (with the exception of one towards the end).

Of course, when Radcliffe isn't on screen, the other supporting actors own that shit. Shoutouts to Ralph Fiennes for embodying Voldemort so damn well, and Rupert Grint for holding down our trio of protagonists. Otherwise, I could do without a lot of the performances that didn't feel... as though they cared anymore.

As for plot, I suppose I'd forgotten a lot about the book. Things surprised me, and I was disappointed to find Yates beating us over the head with the whole Nazi allegory and the carrying of amulet (horcrux) became uncomfortably similar to a certain ring from a certain well-known series. These, coupled with a lack of explanation for little details made me feel like there wasn't as much time spent with the film as there could have been, which surprises me considering they're chopping the last book into two. I will say, however, that the 3 Brothers story cinematic was beautifully done and probably the best part of the film visually.

Hermoine side-boob/10

PS: The whole book/movie comparison is a dead horse. Let's not even discuss it.

I've, of course, been watching loads of movies in my two film courses this term, but I don't want to post anything and then get accused of plagiarizing my own work (since my name isn't on this blog). It'll have to wait until the break!

Anyone know any web design? I'm thinking about starting my own website in order to host some videos/shorts that I want to get more into making, as well as move my blog there and have links to my facebook/twitter/youtube accounts. I don't know if I can really justify it since I don't get any traffic to this blog but whatevs yo.

As for my thoughts on Call of Duty: Black Ops (one of the biggest game releases this year), I did a couple on my YouTube if you're extra bored. 1 2 3

What is this place?

Are you a wizard? Quick reviews.

Ghost in the Shell

We've now watched both films in my Tokyo Cyberpunk class here at the U of O, and I gotta say; there's a ton I missed back when I first saw this movie. Upon closer inspection, I actually enjoy the entire experience a whole lot more than just ogling at the action and naked cyborg chick. GITS ends up being a really intelligent flick, with incredibly detailed artwork (beautiful cells) and some interesting questions on humanity/technology that make it all the more fun to watch and think about later. That being said, the more I see of Japanese movies, the more I realize that they like to pace things with long drawn out scenes after spending 30 or 40 minutes clipping along. It's a jarring change, but works out in this case.

Basset Hound obsession/10

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence

I think I might prefer this one over the first. Why, you ask? Well, the use of ball-jointed dolls (as a nod to Bellmer) and the theme of .. well, just how freaking creepy dolls are, really sold it to me. The color palatte is warmer this time, perhaps to separate itself from the first film. In any case, we follow Batou and Kusanagi as they investigate bots who have started to kill their owners. Sound similar to iRobot? Maybe, but only in that aspect alone. What the two end up unraveling sends them on a journey to an outlying former-boomtown that reminds the viewer of Blade Runner, viewing a beautifully constructed 5-minute Parade scene that took them a year to make, and getting stuck in a loop as they try to question a famous hacker.

There's a lot of great dialogue here, but the action feels tacked on. I'd rather have a more cerebral thriller (Seven?) than have them feel as though they have to have the big action scene at the end. However, the characters, dialogue, visuals, storyline, and music are all on point so see this shit.

Isaac Asimov/10

Super speed reviews:

Ikiru: The pace kind of crawled to a halt after a while, and Kurosawa missed a perfect ending by dragging things on. Otherwise amazing/10

Rashomon: Every time I see it, the less I like it/10

The Bad Sleep Well: Great noir piece, see this/10

Tetsuo: The Iron Man: My head is full of fuck. I'm not sure if I like this, but I enjoyed it once/10

[TV stuff]

The Office: I'll say it again, if the show focused on making entire episodes like the intros, it would be better. As of now, unfunny and boring/10

30 Rock: Gotta love it. The writing is sharp, the comedy is fun, and Tracy Morgan is usually amusing. Beware, though, his character can sometimes become annoying/10

Nip/Tuck: Fucking horrible. Seriously, what's the deal?/10

Glee: I... they're very talented, and my girlfriend likes 'em so I gotta/10

Shit, it's been too long since I've updated this bad boy. I need to make a better effort on writing more consistently if only for my own piece of mind. With a new Call of Duty game just out, I found that I was craving creativity after playing it for hours on end. So I'll spew this update out real quick, then hop on some photoshop or screenwriting to cure me. I luv u

Retro Camera App is fun

Fuck tumblr.

Writing Exercise Update, Promising Film Reviews

Hi. I should do what I always have done on this blog, huh? Ooops, I'm really sorry I've been gone so much. It's getting pretty hectic here with school/work/writing/video games/socializing and the blog has fallen behind. In any case, I apologize and I'll hopefully get back in the swing of things real soon. Until then, here's a couple creative writing exercises (free-writes) I've done based on prompts from school. Peep 'em if ya like.

"Mumbler on the Train"

                “Fetch the Queen,” this ratty old bum mumbled, slouching in the seat beside me. “she’ll want to see this.”

                What would you like to show her? I though, not daring to actually speak for fear of angering someone obviously off their rocker.

                “The chocolate rabbit took my baby,” he glared out the window. “See! There they go!” he jabbed wildly at the darkness of the subway tunnel outside.

                Chocolate rabbit? It’s not even close to Easter.

                He rubbed his runny nose on one of his filthy hands, and turned away. Perhaps he’d finished speaking.

                How’d the rabbit get your baby? Trying hard to use my thoughts to egg him on. We had a long ride before getting to my station, and I’d be bored as hell if this nut didn’t keep blabbering on.

                “traded him for a bottle of whiskey.” He hiccupped and an empty glass bottle crashed to the floor from under his jacket.

                Fair trade for both parties I’d say.

                “if the bastard hadn’t swindled me!” He bent down and retrieved his bottle. “He took all the fucking booze outta it!” He folded his arms.

                How’d he manage to do that? I wondered at him again, trying to keep it up.

                “Magic.” Again, he hiccupped.

                Did he just-?

                “Yeah, and if you’d shut your brain up, I’d like to sleep. Gotta be rested fer when I go after that fucking chocolate.” He leaned his head against the glass and dozed off almost instantly.

An Eavesdropping Father. In the key of: concerned.

                “Stop it!” She giggled, turning away from the doorway and my ill-conceived hiding place. “You’re so disgusting sometimes.”

                The statement was true though my darling girl shouldn’t be laughing about it. This guy she was “Dating” was grade-A scum and even though I constantly reasoned against their involvement, she went right ahead and saw him. So headstrong. Just like her mother.

                If only she could be her to see how our baby girl was behaving.

                “Wait until after prom. You can do that, can’t you?”

                I fought just about every fiber of my being to not rush into the run and tear that expensive little piece of shit phone out of her hands. Only seventeen and talking like this?

                “I promise it’ll be worth the wait. There’s some things in this month’s Cosmo that I think will make it, like, 10 times better.”

                Cosmo… that trash mag I bought her a subscription to for her birthday? I’ll cancel that right after this phone call, swear to God.

                “Yeah?” She twirled a lock of her hair between two fingers while gazing, unseeing, out the window at the old oak tree with the tire swing I used to push her in. The same tree I built a fort in when she was 12 ‘cuz she’d just seen Swiss Family Robinson and insisted on living just like them.

                “My dad said he’d be going out of town on business the weekend after, too, so that gives us, like, two whole days of being alone.”

                I’m rescheduling that. Right after I cancel that stupid magazine, I’ll reschedule that meeting and ground my daughter for the rest of her existence. Even when I’m long-dead, I’ll hire someone with what money I have left to ground her in my place.

                “Hey! Be nice! I love my dad, even if he’s been acting weird since mom died.” She rose from the bed and plopped down in her computer chair, swiveling back and forth while chatting away with her “boyfriend.”

                Fine, so what if I’d been acting weird? I was married to her mom for over 20 years, dated years before that. That woman was all I had before bringing you into the world, and I swear if you bring that dog into my house to have sex while I’m gone, I’ll send you and him to go hang out with mommy.

                Ok, maybe that’s a little extreme. I’ll just send him to see-- no, I don’t want him anywhere near my wife. Even in the afterlife.

                “Oh, on his bed? Good idea.” I think I’m going to be sick.

Saying Goodbye to Spider-Man

[Super unedited geek rant incoming, beware grammar and spelling mistakes. I ain't editing fer shit.]

Amazing Spider-Man just finished an arc called One Moment in Time (OMIT for short. Oh the irony), and I'm finished with Spider-Man.

Ever since I can remember, I've been a webhead. One of my earliest memories is playing "Spider MAN!" at my Grandma's house with a pair of briefs over my head I'd rigged up to be like a spidey mask. I'd running around doing kicks and pretending to spew webbing from my wrists at invisible bad guys. Later, I bought a few comics (Deadpool, Spider-Man etc) and read them. Though Deadpool was a bit edgy for my young self, I adored SM (we'll call him that cuz it's a long name) even more now that I'd read his print work. Fastforward to a trip along the California coast and I'm buying thick volumes that collect years of vintage SM comics reprinted for reading pleasure, which I do. Move to the overnight boat I took from England to Spain, and there I am sitting outside devouring SM novels like Revenge of the Secret Six, or me going nuts when I heard there would be a SM MOVIE of all things.

Fine, fine. So I've stuck with Peter Parker for much of my life and, up until the other day, had been buying each issue of Amazing Spider-Man (ASM) when it came out at my local comic shop. However, on a routine trip to the store, I talked to the employee about changing which comics I was subscribed to, and promptly removed Spidey from my list of titles. But, why?! Well, it's pretty simple:

I'm tired of it. Sure, the tried-and-true SM antics are still around, and his famous villains are all bursting to make returns in small story arcs that aren't too shabby. However, I simply cannot justify it anymore. In OMIT, Mary Jane and Peter Parker have a long heart to heart about their past, relationship, and what went wrong. The end culminates in revealing everything that went into reversing a nasty bit of recent history (which ruined Spidey's life) and features Mary Jane telling Peter that she cannot be with him anymore and that he should move on. Which he does, apparently. This is the issue; seeing SM declare a brand new day having just looked back on a print history I was very into throughout childhood made me feel like I was reading the closing chapter of the entire Spidey universe.

So see ya, Spider-Man, may you web swing forever and stuff. I've enjoyed reading the comic, and  seeing the second movie. It's time for me to migrate to greener pastures both in comics, and in .. well ok maybe just comics.

"Brownie" Short Story

Edit:

I've taken it down just so it doesn't get jacked in all its awfulness. More updates coming soon! 

Same Scene, Two Perspectives

[Wrote this during a prompted free write in Intro to Creative Writing and I thought I'd just throw it up here to show that... you know, I actually do write a little bit. Granted, it's not really been edited beyond that first draft I did in class, but if you're bored give it a read. The prompt was describing a scene from your memory, and then doing it again from the perspective of someone else who was there.]

The performer drew back his longbow with great strength, all the while telling the crowd about the medieval battles fought here in the vast green fields that led up to Windsor Castle. He then let fly, striking a small straw man some yards away. The onlookers, myself included, applauded from under raincoats or umbrellas, the English grey sky showering us with a light afternoon rain.

Once the show was over, my family and I returned to the castle, walking along a rocky footpath with the rest of the former audience who chattered in different languages about what I imagined was their response to the performance. The castle itself seemed less like a fortress and more of a mansion, really. Sure, it had its fair share of towers and buttresses, but the interior felt more like a great manor, hundreds of rooms that were done up to mimic the living environment of old. It certainly smelled old, anyway.

Where the grounds met the castle, there was a small cafe with the tables set out in defiance of the rainy weather. The eatery offered the traditional English fare; pasties, tea and scones, softer serve ice cream with a chocolate flake, and a variety of puddings.

"Anyone hungry?" Dad asked us. Mom passed, but my little sister Lexi looked as though she'd been waiting for this question her whole life.

"Can I have some ice cream, daddy?" She asked, her face glowing with anticipation.

"Of course, sweetheart," was his loving reply.

--

Though perhaps embellishing his tale a bit, this employee had his facts right. The battles he spoke of while swinging around his imitation broadsword and bow and arrow did certainly take place, but what's left out in these damn tourist shows are the cold realities of being a medieval foot-soldier. Nothing glorious about that job, I'll tell you that much.

However, Jeff seemed to be enjoying himself well enough. As a son of two historians, we'd expected some level of interest in the past from him, yet he'd curiously exhibited very little. Perhaps here he had been enjoying the dramatics rather than the history of the performance. No matter, so long as my children are happy, I am happy. Shifting my grip on the umbrella, which I held over the kids to keep them dry, we applauded this actor and walked back up the path towards the castle. There was a garden beyond, with amazingly trimmed hedges and statues of animals, but my stomach was grumbling a bit. 

Luckily for me, ahead there was this adorable cafe serving the standard fare, and I imagined I could nab a spot of tea before continuing the tour of this historical location. Granted, I much prefer driving out into the countryside to see ruins of castles that were not renovated for travelers but again, the children must be considered. Besides, the lush green of everything coupled with the pale brown pathway really made for some startling beauty, and the mansion castle ahead would have made a wonderful postcard to send back to my parents.

"Anyone hungry?" I asked, half expecting to be the only one inclined on eating anything. Stephanie, as I'd expected, turned down the offer though Lexi seemed to be expecting the question.

"Can I have some ice cream, daddy?" She asked cheerfully. I wish she would learn to use, "May I?" rather than, "Can." Ah well, we'll get there eventually, she's still young.

"Of course, sweetheart," I replied, grinning. The two of us went into the cafe while Stephanie and Jeff waited outside, content in the rain.

Junior Year Mini Reflection

College - Junior Year

Welcome, boys and girls, to the third year of our college career. Gone are the days of Freshman year where it was, "Party at all costs," or the, "Well, maybe let's party a little less this time" Sophomore year. Here, instead, we grow ever-closer to (hopefully) graduating and moving out either to a grad school or the workplace, putting our school careers which have dominated the majority of our life behind us in order to join the job-stream. My question to you heathens is: How does this make you feel?

No psychiatrist, I'm curious because I'm damn unsure what it is that I feel when I think about finishing college which always seemed so far off in the future that I didn't have to think one bit about it. On one hand, I'm still trying to have as much fun as I possibly can while in school, but on the other a part of me wonders whether it's time to stop all this shit and just focus on my schoolwork and writing in order to better prepare myself for a time when there isn't a classroom to go to. I wonder if I can even stop doing things like playing video games? Drinking with friends on the weekends? Do I want to stop these things?

Would my life be richer without these pastimes and hobbies? Probably not but they do certainly detract from my studies and writing time; how worrisome.

Anyway, have a good school year and let me know how you're feeling about things if you'd like!

BBC Essential, DnB Youtube and more

Sup, welcome to October everybody. Hope you're all doing fine. I'm currently working on a short story I'm planning to post up on here in the next couple of days, but I thought I'd just list a couple links of things I'm digging right now to tide y'all over until I can get this tale into a spot I'm happy with.

http://bbc.co.uk/radio1/essentialmix/

Wouldn't it be nice if the radio didn't play absolute filth all the time? Well, other countries seem to have a handle on... better music. Check the above link about once a week if you're into house or electro, they switch it up to a new mix by a different established DJ each week and it's always fiya.

http://www.youtube.com/user/UKFDrumandBass

Like Drum and Bass? Me too. Loads a videos in that channel, check them out!

Love you,

GT

New Gaming YouTube and Movie thoughts!

Hello stranger

I've returned to tell you about something I've just started doing, and something that is becoming pretty darn fun now that I've got it going. I'm talking about, of course, this gaming YouTube account I've created to put up Street Fighter and Modern Warfare 2 matches that I play or think are special enough to be watched by others. Obviously, you care about none of this, but I thought I'd mention it. If you ever get the need, you can head over using this link.

Now, back to our scheduled programming.

The Other guys (2010, dir. Adam McKay)

What can I say? Marky Mark and Will Ferrel, Michael Keaton, Samuel L. Jackson all in one movie would make the average viewer think that this flick couldn't help but be awesome. However, it turns out that it's just really bad. Anyone can tell you that I've not been a fan of Will Ferrel since Anchorman, when it seemed like he decided to check out mentally while making movies, or the writers started sucking, or the plots became too out-there... or something. In any case, Will Ferrel hasn't really made any good movies lately, so that was red flag one. Semi Pro was sad, Talledega Nights was vomit-inducing, and I can't even think of anything else he's done worth mention as of late. Where is the Elf Ferrel that isn't afraid to be funny? He's not the problem in this movie, though perhaps his character is a bit too weird for my tastes (a lot of the 'comedy' is quite forced in scenes between he and his partner), he managed to make me chuckle a couple of times.

Second, Marky Mark doesn't seem like the kinda guy who could do comedy, and it really shows here. There are countless scenes where his character, Detective Terry Hoitz, goes from a regular conversational tone to outright yelling perhaps only to convey that his character is 'mad' at his partner. Why Wahlberg couldn't make the transition from normal to angry more subtly I do not know, but I wish he had. It makes for a lot of scenes to be unbearable, and Marky Mark rarely earns a laugh.

Third, whoever came up with Michael Keaton's "jokes" (with the exception of the Bed, Bath and Beyond meeting scene) should be fired. The guy's whole gag about his son being a bisexual is both strange to begin with and completely unfunny, but also bordering on offensive. Unfortunately for the audience, we experience that and a handful of other running jokes more times than I'd care to mention, each time growing less and less amusing.

Let's not talk about Samuel L. Jackson and The Rock's little portion of the film, their only purpose to be over the top and outrageous, which works for a small portion of time, and the action scenes in the beginning of the film are quite enjoyable. Then, of course, they go back to the office and the terrible jokes start, followed by an inexplicable plot twist that allows for Ferrel and Wahlberg's characters to move up and attempt to fill the massive void left by the now-deceased duo. I suppose that's a spoiler, but it won't matter since you shouldn't see this movie.

I'm not usually one to really rag on a flick, and I do indeed dislike when other 'critics' spew bullshit when criticizing a movie, but let's be honest; if a comedy doesn't make you laugh, it isn't worth seeing. That's all I'll say here, I may have chuckled a few times, but I wish I could've just got a refund.

Hope you like prison food... and penis/10

Unbreakable (2000, dir. M. Night Shyamalan)

I've always been sort of divided on Shyamalan as a director. On one hand, I really enjoy some of his work while at other times totally cannot get behind what he's making. For instance, his latest horror movie Devil didn't appeal much to me other than hoping it might be his return to good film-making. Unfortunately, I've heard it's pretty bad so I'll be staying away at least until it hits DVD.

In any case, Unbreakable is my favorite work of his, and something I actually want to rewatch a few times (the same cannot be said for The Happening). Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson in a movie about real-world 'Superheroes'? Sign me up. What I think works here is that there's no really big reveal like you might see on a television show or classic superhero movie, and Bruce Willis certainly doesn't run off to buy himself some tights and go out to fight crime. In fact, I think Willis's struggle with the reality of his situation, and the slowly-paced way in which he struggles to accept what special talents he's been given make this movie so special. Yes, Watchmen handles a different kind of Superhero tale extremely well, and I only mention that because I think the two have some comparable ideas, but here it feels much more authentic. I was pleased that there weren't any goofy trial-and-error sequences and instead the audience was given scenes of marital issues or Willis's son pointing a gun at him to prove that he doesn't get hurt, or the over-persistent Jackson weirding out the normal security guard who has a special knack for weeding out the bad guys in line.

The performances from the main cast, with the exception of Elijah's (Samuel L. Jackson) mother, go off without a hitch, solidifying our faith in the writing (which can be a bit... bad). Jackson plays Elijah's comic-obsessed insanity so well, it seems almost genuine. The way he captures the 'comic nerd' demeanor so well helps me to believe his character, coming from someone who has read comics most of my life. He and David (Willis) have great scenes together, easily the best in the film, where the two reluctantly (at least on David's side) become friends as David develops his skills and realizes what his true purpose in life is. Even the Shyamalan twist is good, and one I found pretty unexpected my first time through. See this movie.

What's with Shyamalan and water?/10

Next post I'll talk about The Town, music, and more! Look out for it, cuz I said so!

GT

Quick Update

So it's been quite a bit of time since I last wrote to you, and for that I am very sorry. If there is anyone left still reading this, I've done you a disservice. That being said, I would like to spend more time tomorrow after work typing up some of my thoughts on what I've been watching/reading as well as mentioning what I've just returned home from doing (random super-fast trip to Portland to make money) and getting all 4 of my wisdom teeth out.

Alas, there is no time. Soon, my babies

GT

It's ya boy GT

Back, finally, to update this stinky place. It smells like rice and subways, I need to clear it out with some run-of-the-mill postings that'll send any readers I might've gained during my Japan Blog running for the hills. JUST THE WAY I LIKE IT.

First off, let's talk about some movies.

I really haven't watched much in the way of films recently, opting to either try and write more of my novel or hanging out with people when I'm not photoshopping all day at work. It's been ok, but really starting to notice the void lack of films has caused in my life. Tomorrow night I'll hopefully rectify this by taking in a film with a buddy of mine.

That being said, here's quick notes on stuff I've seen recently.

The Joneses: Basically a pretty neat premise that wasn't explored near enough, instead receiving a Hollywood gloss-over in order to satisfy mommies and girlfriends, I'd say. No, I'm not sexist, I swear.

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs: I never read the book due to a lost childhood, but the movie was pretty delightful, and certainly done extremely well. If you can get past any reservations you might have, you should probably see this.

Scott Pilgrim v The World: Ah, a love letter to retro gaming that succeeds often and only fails sometimes. There are plenty of chuckles and neat little video game references that kept me entertained, while some of the Ex fights were horribly underdeveloped and the drummer needs to stop "shooting" herself in the head. See it, but don't just sit there and admire the pretty colors. For a more thorough review, head over to DoubleFine where Sam really gets into it.

That's seriously it. Isn't that pathetic? I've not watched a movie for over a week, but maybe I'm saving up for when I get my wisdom teeth out on Friday. Goddammit. If you have any film suggestions, I'll be acquiring what I can before my surgery so as to have a large stack ready to plow through in semi-delirium. Let's get it!

Music

I'm not sure whether I should be worried, but I'm finding myself less and less satisfied with what I listen to these days. The same old hip hop songs and played electronica just aren't doing it for me anymore, and I'm almost more content just to throw Pandora onto the Deep House genre station and move around my day with that. If you know any new rappers that are doing their thing, let me know. I'm always in serious need of new dudes with something to prove, since my boy Drake decided to go Young Money instead of stick with his Voyce days. So, in a sort-of played out session of vids, here's what I'm still rockin' these days:

Back when Drake was good, he would put out music on his mixtapes that both featured good artists, and sported production that was actually pretty decent. So what's the deal, Drake? Why you gon' spit those punchline bars that were hot in the streets back in '08? Is Wayne trying to get you to dumb it down for those kiddie kids? Also, hit up Tyga and tell him that many tattoos is too much. Thanks.

This is a jam. I've probably put it in my blog before, but you need to listen to it again anyway. Foreign Exchange are those dudes, man, and you simply cannot skip over them just because Phonte is singing instead of rapping. The groove is low down, the bassline is sexy, and it's got a clap that everyone at the party can follow along with. Slow it down at your next house function with this massive tune (lol)

Following up on the last vid, here's another by Foreign Exchange that actually earned a grammy nomination. Don't sleep!

Sure, the Bee Gee's version might be a 'classic' for some people, but this girl can sing and turns the song into something more intimate, sensual, and lowkey in a way that kicks the shit out of disco any day. Obviously, you're free to disagree, but then you'd be wrong so...

This is classic, and a lot of fun. Props to my buddy Theo for the link. I'm sure if you click around in related, you'll be able to find some killer remixes.

Off of their debut album, this (probably) hipster-loved band first came to my attention thanks to a DJ Benzi mix which can be found over at Get Right Music. When you take away all that the DJ had been doing when their songs were on, this band remains infinitely pleasant and incredibly easy to listen to. Sure, it doesn't motivate me to do anything, but it suits the walk home from the gym just fine.

I'll stop spamming you with youtube videos for now. Besides, you have your work cut out with you when checking out A-Ton's Music Mondays over at his blog, so I'll let you go.

Other Shit

This September marks the end of our 2010 summer and I hope you all had yourselves a good and safe time. I know I certainly did, keeping my long work days fresh by slaving away at a novel or visiting a country by myself. Remember, kiddies, your daddy GT is so proud that you've all changed and grown in the hot sun and are all geared up and ready to face the Fall again.

I'll be picking up school again, but I'll try and keep my entries coming as best I can. Until then, stay salty, amigos

GT

Japan 12 - The End

Edit: My homeboy Fizz brought something to my attention I thought I should address. I loved Japan, but had a lot of trouble getting around, and plenty of things didn't go exactly my way. Don't get me wrong, though, I may sound fairly negative, but I had a great time and it was more than worth it! With that, here's the last entry!

I woke up with a little time to spare in the morning, bought my self a decent meal at the convenience store (bento, red bean bun, orange juice AND coffee) and scarfed it down while watching some morning television. Here in Japan, it seems that everyone on the morning news simply reads the newspaper to you, which felt odd to me. After making out some of the words to get a tiny handle on the news, I packed my things and left the hotel. Checking out, I took a sheet of paper with the time table for Narita Airport Express Train and, with a quick glance at the clock, saw that I could make the 10:30 train if I hurried.

Too bad I got lost searching for the damn station. Perhaps they forgot to put signs up for it on my side of the station, but I walked around looking for information, and even asked someone at the desk although I could hardly understand what her reply was. I eventually found it while forcing my way through crowds of people and accidentall,y karate chopping some old guy who walked way to close to me. Turns out the train was extra far away, and I missed the 10:30 which forced me to sit around on the platform for another hour while I waited to take the 1:30 hour trip to the airport, where it turned out that there was a massive line of people waiting to check in with Delta Airlines, and then the little self-check in computer screwed me so I had to get help from an actual person, which took more time. This felt like a final sort of "fuck you" from the country but at least I made it to the terminal with 10 minutes before my flight.

The flight itself was a rather long 10 hours, and the little girl in the seat in front of me enjoyed putting her seat back the entire way during the whole flight, so that was neat. This meant that, thanks to lack of space, I couldn't use my laptop or write in my notebook, so I just read or watched the in-flight movies which weren't half bad, I'd suggest seeing The Ghost Writer some time. Landing at 8 a.m. on the 31st (which is technically earlier than when I left Japan), I met my dad at the airport in the grey light of early morning Oregon the way I'll always remember the weather being. It was a welcome change to the humid, sunny heat of Japan that was both relentless and horrible. The drive home went pretty fast, and my Dad and I talked a lot about what went down both in Japan and at home while I was away while I downed a giant coffee from Starbucks (a place I'd normally never go to). A short while later, I was home, doing my laundry and getting back into normal life mode. Sure, I'm still pretty damn exhausted and my clock is way off, but oh well, it's nice to be somewhere that is both familiar and where everyone speaks the same language I do. This concludes my travels in Japan, and what follows are quick thoughts about the country and my trip. Thanks again for reading, and I hope you've at least somewhat enjoyed my paragraphs of babble.

Afterthoughts:

- I had always planned on going to Japan after finishing at the University of Oregon to teach English for a year, but now I'm not sure. I got the sense that all the American people I met were sort of stranded in the country, somehow managing to not really be at home in Nihon or back home anymore, and the strange sense of limbo I got from a couple people disturbed me. I'll have to spend a lot of time thinking about my plans for the future.

- Traveling alone isn't as fun. Period. I can think of a hundred different ways that this trip would have been leagues better if I had even had 1 more person with me. Sure, it would have cut into my arcade time, but who cares? I would have been able to experience more nightlife and would have had a shoulder to lean on when I got absolutely and horribly lost, which happened incredibly frequently. If I could do it again, I'd go with someone who either spoke the language or was real good at maps.

- Do what you want to do, not what you think you should do. I spent a lot of my trip seeing sights just because I thought that it was some kind of mandatory thing one must always do when visiting. Next time, more research into things I'm actually interested in will be done in order to experience Japan the way I should. Can't always fit the mold, I suppose.

- Japanese women are too passive and shy.

- Japanese men are nice but apologize too much. It's insane how much everyone apologizes and bows.

- So much rice.

I think that covers it. I had a great experience, but it was certainly trying at times. Again, thanks for reading and I hope you stay extra gentlemanly in the future.

GT-Japan OUT!

Next entry will mark the return to normal Trash mode. Sorry to disappoint.

Japan Entry 11

Aka: The Last Day.

I spent the remainder of that night exploring Nakano looking for the legendary TRF arcade but couldn't find it, and after that watched some Gaki no Tuskai before passing out. In the morning I awoke to breakfast and skyped with my girlfriend until it was checkout time.

I made the trip to Shinjuku to check into my official, nice hotel for my final day here in Japan. It's a physically attractive building, and has an upscale Italian restaurant on the ground floor. The staff speak excellent English and the girl who took my luggage recognized my soccer jersey and complimented me on it. So, while thinking that this new place was about to be damn good, I left my luggage behind the desk and set out for Shibuya determined to not only get more of a feel for the area but maybe spend some money on something other than lodging/food/arcades. I saw a flannel in a store called Uniqlo (which I'm assuming is a Japanese chain) that I absolutely had to have, so I grabbed the shirt in an XL and ventured into the changing room. Turns out that an XL at this store was like a small in the states and, though my forearms went into the armholes, my biceps threatened to burst the sleeve, so I took it off as best I could while taking care not to tear it too much. I apologized to the homie working the desk since I couldn't fold the shirt back the way it was (had a lot of pins and cardboard pieces).

I then visited the Avirex store, where a clerk greeted me as I walked in, asking what I was looking for. I pointed at the flannel and said, "Furanneru desu" in my best Japanese accent and he got what I meant. He already assumed that I'd need a bigger size and brought one out in a blue color that I liked pretty well, and I tried that sucker on. While checking it out in the mirror, we talked a bit in Japanese about how long I was staying in Japan, my difficulties in finding clothing that fit etc, and he turned out to be a pretty chill dude. I bought the shirt, though it may have been more than I'd originally wanted to spend on an article of clothing, I figured it'd be my one purchase. Here in Japan, the emphasis of style seems more to emulate American clothing (or Euro, of course), so I didn't end up making many purchases because a lot of the stuff in stores I knew I could get back home for a lot cheaper. But I wanted this one thing, dammit.

Finishing Shibuya having not found any gifts, I returned to Nakano now knowing exactly where the TRF arcade was to get in on some Street Fighter action. It turns out that the floor the arcade was on was full of vintage toy, vinyl toy, and other such novelty stores that I really enjoyed perusing, although without making any purchases. I had initially thought that my friends might enjoy some of these as gifts, but the coolest were easily $50+ so I deemed it too expensive and headed to the arcade. What TRF turned out to be is a row of Head-to-head fighting game machines nested away in a corner of the shopping center, tiny and unattractive. However, the machines were set to freeplay as part of a tournament thing they were holding later, and I had a good little chat with one of the players, so it was alright. I got my ass handed to me over and over again, but whatever. IT WAS FREE, so screw it. I played for 3 hours, capitalizing on the freeness of it all, and took a short walk over to the Namco building to get down on a final Border Break session and left Nakano. 

Returning to Shinjuku, I got lost in the massive train station, and spent around 45 minutes searching the streets and station for the place where I'd found the my hotel route earlier. Finally, I located the Sunroute and slowly walked over extremely relieved to have finally found it. I'm not sure about you, but being lost in a foreign place stresses me out, and I'm sure my discontent showed on my face as I could see some people walking by giving me strange glances. But whatever. I got bumped into a few times, but I didn't feel like always being the person to move out of the way, so I'd like to extend an apology to those who had the misfortune of walking into me. Checking in, I went up to the 12th floor in an elevator that only works if you use your room keycard, which you touch to the panel where you select the floors. The same goes for the room entrance (you dont slide it in, merely place it on the door above the handle), and the way to turn on the lights (this one you do place in a small card holder). So high tech! And it's quiet! I dropped my things off, and after getting various electronic devices plugged in to charge for the plane ride the next day, I was hungry for dinner.

I stopped at the Go Go Curry cafe (I took a picture of it a long time ago, the logo is a Gorilla) and ordered the 850 yen dish that seemed like it would taste really good. I put in a 1000 yen bill and, having 150 yen left over, tried to get my change. Except I pushed the button that was the emergency stop for the machine (used to order your dish) and so not only did I not get my change, but I also messed up the ordering process for the two guys behind me. Why would they put that on the front where a confused, tired foreigner would be stupid enough to press it?! I called one of the workers and he gave me my change and fixed what I'd messed up. I settled down along the bar-esque eatery in between two rather large fellows who bumped me all throughout their and my meal. They both had ordered what probably should be called the SUPREME CURRY dish, which I noticed came with a hardboiled egg, a mound of rice smothered in curry, Chicken Katsu on top and some sausage on the side. Mine was the rice+curry+chicken Katsu that was absolutely dwarfed by their dishes, but I was extremely glad to not have ordered what they had. That's like... death on a plate. But I got to eat with a fork! They didn't even have chopsticks at this spot, so it was pretty fun to use a utensil I'm more accustomed to.

After dinner I walked around Shinjuku looking for gifts, but was completely unsuccessful except for a couple t-shirts I will give to friends, but... I'm going to have to practice my apology-face for letting my friends down easy. Nothing cool here is very cheap, and I don't have the kind of money to spend a lot on gifts, not to mention limited luggage space. I'll just have them over and pay for dinner or something.

Returning to the hotel feeling pretty guilty about not finding anything cool for my buddies, I stopped at a convenience store and took advantage of the drinking age difference in buying two tall-cans of Strong Kirin Chu-hi which is basically lemon tonic water with gin (probably). It's pretty good, and a nice farewell to being able to imbibe alcohol at my current age. It seems silly to not be able to back in the states, feels much more natural to order the occasional beer with dinner and not worry about it. Ah well, that's life I suppose. I'm now back in the hotel and writing this blog, not planning to do anything for the rest of the evening since all of the people I know in Japan are busy or too far away. I'll probably stay up for a while longer and watch something goofy youtube videos or something. Tomorrow is a travel day, but I wont have to be at the airport until 1 pm at the latest, so I'll have some time in the morning to grab food and get to Narita airport in less of a rush. Checkout is 11 am, so I'll have to find some way to occupy myself otherwise. Maybe I'll just go straight from the hotel to an early lunch and then the airport just to be over with it.

In any case, you can expect one more entry after tomorrow where I'll finish off with an account of what I do tomorrow morning and reflect on the trip itself, but after that I'm afraid it's back to the normal old boring musings and stupid film reviews. Thank you for reading this much, if you've made it the whole way with me. I have to apologize that I have no pictures to speak of since I've not really visited anywhere new. As always, this is GT signing out for now.

New jam:

Japan Entry 10

I'll have to combine a few days into this one post since it's been pretty hectic here in Nihon.

To pick up where the last post left off, I had been invited by some of the french guys to join them on the roof for beers and conversation, and when I got up there with my modest tallboy, I saw they had already been through a couple 6 packs. granted, there were about 6 people there when I arrived, so it really wasn't that much. The roof of the hostel had a round outdoor dinner table and a hodgepodge of different chairs set around it. There was a small portable a/c machine in an attempt to counteract the heat (which was on) but Kyoto turned out not to be nearly as hot as Osaka or Tokyo. We talked about our travels, sports, and just about everything else in between well into the night, and I crept into bed around 1 am only to rise at 7 to check out and catch the Shinkansen back to Tokyo so I could meet up with my friend Shohei.

Up early, I grabbed some stinky Natto for breakfast and got, with some difficulty, to the correct train stop in order to head back to Tokyo. I hopped on the train and walked through about 5 cars worth of Reserved seating areas, since the station didn't specify where there would be Non-Reserved seats (since that's what my ticket was). Finally, I found a spot as the train began to pick up speed, sitting down next to a pudgy salaryman reading quietly. I'm not sure what it is, but some bigger people seem to have absolutely no spacial awareness, and this guy was all up in my business all train ride. Like, get your elbow out of my ribs, dick. Like, go easy on the ramen, tubby. Oh well, I had the aisle so I just stuck my feet out into it and read Dies The Fire for the duration of the trip, taking a break here and then to glance out the window or rest my eyes. The trip was beautiful, but I became too engrossed with my novel to look very much.

Once there, I met Shohei at his house and together we went to Shibuya so he could interview for a position at a coffee chain while I ordered some lunch and sat down to write in the cafe itself. 30 minutes later he was finished and it was time to head to Yokohama. Once there, after getting packed into the cheapest train available to get to Yoko, Shohei's mother and grandmother greeted us at the station and drove to their home together. I exercised what Japanese I know in talking and being polite, thanking them and all that sort of thing as we drove, and took the time to observe the city. To be honest, it didn't feel much different from Tokyo or Kyoto, but the smell of the air had the distinct ocean smell to it, which was a wonderful change. We then went out for Sushi, which was freaking amazing (this was the first time I'd had proper sushi all trip, a criminal act, I know), and afterwards went so I could experience my very first Onsen which was absolutely phenomenal. I don't know the last time I'd felt so relaxed all trip, and it was a great way to let the stress and anger of travel complications fall away as Shohei and I shot the shit while getting into each different bath. There were the jacuzzi-style bubbly ones, a electrified seat bath that I couldn't sit on for very long, the more natural spring water, and similar one-person baths outside as well. We tried the sauna but it was way too hot in there. The nudity factor wasn't something I'm used to back home, but I quickly grew accustomed and comfortable around everyone else.

The next morning Shohei's mother prepared an absolute feast for breafast and I was so full I didn't eat until dinner. Having a steady diet of tiny little pastries from convenience stores, my stomach wasn't used to getting a decent meal that early, but I was glad to have it. Shohei's father drove the whole gang back to Tokyo, and from there I set off for my hostel and afterwards to Final Roundbat (a street fighter tournament).

--

However, the relaxing night before was nothing at all like the one I was about to have. I made my way into Kichijoji station (near Shohei's apartment) and got onto the train that said it was headed in the direction I was going. Except it didn't. It took me 1 stop to notice that it was going the opposite direction, and I hopped out and got back on another train. Except this one was a Rapid Exp. which skips a lot of stops in order to reach larger destination faster, and it was going to skip the one I needed to get to, so I had to get off again and change trains a 3rd time before really getting anywhere. Considering I was on a pretty tight schedule if I was going to get to the tourny on time, this got me sweating a bit. I hustled out of Minami-senju station almost an hour later, dragging my suitcase behind me. Once I finally arrived at the hostel, it turned out that the website I used to book the 2 nights had a technical error, and the place was full that evening. They had emailed me about this, but of course I'd been riding trains/in the car all day. With nowhere to sleep for the night, I decided to just bring my luggage to the tournament and worry about it later.

An hour and a half later, I rode the elevator up to the 37th floor of the Bay Crest building in Shinagawa, and signed up for the tournament. It turned out to be a pretty small event, but everyone there I'd heard of, and they were all cool people. We got down on some casuals and then the tournament started. With only 8 of us, it didn't take long, especially since it was single elimination (lose once, you're out). I played Elven Shadow first, and could tell that he didn't know the match-up so I ended up taking that game, and then faced an incredibly good Japanese player named Tokido who is very famous in the fighting game community. He didn't pick his main character, but instead probably one of his many secondaries and we got down to business. I was surprised to be able to take the game down to the very last round before losing, but I did get a hint of a feeling that he wasn't playing at full capacity. Oh well, I beat Yosuke (the guy hosting) and secured my 3rd place finish. Out of 8 people. Still, 3rd.

The whole crew ended up munching on pizza and drinking in the Sky Lounge until we'd reached the time limit (you rent the lounge for 6 hours at a time, or something), and the crew made tracks to Shinagawa station bound for Shinjuku to visit a bar that Elven Shadow would be taking us to. It turned out to be a hard rock bar that played loud selections from such bands as Kiss, Nirvana, various hair metal bands etc, and it was a fun time experiencing something I wouldn't have normally, although I had a hard time hearing afterwards. Fizz and I decided to cut out a little early since he, currently living in Kanagawa instead of Tokyo, didn't have anywhere to sleep either. He suggested we could sleep at a Manga-Kissa which is like an internet/manga reading cafe that you can purchase blocks of time at. Locating one, we elevator'd up to the 7th floor and purchased 8 hours worth of cubicle time. The cubicles were outfitted with shitty Dell computers, a tube tv and ps2's, as well as a set of cheap headphones and a beat up reclining chair which would be my bed for the night. Only trouble was, I couldn't extend my legs fully in the chair due to a wall, and the space was really tight so the chair wouldn't recline very much. However, since it was after 2 already, I slept as best I could until I woke up at 7.

I'm pretty sure the A/C in the joint had busted, cuz it was hot as all hell in there, and I had a pretty good sweat going when I woke up. Stinky, uncomfortable, and feeling slightly off thanks to the previous night's drinking, I dragged myself and my shit out of the kissa and got on the train for Minami-senju. I don't remember much of the train ride other than arriving and hurrying over to the hostel. Check in, of course, wasn't until 3 pm, but I dropped my luggage off and managed to snag some computer time. Not to mention, I snuck into the shower and rinsed off the gaming/bar/sleeping in a shitty place smell from my body before heading back out. Exhausted, I didn't end up doing much other than touring the Akihabara arcades looking for people to play against. I got in a small session of Border Break where I worked on my sniping skills, played a scrubby Zangief in SF4, and looked for some gifts. All things proved fairly unsatisfactory, and with a few hours to go until check in, I went to Shibuya. I need to research Shibuya, because there was little to nothing to do there upon arrival. Perhaps, had I utilized google, I would've known to go to specific areas, but I just walked around aimlessly and ate some lunch, checking out the Shibuya arcades which proved to be absolute shit. Finally realizing it was check in time, I hurried to the station and came here, where I sit now. I'm glad to finally have an actual bed to sleep in for the night, but I'm not sure if i'll do anything with the rest of my day.

I'll post if anything fun happens, check below for pics from the tourny and my travels,

GT

Pics 78-148 (taken by Scott Popular, mostly)

My pics from the last few days

Japan Entry 9

Kyoto Day 2

Warning: Things get real different all of a sudden.

The windows in the hostel don't have shades, so the morning was pretty bright. Even so, I managed to keep myself in and out of sleep until 8:30 or so when most of the room had cleared out and on their ways (I'm fairly certain everyone but 2 guys checked out today, so maybe I'll meet some new people!), I rose quietly and grabbed clothing to take a shower. I heard that the hostel charges you 100 yen (roughly $1) to rent a towel for a day, but this seemed silly. I just used the shirt I had slept in, which was already dirty, to dry off. Sure, it's a bit odd, but it saved me a 100 that I put towards Street Fighter later.

Once clean, it was breakfast time, and I hit up the AM PM for some grub. Their options were pretty lame compared to the AM PM near my last hostel, even so I purchased a Cafe Au Lait (made by Boss Coffee, such a good name) and a sushi-style roll of Natto, a stinky bean Maiko had told me I absolutely had to try. It did, indeed, smell pretty strongly and the taste as well was quite forceful, but it wasn't altogether bad. Probably not something I'd eat all the time, but I might have it once in a while. The only part that would deter me from purchasing this again would be the gummy-like stickiness to it, and taking bites leave long strands of the fermented bean stuff going from your mouth to the roll. Couple that with eating in public, and you get a formula for some fairly embarrassing stuff.

Finishing up my meal, I hopped on a train to go check out a couple temples and the Manga Museum. I got to one place where a temple was supposed to be, but of course in true GT fashion, I took a wrong turn and got lost. Luckily, the way I'd picked turned out to be a gradual and beautiful climb up to a graveyard. The worker there seemed shocked to see me, but I didn't let that bother me. Making the trek back, I found where i was supposed to go and checked out the temple. To one side were gardens that cost money to get in and since I'd heard mixed reviews, I decided against the 5 dollar charge. So, too, did I not pay to get into the temple but just admired it from the outside with some other travellers. An older Japanese dude and I had a quick conversation, and although I couldn't make out most of what he was saying, it was still nice to chat and practice my Japanese.

Next stop was the Manga Museum which had a special exhibit on the history of toys and figurines, which I enjoyed looking at. A lot of the collection was from private donors, and some of the retro stuff (and really old Edo clay figures) were really cool. The mainstay exhibit on Manga was fairly interesting, though I've never been much for the Manga craze. There was, however, a small gallery of a really talented artist who goes by RM there and the sketches showing his work were fantastic.

The night before an Indian bloke had handed me an ad for the Maharaja Indian restaurant, and curry sounded really good at the time so I made the trip back to the station near my hostel and sat down for lunch. I ordered the B-option lunch that came with soup, a small salad, and curry with Nan instead of rice. While waiting for my order, I watched some of the bigscreen tv they had which showcased a lot of Indian music videos as well as ads inbetween, but the ads were a bit disturbing since 90% of them were for creams that would make your skin lighter. The sad mood this put in me in quickly cleared away as I got down to eating, and was done in record time before heading back out in search of shops and the famous a-cho arcade which I had just found out was in Kyoto. I got a gift for Shohei's parents, and stepped into the aracde. At the time of my arrival, it was pretty dead, so I played some SF against who was there until they left and went upstairs for some Border Break and VF (both I did poorly in) and resigned myself to watching people play other games for a while. I noticed someone playing MvC2 (a game they don't play here in Japan) but he turned out to be pretty scrubby and didn't rechallenge after I beat him. After an hour or so, the place really picked up and there was tons of skilled competition to play against. It feels pretty good to beat Japanese players.

Afterwards, I visited Wonder Tower for a goodbye session of Border Break with the regulars there, and then back to the hostel. I stopped for dinner at a Spanish bar and ordered a draft beer and some Paella, which was a fairly small portion for 500 yen, but I didn't care. The bartender there greeted me and received my order in Spanish, so I asked him a couple things in Spanish as well, and he hastily told me he didn't actually know the language. We both had a laugh, and spoke a hybrid spanish/Japanese to each other since he seemed insistent on answering in Spanish when he could. He told me that there probably wouldn't be any place to get a Japanese baseball cap here so I suppose I'll just have to wait until Tokyo.

Back at the hostel, the new blood has arrived and I've met the new roomies. A guy from Germany who will be in Japan for 6 weeks, and a girl from Michigan who has just finished teaching in Korea for 2 years. How wonderful.

GT

Japan Entry whatevernumberimonrightnow

Greetings from Kyoto!

I skyped for a good amount of time with my family this morning (though it was 5 pm yesterday for them) and we caught up on how we were doing on both ends and I got to see Scooter the doggy too, but I think his tiny dog brain couldn't understand Skype. Silly animals.

Hopped on the train after much trouble. The Osaka (and Kyoto as well) trains have just about the worst directions/information I've ever seen. I had to ask 3 people, who gave me 3 different answers, before just picking a direction and getting it right. The train ride to Kyoto from Osaka is relatively short, and very pretty. The train is smooth, the riders quiet, and the country green and lush with small residential areas peppered here and there. It's something out of a movie like this movie called 700 Days of Battle.

Once I reached Kyoto, I hopped off the train and looked around for signs/information on the subway stop/train stop where my hostel would be. Too bad there weren't any. I again guessed and, making a wrong turn, found my way after about 30-45 minutes of walking with my heavy suitcase. Thanks, guys.

Dropping my luggage off, I couldn't check in legit until 3 pm (like everywhere, I guess) so I just started walking again looking for a place to have lunch. Having virtually no luck with that, I settled on a convenience lunch that turned out to be pretty damn good. From there I just walked the streets looking at shops, and happened upon an arcade. Of course I had to go in, and found an 11k BP Sagat player on the machine. We played, and I went 2-1 using Fuerte, and took him 2-0 with my Ken before he gave up. He was decent, but nowhere near as good as some of the other people I've played while here. Still, it was good to have the practice since there's a tournament I'm going to on the 28th.

After the arcade, I kept walking around and noticed a bunch of posters for an Olmec exhibit at the Kyoto Museum, so I hopped on a train and made the walk. For $13, the exhibit was a little bit small, but it included the main exhibit as well (although I had little interest in it) so... I'd say it was... half worth it. At least I got out of the heat and did something touristy. I promised myself I'd do more touring tomorrow just so I could say I've been to the places I'm sure I'll be asked about.

After that, I checked out a soccer shop (considering buying a jersey, but it's a bit pricey of course) and then checked into the hostel. I'm in an 8 bedroom dorm this time, and had a chat with an italian bloke about the bed situation. I settled down to peep the computer, checked the FB, and went back out again to check out Gion the Geisha district. It's a tourist place, of course, and it felt like I'd seen more foreigners than Japanese there. But I did spot a Geisha nearly immediately. It's certainly interesting, in any case, one side feels old and traditional, many buildings housing outrageously expensive traditional Japanese restaurants with plenty of people in traditional dress coming out of them, while the other side was mostly bars and 'clubs' that seem more like strip joints or 'conversation dates' where sex isn't included but clearly implied (as someone on the street called to me). They're separated by the main drag with its many gift stores and small shopping buildings. There's a temple at one end, or maybe it's a park, illuminated with lights so it looks like some sort of amusement, but I opted to eat instead of check it out.

The best place to eat I've found so far are at either Japanese chain restaurants or the Ramen places where you use a machine to order food. These locations are both tasty and not priced outrageously, so you really can't beat it. Then again, you could always get a juicebox and a pastry from the convenience store for around $2 if you wanna be extra cheap.

Finishing up Gion, I went to the arcade again to play this Japanese game called Border Break, and had lots of fun doing that. Returning back to the hostel past swarms of young people sporting all sorts of different looks, street performers, and I'm guessing some hookers, and it's nearing time for bed. A massive group of people staying at the hostel just left to go drink, I believe, but I think they know each other. The people in my dorm so far as I can tell are: A Thai young guy, 2 young Italians, a Eastern European couple who would only glance oddly at me, and someone above me who I've never seen.

GT

(pictures coming when I get somewhere else.

Japan Entry 7

The Osaka post! This'll be a combination post of the two days I've had here in Osaka since I'm a little behind on entries. Thanks for reading if you're still here!

Day One

Having slept very little the night before, it was pretty easy to get up at 6:30 to head out to the train station, especially since the person in the room over had been playing their t.v. nice and loud all night which woke me up numerous times. It baffles me that some people could possibly be so inconsiderate, but it takes all sorts I guess. I probably would have hit him had I seen him in the hall, but that was in my 'it's too early' morning rage, and I wouldn't now of course.

Lugging my stuff to Tokyo station on the crowded morning rush subway was a fun new experience, if a little packed in, and I enjoyed watching all the people who kept glancing at me obviously annoyed that some tall Gaijin had brought a suitcase onto the train when they're trying to get to work. Haters gonna hate!

My excitement grew the more I woke up since I'd never been on a bullet train before. I hadn't reserved a seat in advance, so it was a free for all in the non-reserved cabins of the train, but I managed to find a seat and a place for my luggage and was happy. The person next to me, a younger guy of roughly 14, was fast asleep and had the shade down so it was a tad hard to look out at the scenery. Instead, I worked and finished reading Mr. Peanut which... was a lot less than I expected. Still an interesting read though, I suppose.

Hitting Osaka 2 hours later, it was time to make sense of a new subway network to get to my stop. Once I found where I had to go, I hit the trains and made it to my station with very little effort, HOWEVER I had completely forgotten to take the name of the hostel I was going to stay at, so the next order of business was asking every hotel if a) I had a reservation there and b) if I could use their internet. The second people let me use my laptop on their wifi, and I located where I needed to be. An old man on the street saw me as a tourist and called out to me, "Hey! What-u hoteru?" and then directed me when I told him. People in Tokyo (I'm pretty sure) would never do that, the people here in Osaka seem much lighter.

I found a payphone and called Maiko who my mom worked with and had offered to show me around. She's about to be a grad student at the University of Oregon (in Journalism, which I almost ended up doing), so it was cool to link up with her and talk about something we had in common as well as fire a barrage of questions about Japan at her. She also happens to be very energetic, and once we met up at Umeda station, we spent the rest of the day walking around seeing the sights while baking under the sun and humidity. It was a really fun time, and I really enjoy seeing Osaka. The city feels a lot more wide open, beautiful in its own way while still remaining the second largest Japanese city, whereas Tokyo feels like the buildings are smushed together and the entire atmosphere feels almost claustrophobic. Osaka is a nice change of pace.

We ended the day's activities at a sort-of Mexican cafe/internet cafe. The prospect of some tacos or burritos sounded like a great break from the Washyoku food I've been exclusively eating. I ordered a Burrito and a Gin+Lime. The burrito, as it turns out, was a quesadilla that came with some kind of onion soup and the Gin+lime was about a third of a glass of gin with a little lime juice. Drinks here in Japan are both expensive and incredibly light, so I was a bit happier to at least know I was getting 90% gin in my tiny cocktail. The quesadilla was satisfying since there's not a lot of cheese used in Japanese food (at least in my experience thus far), and salsa was awesome. Maiko and I chatted there for a while before heading our separate ways. I returned to the hostel to catch some tv, update the blog, and relax my aching limbs.

Day 2

Yesterday I'd completely forgotten to bring the Oregon 2010/11 planner I'd purchased for Maiko, so we'd agreed to meet up at her work so I could drop it off. I took my time in the morning, lounging in perhaps the most uncomfortable bed I've ever slept in. I'm not sure how many people actually sleep on Tatame mats but it's essentially like sleeping on a hard wood floor, the thin pad they give you to lie on might as well be making it worse, like a promise of something that isn't really there. My hips were in pain (I think I have bad hips, like my mother) and my shoulder was sore from sleeping in a funny position.

Hurting all over, it was breakfast time. AND I FOUND YOGURT. Yeah, I said it. Something sort of like fruit that isn't freakishly expensive! Sure, it was runny as hell and the spoon they gave me to eat it with was probably for babies, I was elated at the chance and devoured it along with my croissant from the convenience store. Youtube provided me with a lot of laughs courtesy of the Downtown comedy team (a Japanese comedy duo, there are a lot of great activities they do and a lot are fan-subtitled so we americans can understand) and I made sure to cheer myself up before it was time to go meet Maiko. (Sorry, I had to look away from writing. A shamwow commercial in Japanese came on with some european dude speaking Japanese with english expressions of surprise peppered in for effect. lulz)

We met up on her lunch break, I gave her the planner, and then walked along the street to see the library, a government building (both were in western style) and a rose garden/park. She was taking loads of photos, of course, both days were filled with photos. Any time she wanted me to pose for a pic, I'd make her do the same as a kind of revenge. I dunno if I've ever been in so many pictures.

It was really hot today, but we walked along all the same and talked though perhaps less than yesterday. We returned to her work, and said our goodbyes. I set out for lunch and visiting Kobe (a nearby town, and hot tourist spot) while she went back to work. Unfortunately, the rest of the day didn't go as planned. As I was walking to lunch, I realized I didn't have any money. Thinking it'd be an easy fix, I tried 2 different bank ATM's before realizing that I probably wouldn't be able to withdraw any money unless it was in a 7/11. Thanks a lot, U Lane O Credit Union. What I thought would be a quick walk turned out to be an excruciating 2 hour trek to find a working ATM since I had literally run out of pocket money to pay for subway fares or food. Somewhere along the way I stepped funny and my hip popped, leaving me hobbling for a block or two in pain. By the time I withdrew money it was nearly 4 and too late to make the trip out to Kobe.

Feeling especially salty, I went to an Italian restaurant to finally get some lunch. What I ordered was an "Italian Burger" and accidentally ordered a side of rice (I thought the waiter said it was included, but wasn't actually). The burger turned out to be a round meatloaf with cheese on top that came with a soft-boiled egg and 3 home fries. Literally 3. But I didn't care. They had Tabasco. The first hotsauce I've seen all trip, and i used it liberally all over my entire meal. The 3 college girls next to me looked over in surprise but I payed them no mind, it was spicy food time.

Afterwards, I tried to find some gifts but was unsuccessful (I found this adorable little stuffed animal I was going to get a friend, but I spent around $5 trying to get it out of one of those claw machines with no luck before giving up) and just walked through the shopping streets looking at things. Of course, I made a quick trip to the arcade and earned myself a 6 win streak against a couple guys (even another El Fuerte, though I was playing Ken) and that further relaxed me. I then made a trip to a euro-style cafe (there are a LOT near Umeda, and though a bit pricey, the atmosphere is quite nice) for a DARK BEER (tabasco and an IPA in a single day. so lucky) and a salad while watching the Hanshin Tigers play the Hiroshima Carp on T.V. (baseball). I caught a train home having finished my meal and watched a couple innings, and here I sit updating the blog while I watch the game.

I was extra bad today, feeling sorry for myself, so I purchased a little dessert item on my way 'home'. omg

Below is the link for all the pictures I took, heading to Kyoto in the morning.

GT!

PICTURES

Japan Entry 6

Let's see, where did I leave off last time?

Well, so much for a restful Sunday! Instead, I made sure to head to all the districts I hadn't been to yet (save Shibuya, I'll do that once I return to Tokyo) and walked myself silly... once again. It was time for Asakusa and Ginza today.

Asakusa is supposed to be the Gaijin destination of Japan, and it's certainly true. From the subway, to the streets, to walking up to the shrine itself, there are whities (and foreign non-whities) everywhere! Before it might have been a bit weird to see a white person like myself, especially in residential areas, but here it felt so... normal. I actually wasn't a fan of this invasion, but the place itself was very interesting. I was able to snap some photos of the temple and grounds itself, so scroll down to check it out.

All I can really say about it, now that it's a day later and my mind is filled with today's events (sorry for slow updating, I KNOW YOU HANG ON EVERY WORD) but it was a fun little area. There was a theme park dating back into the 19th century nearby, but I wasn't sure how a single white male would do going into a place geared for kiddies, so I just looked at the attractions from the outside as I walked by.

From there, I made the trip over to Ginza which turned out to be more of a shopping center akin to Harajuku, though here were mostly designer labels and other such stores. I didn't even bother going into them, knowing full well just how much everything would cost so it was just like a little sweat-infused tour of an area that was neat but would have been really fun if i had a lot of cash to burn through. Go here if you like fancy watches and sexy clothing that isn't easy on the pocket.

Finishing up in Ginza, I hit up Akihabara for some Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown for like... roughly 3 hours of blissful relaxation. It's really popular at Club Sega, so it was fun to play people that were around my skill-level as well as get absolutely trashed by vets. Then it was time for home, a convinience-store sponsored meal and bed time. Too bad my next door neighbor was watching his T.V. very loud literally all night and morning, so I slept like shit and dragged myself to Tokyo Station for the trip to Osaka. Which is the next entry!

Scroll back up, ya goof,

GT

http://s35.photobucket.com/albums/d151/WebSlinger69/Japan%206/