Adventures in Sendai part 1: getting a phone (OK not really that adventurous.... is it... but what did you do today.???)

Today WAS my 1 ^ST full Day in Japan.   Technically, I did Arrive in Japan Yesterday about 12 noon Japan time but I spent the next 7 hours in Airports not to Mention the time it Took to Get from Sendai station to the Hotel.   By the time, I arrived at the Hotel I WAS so tired I pretty much Went to Bed as I spent about 20 hours getting to Japan.   (The Flight WAS 14 but getting to the Airport and TSA tacked Another 5 to That) So I Consider today my real first day in Japan.

My mission today was to get a phone or a SIM card for my recently unlocked phone so I could contact my boss and maybe a few friends ... but mostly my boss because I do not know the phone numbers of any of my friends in Japan ( sad but true.)   While They Sell SIM cards all over the Airports, none of THESE Stores HAD SIM cards That Would let you make A call.   They only allowed you to access the Internet ... .Which IS Incredible Useful.   I really wish I HAD That When I WAS in Japan back in February.   While there IS free Wi-Fi in Japan ... it IS Never there When you need it.   I Would Have loved to BE able to pull up google Maps When I WAS Lost. And I do want to do that now but the important thing is the ability to contact my Boss, which none of these SIMs would let me do. So I did not get a SIM when I was at the airport.

Now I WAS going to hunt down Them When I WAS in Sendai.   I learned there IS A reason That none of the places at the Airport HAD Those Types of SIMs.   Apparently, you need to BE A Japanese CITIZEN or Have A "Resident Card" (sort of like a Japanese version of a green card.) Unfortunately do to previous SNAFU I do not have one of those yet.

So I Decided to Get A pay as you Go phone, but UNLIKE back in the States, Burner phones Are not Plentiful in Japan.   Most Stores do not Carry Them ...   I Wonder if we Would Have less Crime in States if "TracFones and Burner phones Were harder to Get .. ???    While not quite A Burner phone, Japan does Have rental Cell phones.   It IS Around $ 5 A Day and then there Are extra Fees (like data, International Calls, etc.) But the Important Thing WAS I Could with only A US Passport Get one of THESE phones and call my boss.   I am Renting it for A fortnight ... I am Hoping by the time my rental expires I CAN Get A real phone or Rent A sim card ...

Either way it is MISSION ACOMPLISHED! 

Prepare for nostalgia, in 5...4....3....2.....

Powered by Dailymotion

2014 A Year in Review

Back in January of 2014  I posted my goals for 2014...which ...well... I met none of this year. I am not going to to sugarcoat it.  Zip...Zilch...Nada.. Big ol' goose egg. I don't want to be "Mr. Negative" but... apparently I am. Take this for an example:

A friend of mine is making a documentary.  He needs a narrator for his film. and I am like, "Hello !!!, Right here! I studied acting.  I want to be a voice actor" and he told me that he didn't want to use because my voice was too Snarky..   and I am like, "O-K, true everything I saw is usually oozing with sarcasm...but there is that thing I studied called acting....I don't have to sound that way.."  But I digress...

While I didn't complete any of the goals I set for myself I did do quite a few things. I didn't do much for January and February as I was waiting to see if I made it into the JET Program (which I did not) Apparently I am no not a JET all the way (or even part of the way)  Not from my first cigarette nor my last dying day...  Pity as doing that would have accomplished both of my major goal (and would have given me access to my minor ones.)

So 2014:

Got off to a late start...

April 12-13
SHIMMER 63-66


May 20th

Coffins @ St Vitus - Brooklyn, NY

Coffins http://bnds.in/xadaW5
Bones http://bnds.in/t8uYb1
SevenSistersOfSleep

MAY 24th
VALKYRIE Womens Professional Wrestling debut show

June 25-27th
TNA iMPACT Wrestling TV taping

I did a Zombie run ( was June or July)

July 19th
VALKYRIE Womens Professional Wrestling presents "VALKYRIE II: Rise of the VALKYRIE"

8/7
TNA iMPACT wrestling Hardcore Justice
8/9
TNA iMPACT Wrestling TV taping

Friday, September 12

Shonen Knife @ The Wick - New York, NY

Went to Universal Florida's Halloween Horror Nights
October 2-7

Attended  NYCC 2014
October 9-12

Friday, October 17th
AAW: Professional Wrestling Redefined presents Jawbreaker


October 18-19, 2014
SHIMMER 67-70


October 24th

VALKYRIE Womens Professional Wrestling presents "VALKYRIE III: Queen's Road"

November 4th

BabyMetal World Tour

November 22nd
W.U.W. Gran Prix the Beginning

November 30th

DTA Tours
Death
Obituary
Massacre
Rivers of Nihil

December 12th
NYWC Immortals Holiday 4

Not a bad year ---eh?  Not only did I do all that, I put in motion action that will allow me to fulfill most of the goals that I missed in 2014.  I will visit  Japan in 2015. I will attend a KanaProMania -Advance.  I plan on attending WAVE, 666 and a Super Sentai stunt show.  Plane Tickets bought, Hotel Booked, Tickets wrestling shows reserved!  Japan here I come.  Hopefully in 2015 I can complete my other unfulfilled 2014 goal and get a career.  I already have a "job" but I want a "career."  When you have a career  there are are not enough hours in the day...but when you have a job there are too many hours in a day.

Last Christmas

I have been a fan of Doctor Who pretty much since it was first brought to the United States I discovered Doctor Who in the 1970’s when it was broadcast on New York’s channel 9- WWOR-TV. The first episode I ever watched was episode 1 of “The Ark in Space.” I was hooked. Doctor Who quicjly became my favorite TV show. While the Christmas special is staple of the current Doctor Who series, back in the days of classic Who, it didn’t exit. In fact during it’ initial 26 year run, there were only 2 Christmas themed episodes. The very first episode to premiere on Christmas Day was "The Feast of Steven" It just happened that the episode was slated to air on Christmas day, so the BBC decided to make a festive episode. It is right in the middle of the 12 part Dalek Master Plan serial and really has nothing to do that story. It is sort of a side story. The other was the pilot to K-9 and Company. Some fans don’t count this as a Doctor Who xmas special as the Doctor isn’t in it…but it does feature K-9 and Sarah Jane and it does take place on Christmas. Back then, the internet didn’t exist. (yeah I know I am dating myself) Most of my information about Doctor Who came from British magazines and books that I stumbled upon.

I do know there was a Doctor Who Christmas connection even back then… but it was in the form of special recorded message and not a full flung special episode as it is now. It might appear on something like Blue Peter or maybe it was a special Holiday station ID for the BBC…either way it was something that aired once and as I don’t live in the UK, I never got to see. Some of these have made it youtube.
While I am happy to see a new and often times longer than usual episode of Doctor Who, the xmas themed episodes are sometimes not my favorites. When I saw the trailer to the current one, I groaned. Santa Clause?? Really. I feared the show had jumped the shark. While Doctor Who is a children’s show and it is known for its humour…I thought this might be going to far. But it is Doctor Who …so I was going to watch it anyway.
And I was presently surprised. It was brilliant. Very well written. And pretty scary for a christmas episode. The whole Santa thing was handled very smartly. The story deals with what is a dream and what is reality. Is Santa really there? Is he a figment of someone’s imagination… The story does take place on Christmas Eve and they are on a research lab close to the North pole. All the things that I thought were going to bring the episode down, like Rudolph’s red nose and Christmas elves just worked and made the story better. The Doctor, while trying to prove that Santa was a hallucination, asked Father Christmas, how he fit all those toys in his sack. To which, Santa answered, “it’s bigger on the inside.” The story is sort of like the move “Inception” except I like it a little better as at its base “Inception” was a heist-adventure movie and Doctor Who’s “Last Christmas” is more a horror story. This episode , like my other favorite Xmas special, “ The Next Doctor,” is just a great story…even if you remove all the Christmas elements it would be amazing…although the holiday elements enhance the story and make it even better. I really don’t want to spoil it, if any of my readers haven’t seen it yet. It must be available on BBC iPlayer, Amazon video or Itunes.

Christmas

I am not really a Christmas guy. I never really was and probably never will be. Having worked in retail the past couple of years has siphoned out almost all of my limited supply of yuletide spirit. When asked what my favorite Christmas movie is, I usually answer "Die Hard", "Gremlins" or "Heroic Trio 2." They take place on Christmas so they count...right? Or maybe "Santa's Slay"The movie is very cheezy but there is something about the concept that Santa is really a vile murderous demon that due to losing a wager was forced to be nice for 1000 years. But now Santa has finished his sentance and can return to his evil ways and start spreading some "yuletide fear."

There are actually a ton of evil Santa movies but this one is the best. It stars Bill Goldberg as Santa and has several cameos by actor's like James Caan, Fran Drescher, Chris Kattan, and Dave Thomas. If you Like Horror or Dark Comedy or maybe were a huge WCW fan, I ssuggestyou check out this movie.

Most people like the Jim Carrey Grinch movie, but don't care for it.  I will admit that Carrey's makeup is incredible but the movie takes to many liberties from the book and is way too long.   Jim Carrey is a phenomenal physical comedian. If they needed fill out the movie they could have just had Jim Carrey do some slapstick comedy bits while he robed  the Who's of the Holiday cheer. Instead the filmmaker's pad the movie with an unnecessary back story of how the Grinch became a Grinch.  Not only do I not care for added material, most of it seems like a ripoff of Dicken's "A Christmas Carol." If I want to watch Ebenezer Scrooge, there are hundreds of version of a Christmas Carol to choose from...I don't need bogging down the runtime of the Grinch.

While I hate to sound like a Grinch myself, I am also not a big fan of Christmas music.  Having to listen to hours on end, I have grown to dislike most of it.  A lot of it is really awful but are a few songs that get the Shawn Seal of approval. And here are a couple: 

Santa Dog is considered to be official beginning of the Residents musical career.  It is at least the first song the band released.  They have rerecorded it several times.  The version below is one of my favorites.  The Residents are always evolving and changing their musical style.  This was one of my favorite incarnations of there music.  Even though this version of Santa Dog is lacking the lyrics I love how powerful and somber it sounds. 

BABYMETAL World Tour 11/4/14

BabyMetal is the newest and quite possibly the biggest thing on the metal scene. They are Kawaii Metal-- the fusion of J-Pop and DeathMetal. In case you haven't seen them, the band is made up of a trio of cute teenage Japanese girls. Su-Metal is the lead singer with Moametal and Yuimetal providing back up vocals and dancing. They are backed by a four-piece band featuring two guitarists, a bassist and a drummer.The guys are seriously good as well. They have opened for Metallica and Lady Gaga!

When I heard they were coming to America (and NYC to boot) I had to get tickets. BabyMetal fans cut across a wide demographic. While waiting in line, I saw young people, old people, men, women, children, anime fans, old school metalheads, punks, hipsters and more. I arrived quite early and ther already was a long line Just check out this video for the BabyMetal Line I am in line at about the 2:16 mark.

The show itself was awesome. Even thought the line was long I was able to get front row. The show rocked. They started the show with a huge titantron video spelling out the mythos of BabyMetal. They even had a cheap pop were in the into video they said all roads lead to the USA. The crowd went wild for that. The first song in the show was "Babymetal Death."Bext was "line!" followed by "Uki Uki * Midnight,""Rondo Of Nightmare,""Song 4,""Catch Me If You Can,""Akatsuki,""Onedari Daisakusen,""Megitsune,""Doki Doki * Morning,""Gimme Chocolate!!"


The final song of the set was "Head Bangya!!" The crowd wanted more and for an encore Babymetal performed "Ijime, Dame, Zettai". They had huge pyro, The guitarists had amazing solos. The girls had so much energy, and the crowd was super into the show. Check out the Wall of Death in this video. While I did take lots of still photographs , I didn't take any video at the show.  although someone did seem to record the entire show, and via the magic of youtube share my experience with you.

The entire show!!!:

Cutey Honey Flash The Movie

Apparently, you can't keep a good man down...or even me.  Even though I came down with a cold on Sunday, I still had enough energy to subtitle the Cutey Honey Flash Movie.  Years ago I paid a friend to translate the movie and back then, I didn't know how to subtitle, so I gave the script to a fansubber friend of mine. Of course now I know how to sub a video.  I recently got a hold of the Cutey Honey DVD and as i still have the timed script, I decided to make a subtitled DVD,  As it was mostly already timed, it was pretty easy..as I had to do was make certain the 1rst line of dialogue matched up and the rest was gravy. I was going to add mine name to the timing credit but due to being sick....I forgot.... I also got the TV series.  This will prove more difficult because even though I did sub episodes 37-38 myself, and my fansubber buddy subbed episodes 33-35...I can't find the timed scripts (meaning I will have to retime them)  I will probably find them after I re-time as I don't throw anything away.....and that is the type of luck I am having...  I found Russian fansub scripts for the entire series.  I will translate those into English and I am going to use those the subtitle the episodes I don't have scripts for..... (IE episodes 26-32,39)

IMDb Link........: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0422610/




Genre............: action, magical girl, adventure, sci-fi, shoujo

Distributor......: TOEI ANIMATION

Year.............: 1997

Country..........: Japan

Director.........: Sasaki Noriyo




Source...........: DVD5 Retail

DVD Format.......: NTSC

DVD Size.........: DVD5

Programs Used....: AnyDVD

Video Bitrate....: 9800 Kbps

Screen Format....: Fullscreen

Audio Language...: Japanese

Audio Format.....: AC3

Subtitles........: English (custom)




Menu.............: Untouched

Video............: Untouched

DVD Extras.......: theatrical trailer