Travel to Continue!

Last year I began what is certain to be my lifelong obsession with travel. I don't believe I'll have enough money to do anything more than daytrips or at most a flight within the country this year, I'll continue travelling the world as my life rolls on.
I've been blessed with an excellent travelling partner, even though she's just as inexperienced in the world. It leads to some rather offbeat adventures and excellent wandering. And I promised I'd take her the world over. Of course I promised myself the same thing. Can't break two promises!
Even though we're not able to do any international travelling this year, next year will be quite different. We're planning on going on a cruise to Central America and some Carribbean islands. It's not the ideal form of world travel. It's the tourists way of getting about, but the opportunity arose and I jumped at it. I'll get a short glimpse at these countries I've never been to. On top of that I'll get to laze about on a tropical beach for a bit. I'm sure I'll make the best of it somehow.
Here are the countries and territories I'll be visiting.





It's more than a year a way and I'm not getting too excited yet. However, it is the next time I'll be out of the country (aside from probably Canada) so I can't help but anticipate it a little. Ashes and I are going no matter what, even if the others planning to go back out.
So here's to a leisurely cruise. I'll resume real travel in a few years, when I have the proper money.

OR Japan.

Animosity

I used to be a fan of wrestling.  Or rather, I still am in general.  But in particular I'm not a fan of the WWE.  While holding many of the best stars of a still struggling industry, they don't properly utlize that talent.  They really don't make the product for the fan of the 'sport' of wrestling anymore.  Indeed, they never really did.  I argue that they are completely ignoring that fanbase now.  I will admit that they have a few top quality matches in a year.  For the most part it's all punches pulled, no move allowed, punch-kick-punch-kick-finisher.  They have a demanding schedule, I know, but put some HEART back into it.

They bombard us with ridiculous plots and insult our intelligence at the same time.  Not to mention that they often only feature 20-30 minutes of actual wrestling on a 2 hour show.  It's frustrating to want to simply watch some mindless, wonderfully worked matches.  Yet when I have to listen to an uncharismatic 6 foot tall steroid addicted idiot jabber on about god only knows what for 10 minutes, then listen to another guy go "nuh uh" for 10 more it kills me.

Fortunately there are still some highlights.  Edge is still crazy awesome.  He can be the mean badass, he can be the comedic clown, and not to mention he can really bring it in the ring.  What has this earned him?  Like six world championships.  Not bad.  CM Punk will always be great.  He'll jump from feud to feud and perform at a top level.  He may never see the world title again, but he had it and that can't be taken away.

I stopped watching for so many reasons.  Degrading the cruiser title by putting on Hornswaggle (then eliminating it completely), Katie Vick, Al Wilson's wedding, Eric Bischoff, pushing untrained rookies hard over veterans (and then firing them in 4 months anyway), and so much more.  It just added up over the years.  Once I realized that I was suffering through more of a show than I was enjoying, it was over.

There wasn't enough there to really be excited about anymore.  I felt like they were deliberately insulting my intelligence.  That's what it was all along, perhaps, and I never saw it because I could enjoy the matches for what they were.  A performance.  The plots that only the most idiotic, dull-brained, hillbilly could get into (or believe!) ruined the whole thing.  When you step outside of a hobby like that for a while and then look back in you find yourself saying "What the hell was wrong with me?"  The utter horror that was the WWE made me just hate wrestling in general for a while.  I got over that.

I am still a fan of the rest of wrestling, however.  NOAH, NJPW, ROH, AJPW, DG, and so many others still produce excellent stuff.  They don't punish you for watching like the WWE (and even TNA).  The wrestlers go out there and do their damndest to put on a great show.  Japanese wrestling will never change. It's about workrate.  Newcomers like Go Shiozaki, Katshiko Nakajima, and Kohei Suwama are respectful of that tradition and give their hearts in the ring.  This leads to a new generation that will flourish like those before them, unlike America.

Attempts to Americanize it have actually been pretty fun.  The ridiculous storylines in promotions like HUSTLE and DDT are so over the top that you can't help but laugh.  They don't take themselves seriously.  That's the problem in America, they put on these terrible shows with awful acting, and off-the-wall stories and expect you to take them seriously!

Professional wrestling is an interesting entity.  Sadly the show must cater to what the average fan wants.  I'm not an average fan.  I just want some god damn wrestling, is that too much to ask for, WWE?  You don't provide it so I don't watch, but you don't care.  I find it in other places at least, so the sport hasn't totally lost me yet.

Five More Minifigs

I had a lot of fun with my first minifig post.  That's why I'm doing another one!  It's about as necessary as a rusted nail being forcibly inserted into my skull via a angry rhinoceros.  I should hope this blog doesn't degrade into either wholesale nostalgia, or total toydom.  I will try to limit these posts as much as possible.  But they're going to crop up because... well because it's a lot of damn fun.

Hey, relevant posts are coming.

Johnny Thunder

Before LEGO ever acquired the rights to Indiana Jones they had their own adventurer IP.  His name was Johnny Thunder.  As is the common rule, the name Johnny is AWESOME when paired with any sort of cool last name.  Despite the scarf, Johnny Thunder rules.

Vampire

Just look at that motherfucker.  He'll beat you down and take the vitae from you, V:tM style.  White Wolf gonna krunk you up!  Cape, hair, cape, pale skin, eastern European noble outfit.  Awesome fig.

Captain Redbeard

If ever there was an iconic minifig, this is the guy.  Rocking the pegleg/hook combo.  Bonus points for badass jolly roger hat.  The eyepatch completes the pirate checklist.  The definitive LEGO pirate, this fig screams swashbuckling highseas rum-induced murder!

Darth Vader

Acquiring the Star Wars liscense was something that could only have been dreamed of when I was a kid.  Now LEGO Star Wars certainly has to be one of their top selling brands.  The best part about that deal? LEGO fucking Vader.

Astronaut

Most attempts at space in the LEGO universe were with flamboyant, futuristic outfits.  Aliens vs spacemen sort of vibe.  This dude, however, is from the Town line.  Which means he's accurate.  The white spacesuit is cool, but the best part is the visor.  When it comes down over the face it provides a sweet effect that makes this fig look like a true astronaut.

Links of the Week: Two

It's probably been over a week since I updated my links of the week. I'm not really busy, but I say that I am. It's a decent excuse seeing the ridiculous hours my crapjob has me working. Yet I always have time or can find the time.

So enough whining! It accomplishes so very little. Here's my list of links for the last week.

Netflix - I've had this for a few months now, but I've spent many of my free minutes at this website. Be it searching for new movies to add to my queue or watching TV and movies, I have spent a significant amount of time here.

BrickLink - I spent some time here researching minifigs for my minifig post, but then just kept browsing the database. Provides an exhaustive list of LEGO sets and parts. It also functions as a store to pick up any of these sets, at inflated prices of course.

places for writers - Just a resource site, something to browse and build up my ambition.

Drew's Script-O-Rama - The best source for free screenplays on all of the many internets. I fancy myself able to be a scriptwriter, so this fuels that fire in me. I don't know what I can and can't do yet, but I think I can do what is done here.

Wikia - Cool resource for a bunch of different games. No one page in particular, but tons of pages for tons of games. Some cover the lore of their games very well. Like Shadowrun. God I love Shadowrun, even though I've never played an actual P & P version of it before.

Hulu - Hulu is awesome. As Alec Baldwin says, they're taking over the world! Mostly watched SNL clips and Conan O'Brien clips, including his entire final Late Night episode. Old Timey Baseball almost had me in tears.

Creative Uncut - A site that has game art. Lots of game art, from art books. Usually I'm unable to find any serious amount of character art, so I loved finding this site.

Trails to the Rising Sun

I enjoy blogging.  It's an outlet for the random chaos in my mind.  As such I hope that it clears the chaos from my mind and gives me enough clarity to accomplish something.

Anyway, I like blogging and I like reading blogs.  Photoblogs tend to be my favorite.  The high quality and artistic value of some of these photos astonishes me sometimes.

Beyond photoblogs there is another type of blog that I enjoy reading.  Those are the blogs from people residing in Japan.  For the last 6 years I've been reading dozens of blogs on a regular basis regarding the lives people are living in that foreign land.  It's been my only contact with that country of my dreams.  I've been forced to live vicariously through the blogs of these expats and English teachers.  I basically started with a very limited number of blogs and checked all of their links which led me to literally hundreds of others.

I've got more to say on the issue.  Not right now though.  Here's a short list of Japan blogs that I've really liked at one time or another.

Avoidinglife - Jamie-san's (heh, wCw ref) blog.  While it has degenerated into a blog that is mostly trains and wrestling (yay!) it was basically the top blog about Japan in the day.  Plus this motherfucker has been to live M-Pro shows, the lucky bastard.  He touched on the everyday life of living in Japan, which made it a unique experience for living vicariously.

Shanzig in Japanzig - Totally stumbled on this blog waaaay back in the day.  She had a quirky way of describing her experience in Japan.  Plus it was through her blog that I learned about purikura, which I have since totally experienced the greatness of while in London!

Mike's Blender - This guy's blog is quite cool.  Good pictures, good write ups.  Plus it was through this Mike that I found the blog of the other Mike.  His blog was, and still is, one that I enjoy following.

A Gaijin in Japan - Neil Duckett's excellent site.  While it's one that I came upon rather recently, it's still a favorite.  His JR Yamanote line series does a really cool job capturing all aspects of Tokyo.  For a total outsider, this blog continues to make me feel like I'm in touch with Japan.

Kirai: A geek in Japan - Originally a Spanish language blog.  This is another one that I've come across more recently.  It's sorta all over the place but that's what makes it such a good read.  His posts draw me into little tidbits of Japanese culture.  I get just a little glimpse of his Japanese experience, which adds to my vicarious experience.

Photokyo.com - Long dead, now gone completely.  This was a site that focused on photos, oviously.  It had pictures of random Japanese people, pictures of Japanese events, and pictures from the life of the site owner.  I wouldn't call it a blog exactly, but it updated often with new pictures and journal updates. It was well kept during its run, and kept me dreaming of that foreign land.

Sushicam - The original, the first, and still a favorite.  It was the first Japan blog that I followed on a regular basis.  The emphasis was on photography, but the blog posts were really nice as well.  Though it's gone through several format changes, it still holds up strong.  With the focus shifting back to the original owner, it is again redeeming itself.  A classic.

There's another one that I've completely forgotten the name of and the author.  It was a JET blog written by an Asian-american.  I remember he worked in a special-ed school or classroom.  It was basically insane, but that's how I learned about the JET program (of which I will seemingly never be accepted).  Any insight?

Those are some of my favorites, former and current.  I've seen a lot of blogs, the big and the small, but if anybody knows of anymore please feel free to leave a comment.  I'll read any of them, from small personal blogs to catch-all websites about Japan.

Minifig Top 10

LEGOs are awesome. Period. I grew up with them, and recently I've rediscovered their awesomeness. I seriously love the sets that are being put out now. They are elaborate and they have amazingly detailed minifigs.

Minifigs. Probably the element that makes these sets so cool. The little interchangable figures that come along with most LEGO sets. I love them now. I loved them when I was a kid. Call me sad, but I don't care. I used to play with LEGOs and create.  Here's a list of my personal favorite minifigs. (Pictures from Bricklink, hope they don't mind)

TEN FAVORITE MINIFIGS:

LEGO Wizard

While there have been more detailed wizards since the release of this one, it gets the spot simply for nostalgia factor.  Plus when it came out this wizard was the coolest thing around.

Green Forestman

It's the LEGO Robin Hood.  With a lot of forestmen to choose from, I choose this all green one as my favorite.  The forestmen in general were very cool.  They were anti-authority.  They had a subtly coolness.

Ice Planet Chief

I'm not even totally sure why it was that I liked this figure so much.  The bright orange visor and skis that came with him were unique.  The whole color scheme just worked.  And his white eyebrows and mustache just worked for the figure.

Cavalry Colonel

This guy is awesome.  Give him a sabre and a horse and he'll kick anybodys ass.  He has a gentlemanly look, but an air of authority.  Just a brilliant minifig.

Ninja

It's a freaking ninja!  Enough said

Prof. Henry Jones

One of the best looking liscensed minifigs.  This is Sean Connery as Prof. Henry Jones.  Highly detailed face.  Plus extra points for being one of the best characters in movie history.

Aquashark

The enemy of the equally cool Aquaraiders.  The color scheme is working for this bad guy.  The neon hook just screams both villain and badass.  Plus the underwater breathing apparatus rocks.

Jester

This is one of the best minifigs of all time.  While the focus for so long for LEGO Castle had been knights and their opponents, this figure steps outside that into the back story.  Getting away from the battlefield we now see a calm side to the knights.  The knights at home if you will.  Oh, and check out that awesome jester's cap.

Islander Chief

This was the first figure I owned that had something printed on the legs.  Add a cool painted face, and a crazy tribal mask (with feathers!) to the mix and this is a classic minifig.

Insectoid Alien

There were spacemen and there were their opponents.  When it came to their opponents, the insectoids were the best.  The green, black and grey look just reeks of awesomeness (to steal a line from E & C).  The helmet/shoulder combo is wicked.  The whole figure works.

Well there it is.  I really liked doing this post, so I'll probably do some more minifig posts in the future.

Hey There Bub Guy

Fcuk (oops mispelling, but just like that French clothing style!) winter I want spring motherfucker.

Fuck ice I want heat motherfucker.

I want my flippy-floppies.

Oh while I'm making outrageous demands that won't come true for another 4 months, I want a full blown zombie invasion force from Sao Paolo to overrun the world and spread to all countries.  This plague will consume us all!  Rain blood!  Run and hide and survive and ZOMBIES!

Except Madagascar.  Because you can NEVER get Madagascar, damnit.

Links of the Week: One

As I prepare to go out and buy some sort of energy drink to keep my sharp into the wee hours of the morning, I've decided to post a list of sites that I've either discovered, rediscovered, or simply enjoyed over the past week.

SkyScraperCity - One of my favorite forums of all time.  Only recently started going there again after a few months.  Pictures of cityscapes aplenty.

OhGizmo! - A website about quirky gadgets!

Not Always Right - If you worked in retail you'd understand.  Customers are idiots.  They are.  Check this out and learn how you're better than other people.

Prague - Simple title.  Simple concept.  It's a website by some guy in Prague.  Each post has a single picture, but they are really good.

The Retroist - Nostalgia at its finest.  Relive your childhood in the 80s bitches.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog - I literally stumbled on this earlier this week.  I loved it right from the get go.  NPH, Nathan Fillian, and the chick from The Guild.  And to top it off it is directed by Joss Whedon.

Setting Goals, Finding Life

Exactly one week ago I set up a to do list for the week. In this list I put several items which I wanted to accomplish within that one week period, obviously. This was my attempt to force myself into action. I was hoping that it would end my laziness, my lethargic approach to life, and reenergize the vibrant parts of my soul. I wanted this list to make me dynamic! I wanted it to start me on a path of responsibility for my own life. It takes one step to get moving
A week has passed and I'm not entirely happy with the results.
Here's a list of the goals I set for myself:
- Write three blog posts
- Finish reading Perdido Street Station
- Come up with 25 new ideas
- Write at least 10 pages

It really shouldn't have taken much effort to accomplish any of these points. In the end I was able to write the three blog posts (sadly that includes this one!) and come up with maybe 10 ideas. That isn't to say I didn't come up with more, as I'm always thinking something up. I only managed to put about 10 to paper. I wanted to have my entire notebook filled by the end of the week, really. I was sadly unable to properly motivate myself. I'm worried that this may continue to become a habit. I didn't finish reading the book either, half because I left it at Ashes' and half because I'd rather be surfing the internet. Sure I found some great sites, but that's no reason to skip reading. I need to finish books if I am to write them at any point.
I will continue to set weekly to-do lists for myself until I can start achieving my aspirations. The easy thing to do would be to lighten the load so that I can easily complete it each week. I am fully convinced that is the coward's way out. I may be an asshole, but I'm not a coward. Each week will see the same load. Eventually, as I start meeting my goals, I'll increase the weekly amount of work I require of myself.
These tasks are simple, but necessary. Accomplishing what I'm setting out to do is the only way for me to escape my rut.

BANZZAAAAIIIIIIII!!!!

Retail: The Insurmountable Enemei

Negative Hell Blaze

So today is the first decent day of the year so far.  It may be raining, but it's warm out damnit.  Well, comparably warm.  Spring is still a long way off, but today is just such a nice change from the rest of the year so far.

2009 is the year of the weather like a frigid bitch!  For the first five weeks of the year it was insanely cold.  I'm talking 30 dog nights here.  It was almost always in the negatives.  Even a day at zero seemed like a summer day in Lagos.  And forget about going outside to do anything.  The entire month of January could only be spent indoors, huddling for warmth.  Even going out to start up a car for work was an undertaking that required multiple layers.

Of course this all takes into account the temperature if there was no wind.  If it was gusty outside, and believe me it was on certain days, than it almost felt like living in Iceland.  My beard would form icicles and go white.

The worst part is that for most of the time it was too cold to even snow!  Oh, there was snow.  You better believe there was snow.  Yet it only snowed on two or three days.  The rest of the time we were stuck with 10 foot snowbanks, horrible roads, and ice over everything.  The days when it snowed were actually sort of nice.  There's that evening glow that the snowy sky washes over everything.  A nice, eerie orange color.  When those three days were over it was back to bland, frozen misery.

So to winter I say, fuck you.  Roll over and die and let muddy Spring, the dirty hippie, come through.  Die winter, die!

Ambrosia of the Videogameophiliac

Wikipedia is a powerful(ish) knowledge base for many situations.  In college, it was a resource for papers... a weak resource that was used to branch off into other areas.  Whatever, at the time professors hadn't caught on yet.  In life, it is used as a random trivia device.  Useless facts aplenty on there.  The truthiness of them, well that's debatable.

Last week, however, it provided a new bit of information that led me into a world of ecstacy.  At the time I was browsing the various RPGs in a modern setting that I knew of, like Earthbound and Persona.  When I got to the entry for Persona 2: Innocent Sin I saw a small entry at the bottom that floored me. Somebody had translated the game into English.

This game is coupled with Persona 2: Eternal Punishment to form the entire experience of the second game in the Persona series.  It was vital, it was necessary, it was... never released in America.  All along we were playing half a game.  A rare, great glimpse of an entire game.  Atlus never saw fit to publish the game stateside.  So I played Eternal Punishment and moved on, never really putting a second thought into it.  That led to last week, years later, when I made the discovery.  I immediately went to the site linked in the article.  What greeted me, these pictures.





It was Innocent Sin!  It was in English.  I was fortunate to discover this patch existed after it had already been completed.  Already having had the game on my computer, I immediately patched it with the given tools and began playing.  It was the ultimate payoff, the ultimate discovery.  I can't thank TranslatorTom for bringing us such a top notch translation.  Truly better than most official translations.

This patch brings up the issue of fan translations.  I'm sure to the companies they either have the attitude that it's encouraging piracy or that it's their time they can do what they want.  If the companies really think that it encourages piracy, perhaps they should attempt to understand their hardcore fanbase a little better.

Take a look at Mother 3.  This game is the conclusion of the hugely popular underground hit EarthBound series.  The second game in the series, EarthBound, was released in America on the SNES.  Three generations ago.  And yet to this day it still has a massive underground following of devoted fans.  Mother 3 was released after years of work on the GBA... but only in Japan.  This excited the fans, who believed that an English release wouldn't be far away.  Then time passed.  And passed.  There was no official word on an English release, which prompted internet translators to begin work on an English version for the ROM.  They promised to immediately cease their work if word ever came out of an official translation.  Completely ignoring the fans, Nintendo never had the game translated.  After a long labor of love, the Mother 3 English patch was released last year.

Dozens of translation patches exist on the internet.  I know, because it's how I've played some of the best games that I would never have been able to otherwise.  Seiken Densetsu 3 (Secret of Mana 2), Star Ocean, and Romancing SaGa 3.

I want to personally thank the translators out there for their work.  I have enjoyed hundreds of hours of great Japanese games that I never could've without them.  I hope that the companies will one day start to pay better attention to their hardcore and niche fanbases, at least in respect to what should be brought stateside.  (Okay they did it with those Disgaea games, but I fucking hated those!)

Entrenched in My Mind

Guess what?  I love the Lonely Island.  Except for that cunthole Steve.  They're proof that somebody like me can do something.  Because before SNL they were just guys.  Guys on the internet.  I need to find somebody to work with!  I need to assemble a team.

Other songs stuck in my head at the moment are Single Ladies by Beyonce (because of SNL) and Let It Rock by Kevin Rudolf.  I hate these songs, mind you, but can't get them out of my head.