So I definitely missed all of August, but now that I'm back in dai-Nippon I plan on being 1) more regular and 2) more personal with this thing. Nobody needs another gadget/movie/whatever review blog. I arrived at Narita last Friday, now one week ago, and settled into my apaato pretty quickly (pics are posted on Facebook and soon on Flickr). Classes start next week, I'll post back with some other stuff sooner than later.
QRCodes are heating up as a way to bring 'net connectivity into our everyday life. For those unfamiliar with them, these relatives of the bar code were designed specifically with mobile functionality in mind, and can be scanned with the camera on your phone. Snapping a picture of the coded block with scanning software generally triggers a link to a url, kind of like a real-world hotlink. These have taken off big time in Japan over the past few years but have been catching on slowly in the US as well.
Recently (like in the last couple days) this website has begun offering patches emblazoned with QRCodes that, when scanned with a compatible phone, can link to a website, YouTube video, or conceivably anything else you can link to on the web. These are being hand made by the site's owner, who also is hosting the redirect server. Each patch's code is unique, and comes with a passcode to change what it redirects to as often as you like.
I'm moving to Japan soon and, given that almost every phone there is capable of scanning QRCodes, thought this might be a cool way to introduce myself, like an e-business card. So I ordered one. There are currently 6 designs to choose from. I got the "You Are Here" icon because it seems like it would work horizontally or vertically, and also resonates with the kind of Lost In Translation theme. Shipping timeframes are currently looking like a couple weeks, but I'll update once I get it and try it out.
So word's been going around all day about the new search engine Cuil, which was founded by some of the original members of Google. The site's main page claims it's indexed over 120 Billion sites, which sounds expansive. They claim it's the world's biggest. Sounds pretty sweet, right? So I tried it, and was greeted with this lovely error message:
Now, the site is new, and is getting a lot of hype right now so I'm sure there are tons of people trying it out, but you'd think that a company trying to make an impression in the search engine market would try to do a liitle better. People browsing around online are sure to come across it, hop over to the site and try it out. If their search returns interesting results, they're likely to come back and try it again. If they get an error message like this, odds are good that they'll go right on using Google or Yahoo or whatever and give nary a second thought to to Cuil. So here's hoping they get things straightened out, and at some point maybe I'll remember to go back and try it again. But I doubt it.
Gainax have posted its first full trailer for the upcoming Gurren Lagann movie "Gekijō-ban Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann: Guren-hen" to its official site. The so-called "Crimson Chapter" looks to take the series up through the battle with the Spiral King, encompassing the first half of the 27-episode series, which begins airing on the Sci Fi Channel July 28th.
Gurren Lagann is one of the most exciting, if unoriginal series I've seen in quite a while and the prospect of seeing it on the big screen gives me palpitations. At the same time it's a bit disappointing to see Gainax releasing another marginally altered rehash of its existing IP, as this film appears to be. If the trailer and Evangelion 1.0 are any indication, Gainax are happy to simply cash in on what amount to rereleases rather than expand their stories in any meaningful way. For Eva, the 1.0 remake was a way to bring the aging series into the 21st century, but for Gurren Lagann you have to imagine they're using the same image files as the series, with only minor alterations. Looking at the trailers there seems to be a bit more detail in some scenes, especially in the facial animations during dialogue, but otherwise not much seems to be different. Regardless of how much or little they change, it seems safe to say that fan devotion will make the release a box office success, and maybe spur Gainax to release some original theatrical material for a change.
Gekijō-ban Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann: Guren-hen opens in Japan September 6th
[Link via Anime News Network]
According to my friend Scott this is "the best explanation of the perestroika policies that ended the Cold War" he's ever seen. It certainly has more cleavage than I remember from my Social Studies textbook, not to mention an army of zombified Stalins and an axe-wielding, eye-beam shooting, gun-toting, Conan-esque Mikhail Gorbachev coming to the rescue of Mother Russia. This wild video comes from the Russian metal group ANJ, and features some killer use of old Soviety propaganda. I also appreciate their appropriation of the classic Battleship Potemkin film poster, which I myself have also used:
[via I Heart Chaos]
A lot of times when I'm working I need a quick writing space to jot down some notes, work with copy/pasting text or write down something I'm being told on the phone. For that purpose I like the Notepad application that comes with windows: it's lightweight, loads quickly, lacks formatting quirks and exports well to lots of formats. I like to keep one master "Notes" document for stuff I'm working on, then save new ones as I need them. I thought I'd throw together a quick tutorial on how to do this if it sounds like something that would come in handy.
Step 1:
Navigate to your root directory (usually C:/) by double-clicking "My Computer>Local Disk (C:)." Right click in the blank area and click "New>Text Document." Rename the file something simple like "Notes.txt" This will be your master notes file that you will launch to from the button.
Step 2:
Right-click and drag the new file onto the desktop, drop it and select "Create Shortcut Here." You now have a shortcut to the text file in your root directory. Double-clicking this link will open the document.
Step 3:
Left-click and drag the new shortcut from your desktop onto the Quick Launch. Now every time you want to open your notes you can do it with a single click!
Whenever you open the file and jot down some notes just hit "Save" to alter the original Notes file. If you want to save something elsewhere, choose "Save As" and select a different name and your "Notes" file will remain as-is. I find this really convenient when I'm at the computer and don't have a pen and paper handy and need to jot something down. It's also a good way to manage multiple things that you want to copy and paste.
This post is as much a reminder to myself as anything, but next month Bethesda Software, makers of the upcoming and possibly face-meltingly awesome Fallout 3 are sponsoring a 2-day film fest of films that inspired the games.
The films will be shown at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica on the following schedule:
Friday (8/22): Wizards, Damnation Alley, A Boy and His Dog
Saturday (8/23): The Last Man On Earth, The Omega Man, Twelve Monkeys
They're not showing Nausicaa, my own favorite post-apocalyptic movie, but I've always been a big fan of the Fallout games and am psyched to see some of what inspired that twisted world. The formats for the screenings are not posted but here's hoping they get a few prints in there.
General admission tickets are $10 per day, $8 for students and $7 for American Cinematheque members and go on sale July 25th on Fandango.
[American Cinematheque via Kotaku]
Here's a cool idea for a custom gift: modify a magic 8-ball to deliver whatever messages you want. The example shown has a marriage proposal substituted, which seems like it might have limited utility. You'd undoubtedly get annoyed if the answer to every question is "will you marry me." Beyond the obnoxiousness of answering a question with a question, that kind of perseverance just comes off as desperation.
Two suggestions for improving on this mod: 1) use the original icosahedron. Sand down the surfaces and apply new letters. 2) give it a slick custom paint job. Fire engine red with an infinity sign sounds pretty boss to this guy.
[Link via MAKE]
One of the biggest US/China co-productions to date, "The Mummy: The Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" has met unexpected resistance from Chinese censors, who are demanding that cuts be made before a release date is set. No details were given about what parts of the film are the cause of the controversy.
Co-production between the US and China is becoming increasingly popular and is seen as an important way for industries in both countries to move forward. Industry spokespeople from both countries spoke warmly about the prospect at USC's "Chinese Film at 100" conference in May. Censors' problem with "The Mummy" is especially surprising considering that much of the film was shot in China with close cooperation between American and Chinese production companies. If it develops into a major problem, this may not bode well for future projects. Chinese authorities are no doubt aware of this, and it is unlikely that it will be allowed to become an issue. A Universal spokesman noted that they "anticipate no obstacles" to the film's Chinese release.
"The Mummy: The Tomb of the Dragon Emperor"is set to release in the US on August 1st.
[Variety]
(Couldn't resist a second post with "mummy" and "China" in the title...)
Crawling the streets of Sydney is Japanese artist Torimitsu Momoyo's critique on Japan's current economic woes. The robot is a life-size representation of a Japanese "sarariman" or salary man, which crawls along the ground while Torimitsu, dressed in a white nurse's outfit, tends to it. She lights its cigarette, changes its battery and performs other services as part of a performance piece.
Torimitsu states that crawling is how soldiers move, calling salary men the "soldiers of the company." Perhaps a more damning interpretation of the piece would be that Japan's salary men are content to simply crawl along, helped on their way by a government loathe to reform its aging business model. The "sarariman" was seen as a key factor in Japan's economic boom from the 1960s through the 80's. The hardworking, committed company employee was symbolic of the nation's culture of modernization in the postwar period. Since the bubble, however, the "sarariman" is increasingly the subject of ridicule and seems to be holding the nation's economy back rather than moving it forward.
[via Gizmodo]
A dark day for the English language, as Merriam-Webster announce that "fanboy," along with over a hundred other new words, will be added to the next edition of its Collegiate Dictionary. Supposedly dating to 1919, "fanboy" will be defined as a "boy who is an enthusiastic devotee, such as of comics or movies." Sounds about right, if a bit watered-down.
Other new additions include food words such as "soju" and others reflecting contemporary concerns like "dirty bomb." The former seems primed to become a favorite Scrabble crutch when holding those hard-to-use J's.
[Yahoo! News via Joystiq]
According to Three Speech, Sony have come out saying that the problems caused by its Playstation 3 firmware update 2.40, which rendered many systems inoperable, was caused by "system administration" data on some hard drives. Apparently this data prevents the updated systems from loading into the XMB on boot, making them unusable. The updated firmware 2.41, released last night, supposedly fixes this problem, which is little consolation for those with the bricked units. Sony offer them the option to either remove and reformat the hard drive on their own or to contact Sony customer service, which will presumably be sending out replacement systems. Either way, it seems that any saved data will be lost in the process.
Given the reported difficulty in getting replacement 60GB PS3s I feel increasingly lucky to have dodged a bullet on this one. Condolences go out to those who were less fortunate.
[Three Speech via PS3 Fanboy]
GDH holdings, the parent company of Gonzo and several other anime producing operations, may be de-listed from the Mothers section of the Tokyo Stock Market after disappointing earnings report for the fiscal year. GDH's net loss of 3.75 billion yen is an indication that the anime market is facing financial trouble in Japan as well as the US. Gonzo was one of the first Japanese companies to actively suppress fansubs of its properties on the web, a phenomenon that is increasingly seen as a threat to anime distribution worldwide. They have been responsible for fan-favorite series such as Gantz, Full Metal Panic!, and Afro Samurai.
[Variety]
Metal Gear Solid: Cold Blooded from TheDuoGroup on Vimeo.
Director Kojima Hideo claims that Metal Gear Solid 4 will be the last in the renowned series of videogames, but it's unlikely fans will let Snake fade quietly into memory. The Duo Group have posted a 5-minute short dubbed "Cold Blooded" that takes the story in an interesting direction. Very slick art and production values mark this effort, which is highly watchable.
[via Joystiq]
Koppel on Discovery's 4-part miniseries on China, called The People's Republic of Capitalism, airs this week on July 9-12th. I attended a preview screening of excerpts from the first two episodes a few weeks ago and thought I'd share some thoughts.
The timing of the series' release, coming a month before the opening of the Beijing Olympics, places it atop a wave of China-related media flooding the airwaves. China is hot these days, and everyone is cashing in. The Koppel series seems poised to reach a great number of American audiences, with eye-catching graphics and a contemporary docu-feel. Koppel himself sounds very much the classic newsman that he is, and is not afraid to occasionally push his subjects on questions they'd rather avoid.
I only saw parts of the first two episodes, "Joined at the Hip" and "Mao-ism to Me-ism." The first is a fairly standard look how the economies of China and the US are currently intertwined. The contrast between the depressed Midwestern town of Rolla and the bustling city of Chongqing where its industry was relocated is drawn strikingly. Interviews with former Briggs and Stratton employees in Rolla repeatedly return to the conundrum facing many in America today: patronizing Walmart and the like is feeding the system that robs people of their jobs, but what can you do when you can't afford to shop anywhere else? While this is certainly a pregnant issue, the show's tone seems geared towards selling the idea that US/Chinese interdependence is a good thing, or if not good, at the very least an unavoidable fact in the modern economy. Moreover, this message is aimed at people very much like Rolla's unemployed. While the tone may change in later episodes, what I saw seems very pro-China and willing to overlook criticisms of that nation and the US' dependence on it.
The second episode focuses on how life is changing for modern Chinese, especially with regard to what they want and live for. It has been noted that modern Chinese are preoccupied above all else with making money, and the series reinforces that point to an extent. However, they do interview several people who seem to embody a drive for creativity and self-expression that they find difficult to fulfill in Chinese society. These interviews are occasionally strained and the cultural divide between Koppel and his subjects becomes more apparent, but on the whole generate interesting discussion.
The preview was well received by the audience, which included a delegation from one of China's rapidly industrializing cities. A brief Q&A with one of the show's producers after the screening fielded mostly production-oriented questions. One question aimed vaguely at the agenda of the show or its sponsors was side-stepped.
Koppel on Discovery's "The People's Republic of Capitalism" airs on The Discovery Channel July 9-12th at 10pm ET and PST
So after much soul-searching and resistance I've decided to start a blog. For a few reasons. First, I need to get in the habit of writing daily and diaries are so last century. Second, I would like a platform to post some of my thoughts and share them with the world. Third, the blog is apparently now the go-to source for writing samples if you want to do freelance journalism, so I'm using this as my portfolio.
The theme here is going to reflect the diversity of my own interests. I plan on keeping news regurgitation to a minimum and focus on reviewing movies and television programs and editorial comment on recent developments. My interests lean heavily towards Japan and Asia, though not at all limited to modern pop culture. Other subjects of interest are photography, computers and gadget tech, videogames, history and science. I'm hoping to have a minimum of 3 new posts daily to start with, but we'll see how that goes.
The name of the site is the tag I've used since arriving on the internet in the mid-90's. I had just discovered the paean to anime fandom that is Otaku no Video, and, since otaking was already taken most places I wanted to register, added the title number of the Reel Big Fish song "241."
With any luck, what I've got to say will be interesting to somebody, and if so please let me know in the comments. Likewise, if you have any suggestions for improvement I'm eager to hear them as well.
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