Monday, October 31, 2005
Hammer's CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN 11:08 AM
The interesting thing about THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN is the focus on Peter Cushing's Dr. Frankenstein and not on the monster he creates. In fact Christopher Lee is pretty much wasted as the monster in this movie, but it's still a fun movie. Worth a rental at least...
Happy Halloween! 11:01 AM
It's raining and hailing and I'm hoping it stops before tonight or else It'll be a really miserable Halloween.
Friday, October 28, 2005
If you watch only one Church of Satan documentary this year... 9:20 AM
A stand out in my Holloween Netflix queue, SATANIS THE DEVIL'S MASS is a docu-something about Anton LaVey and his little church released in 1969, a period in time when everything looked ugly. And boy does it look ugly. Compare this to the Anton in THE DEVIL'S RAIN or the better realised THE DEVIL RIDES OUT or the super trippy ROSEMARY'S BABY scenes of devil worshiping wack jobs and it all becomes a surreal stew of strange cultish bits that become something of self parody. Yeah, they use a nekkid lady for the alter, and they also wear holloween masks and goonie robes. Very difficult to take seriously on any level.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Sick 7:48 AM
Must have caught something at Oni-Con. My throat's killing me. But I'm at work, so I'm both sick and stupid...
Monday, October 24, 2005
Friday, October 21, 2005
Spook Show tomorrow night 6:13 PM
Got the rental car, starting to pack. We'll hit the road early and be in Houston by mid-afternoon with any luck. Then we'll try to communicate with THE SPIRITS of OtakuHELL!
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
There's a hole in my cat 7:59 AM
Something took a bite outta Rajah's butt. He's got a quarter sized chunk missing from his right hind region. My guess is something with a small bite, like a possum or raccoon or small dog got him. And I can't get him to stay indoors and heal up. Stupid cat.
Monday, October 17, 2005
VERSCHIEDENE: Atomic Platters - Cold War Music From The Golden Age Of Homeland Security 11:41 AM
VERSCHIEDENE: Atomic Platters - Cold War Music From The Golden Age Of Homeland Security
THIS is what I want for my birthday! HEY!
And check out Cheap DVDS for all your dollar DVD fun!
THIS is what I want for my birthday! HEY!
And check out Cheap DVDS for all your dollar DVD fun!
Scary stuff 9:24 AM
Toei's TOMB OF DRACULA and FRANKENSTEIN and ATTACK OF THE SUPER MONSTERS will be on the playlist for the Oni-Con Spook Show. Plus some SANTO and MISTER VAMPIRE. It'll be a monsterific night...
Friday, October 14, 2005
Time to make the Buttons 5:32 PM
And make more buttons for Oni-Con. Bruce has made a dozen or so new designs and I'm gonna try and knock them all out this weekend. And if I have any extra time I want to scan and sell the new buttons on the Cheap Disposable Website. Stay tuned...
UPDATE: I went to CompUSA last friday and picked up a cradle and a case for my Tapwave Zodiac, plus Tony Hawk 4 and SpyHunter. Tonight I go to CompUSA and all the Zodiac stuff is gone. I ask a sales person for it, he sez it's in the back, but they can't sell it to me. WTF. It's in the damn store, yet they won't sell it to me. What a country.
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Ooky and Spooky 9:33 AM
Talked with Michael and Josh about the Spook Show and they had some interesting input. And Bruce weighed in with Perceptovision, so he's in on the gag now. We'll see what happens.
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Not a Haunted House 2:05 PM
Nah, I don't want OtakuHELL to be a haunted house. No, I'm thinking more like William Castle type of gimick. I need to talk this over with Bruce and Michael and Josh, who seem to have become my support crew for the show. Maybe I need to get more folks involved with the show?
I'd like to evolve the show into a Kiddy Show/Spook Show Vaudville thing. I'll need a Residence style eyeball mask to wear and lots of duct tape...
I gotta think about this.
I'd like to evolve the show into a Kiddy Show/Spook Show Vaudville thing. I'll need a Residence style eyeball mask to wear and lots of duct tape...
I gotta think about this.
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Mad Props 1:02 PM
Running the Spook Show idea through my head I've realized that it's probably not something I'll be able to pull off. I usually don't have enough time for the HELLsetup, any Spook Show type elements would only take more time that I probably don't have.
I enjoyed Surat's Mad Hatter gimmick, and It'd be neat to add more props to the show. But I'd need somebody to help run the props, because I'm too busy. I've checked a few websites for haunted house gags that I could use in the show, and there are a few that could work. Simple things like folks with rubber masks running in the aisles would work, if I could find some volunteers to do it. A fog machine would be a neat touch, but it'd just be one more technical thing I'd have to set up. Cob webs? Flying ghosts ala William Castle? Corpses in caskets? Zombies? Puppets? SCARY PUPPETS!!!
Perhaps I could enlist Michael and Josh into being the stage managers for OtakuHELL?
Not that it wouldn't be fun to have Dr. Acula's Spooky Fun Time Hour and Polka Party. But in the end I think the only prop that'll be added will be a Halloween Jack-o-lantern or two for the candy we throw to the audience at the show.
I enjoyed Surat's Mad Hatter gimmick, and It'd be neat to add more props to the show. But I'd need somebody to help run the props, because I'm too busy. I've checked a few websites for haunted house gags that I could use in the show, and there are a few that could work. Simple things like folks with rubber masks running in the aisles would work, if I could find some volunteers to do it. A fog machine would be a neat touch, but it'd just be one more technical thing I'd have to set up. Cob webs? Flying ghosts ala William Castle? Corpses in caskets? Zombies? Puppets? SCARY PUPPETS!!!
Perhaps I could enlist Michael and Josh into being the stage managers for OtakuHELL?
Not that it wouldn't be fun to have Dr. Acula's Spooky Fun Time Hour and Polka Party. But in the end I think the only prop that'll be added will be a Halloween Jack-o-lantern or two for the candy we throw to the audience at the show.
Monday, October 10, 2005
Spooks Run Wild 10:52 AM
Roughed out a flyer for the OtakuHELL show at Oni-Con in Houston. Aiming for a Spook Show style, with GeGeGe No Kitaro and Devil Man.
Friday, October 07, 2005
Endweek 2:05 PM
Tweeking on the Zodiac. Finally got ZHexan and ZQuake working. ZDoomZ ain't having any, though. Need to check the forums for help.
Found a neat little doodling program called Moe Paint, it's like an Oekaki for PalmOS. Fun, maybe I can figure out how to export the art, too.
Looking forward to Halloween, and maybe even Oni-Con...
Found a neat little doodling program called Moe Paint, it's like an Oekaki for PalmOS. Fun, maybe I can figure out how to export the art, too.
Looking forward to Halloween, and maybe even Oni-Con...
Thursday, October 06, 2005
Like shooting elephants with a bow and arrow 8:24 AM
My workstation keeps freezing up. I've had to reboot a dozen times today. I really, really hate computers...
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Journey Into Fear 11:35 AM
I've been obsessing over my new Tapwave Zodiac. It's a brilliant little tool. I originally thought this whould be a great for portible multi-media, and it does work nicely as an MP3 player and even a photo viewer, but It's still not impressing me as a video player.
Sure, it worked really well with the few japanese commercials I loaded on the SD card, but it choked on an episode of Rizelmine. Hard.
And the onboard Kinoma player/encoder seems flakey as hell. Gimmie the video specs and I'll encode my own clips for the Zodiac. I need to experiment with the clips some more.
Probablly the best thing about the Zodiac is Palmreader. I've got a couple ebooks loaded up and it works great for a small portable e-read.
Now if I can only figure out how to use the bluetooth to get e-mail and hook up to the web. But I bet I'll need a SD WIFI card to do that.
Sure, it worked really well with the few japanese commercials I loaded on the SD card, but it choked on an episode of Rizelmine. Hard.
And the onboard Kinoma player/encoder seems flakey as hell. Gimmie the video specs and I'll encode my own clips for the Zodiac. I need to experiment with the clips some more.
Probablly the best thing about the Zodiac is Palmreader. I've got a couple ebooks loaded up and it works great for a small portable e-read.
Now if I can only figure out how to use the bluetooth to get e-mail and hook up to the web. But I bet I'll need a SD WIFI card to do that.
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
OtakuSPEAK 8:31 AM
Getting ready to gab with a geek
By MARK SCHREIBER
Friday (Oct. 7)
Getting ready to gab with a geek
By MARK SCHREIBER
Friday (Oct. 7)
The word "otaku" can be translated into English in several ways, none of which is especially flattering: nerd, geek, weenie, fanatic hobbyist, etc.
Otaku have become plentiful in Japan and it seems they are fast developing a language of their own. To penetrate this linguistic barrier, Friday provides readers with a useful lexicon of current otaku jargon.
Geeks, as is well known, seem to take delight in overdosing on "cute." So let's say you're walking down Center-gai, the main drag in Tokyo's funky Shibuya district, and you see one, or several, gals prancing down the street in plush pajamas that make them resemble the Pocket Monster Pikachu on steroids. A normal person might say, "That's weird." But you, as a bona fide otaku, immediately recognize this charming young person as being a kigurumin. The word is a composite from kigurumi pajama, sleeping wear resembling a stuffed toy or cartoon character. By adding an "n" at the end, it becomes "min" -- a suffix found in kokumin (citizen). So that gives you kigurumin -- the tribe of people who wear cutesie pajamas on the street. Isn't this fun?
Another new term is terawarosu, meaning a belly laugh. In proper Japanese, to laugh is warau. But when a Japanese in a blog or chatroom wants to show he finds something to be hilarious, he types warosu, the Net equivalent of "LOL (laughs out loud)."
"Tera" is from terabyte (1 trillion bytes), the next step up in data volume after "giga" (1 billion bytes). So terawarosu -- and it's a real mouthful -- would be like the English "ROTFL (rolling on the floor laughing)."
Some of the numerous examples in Friday's selection included the following:
* Bonsai -- no connection with dwarf pines, this means a motorcycle or a car festooned with accessories or ornamentation.
* Chinsodan -- an alternate word for bosozoku (hot-rod gangs). Literally means "weird running group," and serves as a putdown, since many young people regard the term bosozoku ("violent running tribe") in a positive light.
* Dentotsu -- an abbreviation of denwa totsugeki shuzai -- to attack by telephone. This means to inundate a company or organization by telephone with complaints or requests for information.
* DQN -- pronounced "do-kyun." It's an abbreviation of mokugeki dokyun. Used when a bad guy makes the scene, as in "Uh-oh, here comes trouble!"
* Hesoten -- laid-back, secure, happy. Literally means sprawled on one's back with one's belly-button pointing skyward.
* Haniwa rukku -- High-school girls, particularly in northeast Japan, have taken to wearing sweat pants under their short uniform skirts to discourage the ubiquitous camera peepers. By so doing, they resemble the garments on haniwa, the clay figures placed around prehistoric grave mounds.
* Nichannera -- someone who frequently puts posts on "Ni-channel," one of Japan's most popular blogs.
* Nonai kanojo -- literally "brain-inside girlfriend." It means the girl of one's fantasies -- a virtual partner who does not actually exist. The opposite would be riaru (real) kanojo.
* Ookina otomodachi -- on TV shows and at public events, the MC calls children otomodachi (friends). So adults become ookina (big) otomodachi.
* Shiroi iyahon -- white earphones. Used to refer to a person with an iPod.
These terms, Friday notes, were sourced by researchers at Jiyu Kokumin-sha, publisher of the annually updated "Gendai Yogo no Kiso Chishiki (Encyclopedia of Contemporary Words)."
"Each year, we sponsor a Grand Prix for the top buzzword," says editor-in-chief Ryuji Nagaoki. "Among the candidates last year were 'Akiba-kei' (a term applied to geeks who hang out in Tokyo's Akihabara district) and 'Densha Otoko (Train Man).' This year we recognize the very real possibility that these terms are headed toward general usage, so we've included them in the current edition."
So there you have it, says Friday. Memorize them, try them out, and enjoy a good "terawarosu" on us!
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fd20051002tc.htm
By MARK SCHREIBER
Friday (Oct. 7)
Getting ready to gab with a geek
By MARK SCHREIBER
Friday (Oct. 7)
The word "otaku" can be translated into English in several ways, none of which is especially flattering: nerd, geek, weenie, fanatic hobbyist, etc.
Otaku have become plentiful in Japan and it seems they are fast developing a language of their own. To penetrate this linguistic barrier, Friday provides readers with a useful lexicon of current otaku jargon.
Geeks, as is well known, seem to take delight in overdosing on "cute." So let's say you're walking down Center-gai, the main drag in Tokyo's funky Shibuya district, and you see one, or several, gals prancing down the street in plush pajamas that make them resemble the Pocket Monster Pikachu on steroids. A normal person might say, "That's weird." But you, as a bona fide otaku, immediately recognize this charming young person as being a kigurumin. The word is a composite from kigurumi pajama, sleeping wear resembling a stuffed toy or cartoon character. By adding an "n" at the end, it becomes "min" -- a suffix found in kokumin (citizen). So that gives you kigurumin -- the tribe of people who wear cutesie pajamas on the street. Isn't this fun?
Another new term is terawarosu, meaning a belly laugh. In proper Japanese, to laugh is warau. But when a Japanese in a blog or chatroom wants to show he finds something to be hilarious, he types warosu, the Net equivalent of "LOL (laughs out loud)."
"Tera" is from terabyte (1 trillion bytes), the next step up in data volume after "giga" (1 billion bytes). So terawarosu -- and it's a real mouthful -- would be like the English "ROTFL (rolling on the floor laughing)."
Some of the numerous examples in Friday's selection included the following:
* Bonsai -- no connection with dwarf pines, this means a motorcycle or a car festooned with accessories or ornamentation.
* Chinsodan -- an alternate word for bosozoku (hot-rod gangs). Literally means "weird running group," and serves as a putdown, since many young people regard the term bosozoku ("violent running tribe") in a positive light.
* Dentotsu -- an abbreviation of denwa totsugeki shuzai -- to attack by telephone. This means to inundate a company or organization by telephone with complaints or requests for information.
* DQN -- pronounced "do-kyun." It's an abbreviation of mokugeki dokyun. Used when a bad guy makes the scene, as in "Uh-oh, here comes trouble!"
* Hesoten -- laid-back, secure, happy. Literally means sprawled on one's back with one's belly-button pointing skyward.
* Haniwa rukku -- High-school girls, particularly in northeast Japan, have taken to wearing sweat pants under their short uniform skirts to discourage the ubiquitous camera peepers. By so doing, they resemble the garments on haniwa, the clay figures placed around prehistoric grave mounds.
* Nichannera -- someone who frequently puts posts on "Ni-channel," one of Japan's most popular blogs.
* Nonai kanojo -- literally "brain-inside girlfriend." It means the girl of one's fantasies -- a virtual partner who does not actually exist. The opposite would be riaru (real) kanojo.
* Ookina otomodachi -- on TV shows and at public events, the MC calls children otomodachi (friends). So adults become ookina (big) otomodachi.
* Shiroi iyahon -- white earphones. Used to refer to a person with an iPod.
These terms, Friday notes, were sourced by researchers at Jiyu Kokumin-sha, publisher of the annually updated "Gendai Yogo no Kiso Chishiki (Encyclopedia of Contemporary Words)."
"Each year, we sponsor a Grand Prix for the top buzzword," says editor-in-chief Ryuji Nagaoki. "Among the candidates last year were 'Akiba-kei' (a term applied to geeks who hang out in Tokyo's Akihabara district) and 'Densha Otoko (Train Man).' This year we recognize the very real possibility that these terms are headed toward general usage, so we've included them in the current edition."
So there you have it, says Friday. Memorize them, try them out, and enjoy a good "terawarosu" on us!
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fd20051002tc.htm
Monday, October 03, 2005
Afros, Macs and Zodiacs 2:43 PM
Spent most of the weekend tweeking my new Tapwave Zodiac. It's a great little device, and it's addictive, too. Unfortunatly with the broadband down I couldn't do as much as I wanted to.
I waited until Saturday morning to look for Yuki's gift. At Fry's the cheapest pay-as-you-go phone was $150. But I did find Zodiac stuff. Josh suggested Walmart or Target, and yes, Target had exactly what I was looking for...
I waited until Saturday morning to look for Yuki's gift. At Fry's the cheapest pay-as-you-go phone was $150. But I did find Zodiac stuff. Josh suggested Walmart or Target, and yes, Target had exactly what I was looking for...
