As reported last month of the cruising vessel holding worlds largest wad of gum suddenly vanishing in the night. Its fate was deemed discovered yesterday when biologists out on a whale watch saw what appeared to be a killer whale protecting what they then believed the elusive gum.
When they pulled in for closer inspection, the whale quickly made what looked like an offering to finally relieve itself of it's newly acquired burden to which the scientists all too happily obliged.
It wasn't until head scientist, Larry McPeterson, stretched out their new discovery for the crew to discover they had been terribly mistaken.
The gum is still at large.
2004/06/30
2004/06/28
Penny Arcade redone by Japanese HS students=Funny!
As much as I'd like to just post them on the main page, I can't. The picture sizes mess everything up, so click away!
I stumbled across this a few months ago and it still makes me laugh.
The story behind them is there is this american teaching english (actually pretty close to where I live as I recognize the stores and locations he's talking about.) at a japanese highschool who photocopied a bunch of Penny Arcade comics and had his students redo them in whatever way they wanted and they came up with some really funny shit.
Just like these beauties!
Potty Mouth
I-am-a-pen
Calendar Ahahahah!
Small home
You can check out the other hundred or so strips here at yukihime.com.
I stumbled across this a few months ago and it still makes me laugh.
The story behind them is there is this american teaching english (actually pretty close to where I live as I recognize the stores and locations he's talking about.) at a japanese highschool who photocopied a bunch of Penny Arcade comics and had his students redo them in whatever way they wanted and they came up with some really funny shit.
Just like these beauties!
You can check out the other hundred or so strips here at yukihime.com.
2004/06/26
Hullabalooza Canceled!
(Wow, wrote this last week and forgot to post it. Surely old news by now, but oh well.)
That's right, the summer concert festival of the year is cancelled!
Lollapalooza Cancelled!
Interest spikes in next year's festival as Farrell announces addition of his own crying stage
Chris Rediske reports:
In what can only be considered one of the most depressing comments so far on the state of independent music, all dates on this year's massive (and massively reported on) Lollapalooza tour have been cancelled due to poor ticket sales. In a statement on the Lollapalooza website this morning, tour organizer and all-around freak Perry Farrell made the following statement: "My heart aches along with the bands, and all of our employees, whose hard work developed one of the most exciting and important tours that this nation was to see. My heart is broken."
In a slightly more informational statement, co-founder Marc Geiger stated, "I am in utter disbelief that a concert of this stature, with the most exciting line-up I've seen in years did not galvanize ticket sales. I'm surprised that given the great bands and the reduced ticket prices that we didn't have enough sales to sustain the tour. Concert promoters across the country are facing similar problems. Many summer tours are experiencing weak ticket sales." The tour was scheduled to launch July 14th in Auburn, Washington.
What exactly this means to the 30 or so acts-- among them Modest Mouse, Morrissey, Sonic Youth, and The Flaming Lips-- that will now have no summer tour schedule is unclear, although several of the bands in question had already scheduled dates in between their Lollapalooza appearances. What it means to those of you who had already bought tickets to Lollpalooza is somewhat more clear-- you're getting your money back. But not your trusting good nature.
.: Lollapalooza: http://www. lollapalooza.com
In other news: I'll be missing the Summer Sonic Festival again this year seeing as I'll be going home to visit people and things. This year's line-up highlights are as follows:
DAY 1
Green Day
Avril Lavigne
The Darkness
Sum 41
Pennywise
MC5
Peaches
DAY 2
Beastie Boys
Mad Capsule Markets
NAS
N.E.R.D.
Lost Prophets
Jurassic 5
The Music
The Hives
Day 1 looks pretty standard, although seeing Peaches would be pretty cool. Then again, day 2 looks like a once in a lifetime chance. I'll have to get one of Yumiko's friends to tape it for me or listen to all the great stories my friends will have of going.
That's right, the summer concert festival of the year is cancelled!
Lollapalooza Cancelled!
Interest spikes in next year's festival as Farrell announces addition of his own crying stage
Chris Rediske reports:
In what can only be considered one of the most depressing comments so far on the state of independent music, all dates on this year's massive (and massively reported on) Lollapalooza tour have been cancelled due to poor ticket sales. In a statement on the Lollapalooza website this morning, tour organizer and all-around freak Perry Farrell made the following statement: "My heart aches along with the bands, and all of our employees, whose hard work developed one of the most exciting and important tours that this nation was to see. My heart is broken."
In a slightly more informational statement, co-founder Marc Geiger stated, "I am in utter disbelief that a concert of this stature, with the most exciting line-up I've seen in years did not galvanize ticket sales. I'm surprised that given the great bands and the reduced ticket prices that we didn't have enough sales to sustain the tour. Concert promoters across the country are facing similar problems. Many summer tours are experiencing weak ticket sales." The tour was scheduled to launch July 14th in Auburn, Washington.
What exactly this means to the 30 or so acts-- among them Modest Mouse, Morrissey, Sonic Youth, and The Flaming Lips-- that will now have no summer tour schedule is unclear, although several of the bands in question had already scheduled dates in between their Lollapalooza appearances. What it means to those of you who had already bought tickets to Lollpalooza is somewhat more clear-- you're getting your money back. But not your trusting good nature.
.: Lollapalooza: http://www. lollapalooza.com
In other news: I'll be missing the Summer Sonic Festival again this year seeing as I'll be going home to visit people and things. This year's line-up highlights are as follows:
DAY 1
Green Day
Avril Lavigne
The Darkness
Sum 41
Pennywise
MC5
Peaches
DAY 2
Beastie Boys
Mad Capsule Markets
NAS
N.E.R.D.
Lost Prophets
Jurassic 5
The Music
The Hives
Day 1 looks pretty standard, although seeing Peaches would be pretty cool. Then again, day 2 looks like a once in a lifetime chance. I'll have to get one of Yumiko's friends to tape it for me or listen to all the great stories my friends will have of going.
2004/06/22
Japan begins breathing taxes!!!
Seeing as I just bought my wife's engagement ring and our wedding bands in Shinjuku (Tokyo) a little while ago, this is not good news...
Tokyo world's most expensive city; Osaka No. 4 in survey
Monday, June 14, 2004 at 10:14 JST
LONDON — Tokyo remains the world's most expensive city, according to the latest cost of living survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting released Monday.
London was ranked 2nd, Moscow 3rd, with Osaka and Hong Kong rounding out the top five most expensive cities, while Asuncion in Paraguay is the least expensive city in the survey of 144 urban areas.
American cities were absent from the top 10 due to the weak U.S. dollar, with the most expensive U.S. city, New York, dropping two spots from last year to 12.
The survey, drawn up twice a year, ranks cost of living for foreign workers, not local residents, and is used primarily by multinational companies to determine pay for expatriate employees.
"The euro appreciated more than 11 percent in the last six months," said Marie-Laurence Sepede, senior researcher at Mercer. "So that made European cities go up and U.S. cities drop."
Sepede noted that while U.S. cities got cheaper in relation to those in Europe and Asia, the rankings among American cities remained similar to previous years, with Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco all placing high on the list.
Also notable was the climb of Australian and New Zealand cities up the list, a shift caused by those nations' strong currencies. Sydney moved from 67 last year to 20 this year, and Auckland, New Zealand climbed 35 places to 80.
The rest of the top 20 remained fairly constant, although Paris, Vienna and Istanbul made their first appearances so high in the rankings.
The survey took into consideration 250 criteria, including the cost of utilities, food and entertainment.
While the survey looked at a range of living standards, Sepede said the study was most representative of the expenses of people working for big international corporations and maintaining fairly high standards of living.
Mercer said the continued appreciation of the euro against the U.S. dollar could eventually force companies to move employees and reorganize.
"Mainly, the depreciation of the dollar makes it cheaper to send employees to American cities," said Jackie Barber, a spokeswoman for the survey. (Wire reports)
Tokyo world's most expensive city; Osaka No. 4 in survey
Monday, June 14, 2004 at 10:14 JST
LONDON — Tokyo remains the world's most expensive city, according to the latest cost of living survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting released Monday.
London was ranked 2nd, Moscow 3rd, with Osaka and Hong Kong rounding out the top five most expensive cities, while Asuncion in Paraguay is the least expensive city in the survey of 144 urban areas.
American cities were absent from the top 10 due to the weak U.S. dollar, with the most expensive U.S. city, New York, dropping two spots from last year to 12.
The survey, drawn up twice a year, ranks cost of living for foreign workers, not local residents, and is used primarily by multinational companies to determine pay for expatriate employees.
"The euro appreciated more than 11 percent in the last six months," said Marie-Laurence Sepede, senior researcher at Mercer. "So that made European cities go up and U.S. cities drop."
Sepede noted that while U.S. cities got cheaper in relation to those in Europe and Asia, the rankings among American cities remained similar to previous years, with Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco all placing high on the list.
Also notable was the climb of Australian and New Zealand cities up the list, a shift caused by those nations' strong currencies. Sydney moved from 67 last year to 20 this year, and Auckland, New Zealand climbed 35 places to 80.
The rest of the top 20 remained fairly constant, although Paris, Vienna and Istanbul made their first appearances so high in the rankings.
The survey took into consideration 250 criteria, including the cost of utilities, food and entertainment.
While the survey looked at a range of living standards, Sepede said the study was most representative of the expenses of people working for big international corporations and maintaining fairly high standards of living.
Mercer said the continued appreciation of the euro against the U.S. dollar could eventually force companies to move employees and reorganize.
"Mainly, the depreciation of the dollar makes it cheaper to send employees to American cities," said Jackie Barber, a spokeswoman for the survey. (Wire reports)
2004/06/20
New Games
Over the past few months I've been playing a lot of games and figure I'd share my thoughts on a few.
Zelda: 4 Swords Adventure
Pretty much the only reason I bought this was because in Japan, if you bought this game, you'd recieve lots and lots of "bonus" credits at the Club Nintendo website towards the "Zelda Collection Disc which contains 4 previous titles and is pretty badass. Since I missed out on the north american promotion I figured I should jump on the gravey train now.
Turns out the game was really fun, but I was playing with an 8 year old japanese boy who just wanted to throw and hit things. Trying to carry on in the game became too much of a headache with him and I've decided to put it away until I can play with someone with a little more intrest invested into it.
My Japanese version also includes a game omitted in the NA release because of translation issues and a pack of cry babies. It's cool for a bit, but then you forget about it soon enough.
After shelving this game for the time being I found a copy of Jet Set Radio: Future for the xbox on the cheap.
Great looking and fun to play. I don't think I've logged some many hours in such a little time on any game in the past year or so. Once I hit 30 hours and couldn't figure out where to go next (which is a pretty big flaw in the game, not being clear on what to do next)it was already time to celebrate the release of Pikmin 2!
I've been playing Pikmin 2 now for about a month. Out of 201 collectables in the game, I've gotten 194 and the last few are connected to the final game bosses which wipe out so many of my little fellows at once it makes me pretty uneasy trying to repeatedly attempt them. If you loose too many, then you have to take the time again to reharvest a new army which is fun but quite a deturrent. While I've experienced about 98% of the game and have hit 55 hours, I can reccommend this game unconditionally.
Once I've gotten over the final few hurdles of Pikmin 2, I've got a fresh copy of the Chronicles of Riddick waiting for me.
I found out that the US version is playable on the Japanese xbox just the other day, so I'm happy about that. Another strange thing is, is that this has to be the first movie licensed game that has scored a consiterable amount of high scores from almost every gaming publication.
And once that's finished up with, I have to get back to my neglected copy of SSX:3 and Project Gotham racing: 2.
Curt: Not sure if you read any of this, but I'm thinking about bringing my xbox back to canada this summer. Do you think James can take a look at it for me. It seems to only want to preform the things it's intended to do. Weird. Get back to me sometime in the next few weeks if he can "repair" something for me.
Zelda: 4 Swords Adventure
Pretty much the only reason I bought this was because in Japan, if you bought this game, you'd recieve lots and lots of "bonus" credits at the Club Nintendo website towards the "Zelda Collection Disc which contains 4 previous titles and is pretty badass. Since I missed out on the north american promotion I figured I should jump on the gravey train now.
Turns out the game was really fun, but I was playing with an 8 year old japanese boy who just wanted to throw and hit things. Trying to carry on in the game became too much of a headache with him and I've decided to put it away until I can play with someone with a little more intrest invested into it.
My Japanese version also includes a game omitted in the NA release because of translation issues and a pack of cry babies. It's cool for a bit, but then you forget about it soon enough.
After shelving this game for the time being I found a copy of Jet Set Radio: Future for the xbox on the cheap.
Great looking and fun to play. I don't think I've logged some many hours in such a little time on any game in the past year or so. Once I hit 30 hours and couldn't figure out where to go next (which is a pretty big flaw in the game, not being clear on what to do next)it was already time to celebrate the release of Pikmin 2!
I've been playing Pikmin 2 now for about a month. Out of 201 collectables in the game, I've gotten 194 and the last few are connected to the final game bosses which wipe out so many of my little fellows at once it makes me pretty uneasy trying to repeatedly attempt them. If you loose too many, then you have to take the time again to reharvest a new army which is fun but quite a deturrent. While I've experienced about 98% of the game and have hit 55 hours, I can reccommend this game unconditionally.
Once I've gotten over the final few hurdles of Pikmin 2, I've got a fresh copy of the Chronicles of Riddick waiting for me.
I found out that the US version is playable on the Japanese xbox just the other day, so I'm happy about that. Another strange thing is, is that this has to be the first movie licensed game that has scored a consiterable amount of high scores from almost every gaming publication.
And once that's finished up with, I have to get back to my neglected copy of SSX:3 and Project Gotham racing: 2.
Curt: Not sure if you read any of this, but I'm thinking about bringing my xbox back to canada this summer. Do you think James can take a look at it for me. It seems to only want to preform the things it's intended to do. Weird. Get back to me sometime in the next few weeks if he can "repair" something for me.
2004/06/17
Two systems enter, one system leaves
While I've always been happy with my first purchase, this new pinstripped mamma-jamma was at an incredible steal and too good to pass up. Now I'm left with a decision, which to keep and which to try to hawk on an auction site.
The Hanshin Tigers Gamecube/gameboyplayer is an incredible collectible which resulted from an odd season of baseball last year. Plus I should note that it is very easy to modify should I want to play games from around the world on it. The gameboy player is something I've always wanted too.
The "Q" looks rad, plus with it's recent stop in production, it makes this a collectible too. Gameboy players are no longer made for it but can be found on Ebay for $300 instead of the usual $50. Region 2 dvd playback is also a bonus for me.
I have no need for two of them, but parting with one will be mighty tough considering their uniqueness. What to do, what to do?
The Hanshin Tigers Gamecube/gameboyplayer is an incredible collectible which resulted from an odd season of baseball last year. Plus I should note that it is very easy to modify should I want to play games from around the world on it. The gameboy player is something I've always wanted too.
The "Q" looks rad, plus with it's recent stop in production, it makes this a collectible too. Gameboy players are no longer made for it but can be found on Ebay for $300 instead of the usual $50. Region 2 dvd playback is also a bonus for me.
I have no need for two of them, but parting with one will be mighty tough considering their uniqueness. What to do, what to do?
Contender #1: My pride and joy. What I waited out on buying a gamecube until I got to Japan for. The japan only "Q", a gamecube/ DVD hybrid which recently went out of production. What a sexy beast. You'll notice a copy of Pikmin 2 nuzzled up against it's warm body looking for nourishment. Sexy indeed...
Contender #2: The surprise winners from last year's baseball season were the Hanshin Tigers. Their strong year caused the entire country to jump on their bandwagon including Nintendo with this special edition Gamecube/ Gameboy Player/ Jersey pack. Incredibly cool or slightly ugly but collectible? I'm still figuring that one out. Regardless, it's my new best friend.
2004/06/15
Beastie Boys: To the 5 Boroughs
I think this album has been out for a few days now and I'm sure all you people with normal television have seen their single, but I haven't done any of that so this serves me more than it may you. Although, I have heard the single on the American Army base's AM station but it was sorta fuzzy at the time. From what I heard, it sounds pretty much how I expected it to sound, which is good and bad, I guess. Curious about the rest of the album. Maybe I'll get WinMX fired up tonight to see what all the fuss is about.
Review: This is just one man's (apparently biased views) on the new Beastie Boys album. Just something to give you a taste of what to expect. Just remember to formulate your own opinions.
More of an experiment than legitimate post.
Your comic relief saved you. You were probably
the hero's best friend and messed up a lot, but
helped him in some major way, believing in
yourself, near the end. As the sympathetic
character, you live.
(Dale's note: Not sure why I'm really posting this. It was more to see if all the little tags and stuff should be (and could be) in the post or added to the template. Turns out, just the post. I'm a winner, or rather sidekick. I r0x0rz).
How fast would you die in a cheesy zombie flick?
brought to you by Quizilla
2004/06/14
SAW
I think this trailer is pretty old by now but I thought I would bring it to everybody's (well, one person I guess) attention.
If anybody doesn't get a heavy feeling in their stomach after watching this, then you just might be a toaster.
Click the title and sit back. Not graphic in anyway, but it's got an evil ranking of 11. Can't wait to check it out.
If anybody doesn't get a heavy feeling in their stomach after watching this, then you just might be a toaster.
Click the title and sit back. Not graphic in anyway, but it's got an evil ranking of 11. Can't wait to check it out.
2004/06/13
Hands on review! New "C2" Coca-Cola!
Here's a beautiful (The out of focus part is to make it look mysterious.) shot of the newest coke. I hear it's made from monkeys, for monkeys, by monkey's. Now how's that for deep?
So since I hear that Japan is such a supporter of a wide variety of soft drinks, Coca-cola decided it would be spiffy to introduce the "new(est)" coke here first.
If that's the case, then I'm the first of you do get my mits on it. Seeing as I can't even remember the last time I actually bought a coke (or pepsi) this one tasted pretty much the same. Maybe not as snip-snappity fizzy though.
And since all products can't be sold until it reaches a certain garbage making requirement, this one comes with a special offer for a special "C2" cell phone strap! Lucky day! I say stick with the juice and water, kids. This'll rought your teeth out.
2004/06/11
Napoleon Dynamite-(clip)
I've been keeping my eye on this movie for a little while now based on how the characters look pretty much. I saw a picture of Mr. Dynamite (awesome name) and read a few early screening impressions from a few days ago and have developed a creepy crush.
This clip is one of about 6 that IGN DVD has up. I always pictured him to be smoother and not border-line retarded but after watching a few clips I've gotten used to this new character. I've gots Dynamite fevaah! Hope this movie doesn't suck.
UPDATE:Review of Napoleon Dynamite!
This clip is one of about 6 that IGN DVD has up. I always pictured him to be smoother and not border-line retarded but after watching a few clips I've gotten used to this new character. I've gots Dynamite fevaah! Hope this movie doesn't suck.
UPDATE:Review of Napoleon Dynamite!
2004/06/08
Flames Win!...
....is what we all wanted to hear, but alas their true self shines through and the fluke season finally catches up. Had a lot of fun this year going out "on school nights" to watch the games with friends who don't know how to make their VHS tape from 3 hours to 6 and missing out on the last few minutes on two consecutive games.
Actually I just came home from game 7 and am still a little buzzed so you'll have to excuse the sloppiness. Out of all the game I watched, Calgary lost. Bunch of losers. I admit that I was a really good series and the only one I can remember that has kept my interest in about sayyyyyyy 10 years. You'll notice that Canada hasn't been in the finals for the past 9 or 10 years which leads to why my interest has been out to lunch during that time.
Don't have too much more to say than that. The rainy season started up early this year. That means the clouds are crying for Canada, so I'm told. Yep, one month of rain. One month of moldy shirts and spiders who take refuge in your home only to build webs in the night for you to walk through in your morning stupor.
Well, here's hoping a decent Canadian team makes it to the finals next year. My cheering for Calary was kind of forced considering the USA, Canada match up. Glad to finally see it though.
later,
Actually I just came home from game 7 and am still a little buzzed so you'll have to excuse the sloppiness. Out of all the game I watched, Calgary lost. Bunch of losers. I admit that I was a really good series and the only one I can remember that has kept my interest in about sayyyyyyy 10 years. You'll notice that Canada hasn't been in the finals for the past 9 or 10 years which leads to why my interest has been out to lunch during that time.
Don't have too much more to say than that. The rainy season started up early this year. That means the clouds are crying for Canada, so I'm told. Yep, one month of rain. One month of moldy shirts and spiders who take refuge in your home only to build webs in the night for you to walk through in your morning stupor.
Well, here's hoping a decent Canadian team makes it to the finals next year. My cheering for Calary was kind of forced considering the USA, Canada match up. Glad to finally see it though.
later,
2004/06/06
Come one, come all...
Well, I've never tried anything like this before but I remember Caleb saying someday he'd like to create a webpage where a group of friends can just write down whatever they want, whenever. That had to have been a good 3/4 years ago, but me being an elephant, remembered it and still think it's a good idea.
I figure blogging is easy enough for all participants to use so let's get at it. Anybody who wants to join in, has suggestions of layout, needs a quick link to something dirty, let me know and I'll see what I can do. This is my first time using one of these and I have the idea that the creater is the controller as well, so I'm not just trying to be a dick by asking for all things to be run past me. Do whatever you want. I'm not easly offended.
For an idea of what I plan on posting, I think I'll keep it do mostly games, music, art, impressions of things, personal diary, confessions and generally things I think are of interest.
Note: I played around with it for a few minutes and what I think I'll do is email some people who I think would be intrested and contribute and then sign them up to the page to allow them posting privilages. That's all I've thought of for now. Look's like fun though.
later,
I figure blogging is easy enough for all participants to use so let's get at it. Anybody who wants to join in, has suggestions of layout, needs a quick link to something dirty, let me know and I'll see what I can do. This is my first time using one of these and I have the idea that the creater is the controller as well, so I'm not just trying to be a dick by asking for all things to be run past me. Do whatever you want. I'm not easly offended.
For an idea of what I plan on posting, I think I'll keep it do mostly games, music, art, impressions of things, personal diary, confessions and generally things I think are of interest.
Note: I played around with it for a few minutes and what I think I'll do is email some people who I think would be intrested and contribute and then sign them up to the page to allow them posting privilages. That's all I've thought of for now. Look's like fun though.
later,
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