Archive for May, 2004


and that name be Excel. Endless freaking cells requiring checking by hand….. But the lord has giveth unto me a sign, Nitro Records’ Radio! Music, music, music, and none of it from commercial radio (woohoo). And even some bits from The Damned – must be, Nitro’s their label right? Just click on through to Nitro Records and click the black box marked Nitro Radio (Duh)! Only one more week of spreadsheets.

Double hit in Ibaraki with one lot of thieves hauling an ATM from a post office and another lot taking off with 15 PCs and a couple of buckets of cash. There has also been an earthquake up there and one foreigner died in a traffic accident. You have been warned.

Giggolo Gimp

Now this is awesome! A crazy post-middle-aged guy takes action against the man wooing his wife by tying him up with tape, dragging him inside a box and nailing it shut so the two men could have a little tete a tete for a couple of hours! Read the Gimp story on Mainichi.

Electro’s up this weekend with the inauguration of the アンドロイド666, Android 666 series. Organizers say it is a cyber-goth event. Makes me think of William Gibson’s Count Zero. I just hope the Kazuals don’t rock up. Anyway, another good taster at 2,300 yen and an early start.

Event info:
Event: アンドロイド666/Android 666
Place: Club Hoop (Shinjuku Head Power)
Date:Sun. May 23, 2004
Time: 17:00
Price: 2,000 yen (2,300 at door)
Address: 1-34-13 Shinjuku Shinjuku-ku Tokyo 166-0002
Phone: 03-3354-7727
Web site: http://www008.upp.so-net.ne.jp/violet-trap/666.html
Club page: http://www.headpower.co.jp

Forget the girls!

Man, I love Tokyo Damage Report – I dream of being this messed up! Now, TDR introduces the The Men of Cosplay! Yep, even better than Cappers in his pink tutu at the end of a Damned concert.

Yep, if you’re into weird stuff then Japan may be your calling. Go on, take the risk, create the funky stuff, make the home brew and logon for fame and fortune in Japan…. maybe.

Reuters and the Japan-U.S. Game Divide

“If you make fighting games, you’ll do well in the United States. If you do racing games, you’ll do well in Europe and if you make role-playing games and really weird stuff, you tend to do very well in Japan,” said Hiroshi Kamide, analyst at KBC Securities in Tokyo.

Good little glimpse into the importance of cross-culture in the gaming industry.

They’re MAD I tell you!

The return of mad cow with some forecasting another 60 cases to come in Japan. Expected peak seasons for madness are 2005/2006. Testing for mad cow is expected to go through until 2015.

Japan Times – 60 more mad cows to come.

Yeah, I know it’s sad, but give me a break. It’s Sunday.

Well, guess who’s been a busy boy today.

Yes, Koizumi, Japan’s PM and self-professed lion king, presumably because of his hair-do, has kicked into overdrive the last couple of days.

First it was yesterday, when the helmsman gave a tongue-lashing to young MPs who were too busy playing with their mobile phones and reading comics during Parliament sessions. Don’t believe me? Well check this story out before it disappears. There are all kinds of adult (themed) comics in Japan from alien sex to pro-golf heroes to cybernetic businessmen called Yamazaki. Hopefully none of them were carrying old copies of Misshitsu into the sessions.

Then today, there’s the announcement that the big boy is off to see Kim Jong-il to talk about Japanese abductees and nuclear issues. So the two Ks, Kim and Koizumi, will be getting together for a pow-wow on May 22. Should be an interesting tour….

Hopefully too interesting for people to pay much attention to the revelation by K’s staff that Japan’s permed prince of politics failed to make pension payments for several years. So what? I hear you say. Well, Japan’s pension system is buckling as the population gets older, and the pollies are the ones who should be doing something to overhaul the thing before it’s too late. Now the guys who are responsible for the systemic mess are getting caught for not even making payments. Okay, just trust me here. It’s a big fiasco and people are bowing like crazy, apologizing profusely and tendering resignations (from posts, not from parliament). Go check out Koizumi’s announcement, the political dilinquents, and the polly-berating TV anchor who just got busted.

Anyway, one thing is for sure, Koizumi will be too busy to turn up to Zombiefied at Rock Ya and that is a great reason to go!

Well, here’s an interesting piece looking at the emergent trends of goth and similar aspects of Japan. A little bit on the scientific side for my liking, but an interesting piece anyways. The article notes Recently, there is a growing trend for some young people to lean toward a spirit of something we may call “the dark.” The article is called The Dark Subculture of Japanese Youth if you are interested.

Well, I gotta ge me one of these…. just as soon as the price comes down to 100 yen (trust me it’ll happen). This one comes from our friends at The Japan Times. According to the article, KDDI has released a mobile with digital TV included. This is so freaking cool!

You can watch TV Dramas and stuff, and even purchase things you see on the shopping shows. That is really….. really…. hey, wait a minute…. no…. God no! Home shopping is going to go mobile!?!

AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!

….I….like….to….shopping……