Was nowhere near the computer today. Making it all the more important to get you guys posting whenever you see the need.
As far as foosball goes…all ‘Bama needs to do is have Coach Sabin give his half-time talk prior to the game. We’ll be invincible.
World's Only Rational Man 
News roundup
1) Unexpected uptick in quality of current Japanese tv dramas may encourage Austrian Japanophiles, experts project.
2) Will be more hottish spots in Chiba (a lot of that prefecture is basically an Eastern suburb of Tokyo).
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20111024x3.html
(I saw another tv report showing typical wind patterns from Fukushima; explains why there have been so many high readings in the Tokyo area (this had mystified me before)–blows out to sea then Southward, then back in at Chiba pref. and over Tokyo metro area)
3) How one plant avoided cold shutdown on 3.11:
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20111024x1.html
4) Kublai Kan shipwreck from Mongol invasion found (probably sunk by that famous “kamikaze”). Nice try, Kublai!
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20111024x2.html
5) Denver Zombie Crawl (via blogfather):
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_19174011?utm_medium=facebook
1) I don’t see it. I watched the first episode of the new FukaKyon drama. 50% of the time she looked like an airhead, the other 50% her expression bordered the “I didn’t get a cookie and now I’m pouting”. “Ore no Sora” has now taken a turn to the utter ridiculous and I find it insulting my intelligence which means I stop with it right there. “11 Nin Mo Iru” had a good start andit’s creeping me out, mainly because the lead actor has grown up so much. “El Palacio” is funny, doesn’t have much of a plot, but it’s funny. “Nankyoku Tairiku” is made of win. Kimura, Ayase, Ashida and a few others, plus a load of cute doggies.
Have you seen the trailer for the upcoming Wild Seven movie? I almost punched my screen. FukaKyon is in it and it looks horribly awful to me. Bunch of idiots shooting automatic rifles at full auto, from the hip, that is 80s Hollywood. And there’s a scene where FukaKyon is aiming a gun at something/one off screen. If she’d aim it at me like that, I’d take it away from her and beat her with it. I’m sorry, but I’ve been shooting for 20 years and when I see stuff like that… it makes me angry…
Anyway!
4) Oh yes! OH YES! There has been so much theory crafting and speculation about why they really sunk. Hopefully this boat will shed some light.
Yes, I know, true, the new FukaKyon drama is lame, but I saw one last night that looked fairly good, about girls who can’t seem to get good boyfriends. I’m ashamed to say I don’t know the actresses names (to put that in context, this is usually a problem for me with Western productions, too). One is that new actress with the real cute pouty mouth (does that ring any bells?) who turns out to be a better actress than I had supposed (she was in some crap tearjerker about a year ago where she played an impulsive but terminally ill college kid). And the drama Seiwa Seimei (about insurance scams) is above the norm.
Sorry, it is called “Last Money” not “Seiwa Seimei.” I often walk into these dramas in the middle of the episodes and walk out before they end and often don’t know what they’re called.
Then there’s “Bitter Sugar.” It’s good.
I didn’t know about Wild Seven. That kind of movie is off my radar screen.
By the way, there’s a new Half in the Bag up:
[blip.tv http://blip.tv/play/AYLZ0gIC width="480" height="300"]
It’s the one with… Karina and Oshima Yuko, isn’t it? It was marketed as some sort of Japanese “sex in the city”, which made me go “ugh”, since I hate that show (it has NO plot), but I downloaded the first episode but didn’t have the time to watch it yet.
“Bitter Sugar” is delicious.
Sometimes I wonder what WORM thinks about us going on about these things. “What are these two talking about now?!”
That must be it! One distinct advantage over Sex in the City (which I never watched) might be that this one is about the romantic struggles of Tokyo women in their 20s while Sex in the City is about the romantic struggles of New York women in their 40s.
The other gal in the trio, the one you didn’t mention, she’s got real spark. And a really cute mouth! I can’t find her name anywhere right now, though.
WORM might be weirded out by our arcane Japan talk, but that’s how I feel when you guys start talking about gaming. Or the nuke tech people here start talking about nuke tech. Or foosball fans start talking about foosball. Or . . .
Watashi ga Renai Dekinai Riyuu. I think that’s it. Karina, Oshima Yuko (one of the few, if not the only, AKB48s I don’t want to chloroform, duct-tape and stuff into a closet to keep them from plaguing the screen with lousy acting) and Yoshitaka Yuriko.
On Fuji TV, on Minday 9pm.
Yoshitaka Yuriko! Thanks! Gotta keep your eye on that kid. She’s got talent. And lips.
http://www.nipponcinema.com/tag/yuriko-yoshitaka
On tonight: Kaseifu no Mita–about an almost robotic nanny temp who comes into a troubled family. Fascinating mix of improbable/comic and serious. I think the cyborgish nanny is the same actress who had the lead in Ring.
I’m guessing Mountain Bear’s going to give the Wednesday night drama, Kaseifu no Mita, a thumb’s up: http://www.ntv.co.jp/kaseifu/
So, all told, it seems to me there’s a surprising number of either half decent or very good dramas on now. Usually I take one look and tune them out after half a look, but now I’m actually waiting for some of these.
Haven’t seen it yet. The plot somewhat sounds like Akimahende from years ago with an inferior cast. But it has Kutsuna Shiori.
The high school kid. Yeah, she’s one of the best in the drama. The baby sister is also a surprisingly good child actress. The others are good enough, though the stock character minor roles are pretty dumb.
I’m not making big claims for this particular show. It wouldn’t survive close criticism. For instance, the very serious family issues (well done) clash badly with the kooky comic premise (moderately well done), if you stop to think about it. But it’s good enough to want to see the next episode.
Okay, I needs me some refreshin’. Heard a report today about people in Japan using OTC geigers and finding radiation…Didn’t you say that Cs had a very short half-life and was not necessarily life threatening? I can’t remember and I am too lazy to go back and look…Thanks…
Cesium? No, Cs-137 has about a thirty year half-life. It’s the noble gases that are short-lived and don’t stay deposited in your body. Lots of cesium is very bad news if it’s breathable or ingestible.