Japanke

JAPANKE.

That's the word my cell phone spit out when I put it in word mode and hit the keys for k-a-r-a-o-k-e. Now that I've added the word, it should input it correctly. But hot damn, JAPANKE sounds like a much better word now that I think about it.

Saint Seiya, as sung by Robert and others, was a total hit. My version of Loser got everyone going too.

Head hurts.

Punch-Out!!

Lack of posts here recently... sorry. Quick follow up to the last post: The Melvins were totally sweet last Friday and played an absolute solid set for 2:15. Didn't realize how much the core of the band is King Buzzo and Dale Crover. Well, it rocked, hard, and finished at a good hour. Wish more sets were like that...

So! Last Saturday, Punch-Out!! day at the Nintendo World Store. What this meant was the game went on sale exclusively there, and a tournament was held. Interesting idea in holding a tournament when no one had played the game before... where have I seen this before? Got there around start time at 1pm but was already too late to make the tourney, so we saw walked around, saw the game, and I bought it on spot (they even threw in a free t-shirt and chocolate bar.)

Without getting too reviewish here: if you're a fan of the original or even the SNES release, you'll totally dig this version. At its core, nothing has changed about the game other than a graphical face lift; controls with a tilted to the side Wiimote will feel right at home. Haven't even tried the Waggle control scheme yet!

Yes, there are only 12 main people to contend with, mostly from the original release, with two from the SNES (Aran Ryan and Bear Hugger), but the title bout defend mode where you battle everyone again gives the game plenty of replay time: so far, I've spent as much time on my "second round" of bouts with the Minor Circuit flunkies as I did on the whole first pass through the Minor, Major and World Circuits combined.

To do: multiplayer. Reiko wants nothing to do with this one, so it's up to y'all. Stop on by if you want to play.

Oh, and Doc Louis' famous chocolate bar? The plainest bar I've ever seen. Reminded me of my "FOR BIG MISTAKES" erase from back of the day. Yet, in honor of the late Darren McGavin, "Not a finger!"

The Roots

Heading out soon to go see the Melvins play. Very excited about this. It's funny I'm even very familiar with their tunes so well but just have the feelin' it's gonna be sweet.

And also, we used up our vegetables in the ref. Usually, we try and time it so that we don't have a lot of vegetables sitting unused over the weekend, but sometimes it just ends up that way. But this time, we're down to just a small bit of lettuce, and we're ready to stock up again. Chinatown funny roots ahoy!

Gonna brew up a beer this weekend also, a classic red ale. I'm a bit surprised because the recipe sounds surprisingly simple to follow. Not sure if that's a good thing or now, but will share the eventual results! As for the last batch, a Brewer's Best IPA batch, the flavor has been really solid, a bit crisp perhaps and could have used just a bit more water. Problem we had this past time was some of the bottles appeared to seal fine but have opened up surprisingly flat, 'specially the three or four Negro Modelo bottles, screw them for wasting my beer, you know? You like, know?

The Fears!

Found this pretty exhaustive list of fears earlier. Some of the latin roots make sense here, but I'm thinking somebody was really trying to stretch a few: scatophobia? really?

Here's a few I thought were pretty awesome or just downright out there. Really though, the whole list is just littered with 'em.

Alliumphobia- Fear of garlic.
Apotemnophobia- Fear of persons with amputations.
Equinophobia- Fear of horses.
Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia- Fear of the number 666.
Phallophobia- Fear of a penis, esp erect. vs. Medomalacuphobia- Fear of losing an erection.
Scatophobia- Fear of fecal matter.

http://www.phobialist.com/

Where We Live

Saw this link earlier on a co-worker's Facebook status. Pretty sweet Flash app that lets you view some cool aerial shots while floating over Manhattan and the East River. Kinda like a stripped down version of Google Earth you might expect to find at an airport, if 9/11 had never taken place. Would be really cool if you could lock the camera; had to keep zooming in while finding my office in Midtown. Good atmospheric muted beat music for the experience.

http://www.pixelcase.com.au/vr/2009/newyork/

The Weekend

Quiet weekend around here; busy during the days with relatively chill evenings. Finally checked out the nearby Japanese food-ya-san Geido around here Friday, and scored some excellent Gyoza, Udon, and decent mentaiko (cod roe) maki rolls. Saturday, I discovered a nearby community garden that was having a cool plant sale and offers grow boxes where you can grow whatever you want - within legal bounds of course - so as long as you pay the annual dues and do some volunteer work there. Too bad it's already past the prime planting season for veggies! Still considering this anyway as our sandbox project. Afternoon involved a mission to a craft show that allowed for exploration of some parts of Prospect Park I had never been to - had a blast doing that - and trying to find Reiko a bike. Made an evening out of checking out the SNES Zelda hacked rom Parallel Worlds, a bit of Xenogears, and finishing the 007 flick Quantum of Solace. Today we made it up to visit our Greenpoint friends Joe and Kate and went out for some excellent Bahn Mi sandwiches, and then a trek down to Ikea for apartment ideas and reception decor. No crazy nights, just busy days with bike trips, listening to some good music (thank you Adam W for that Brazilian piece - wtf!) drinking while playing video games at home, part time jobbin', and simply relaxing and enjoying life.

Then of course, I saw this clip from the ever classic (or was it?) Palmerfest in Athens, OH, which went down this past Saturday. Man, my weekends have changed! Let's take a minute to reflect on those couches.



Yep, they're toast, as well just about everyone else there. Meanwhile, I was busy saving the world in Xenogears, and that was just fine as well.

Back at it Again

Good excitement last night: got behind the kit live last night for the debut show of DBCR (Drunken Belligerent Confrontational Rock). Good excitement tomorrow: we're playing again.

And damn, it's been a while since I played out, perhaps February of last year? Way too long. This new act is pretty sweet, the first time I've played in a 5 piece that was worth a damn. But I tell yeah, fitting 5 guys into a tight space is not a safe bet. We ended up working it such that our vocalist was on the floor lumbering around, mic swinging (watch out!) and all. The bass rig was coming off the stage and unfortunately caused it to cut out during the first couple of songs. Floor tom gave way during song two. But! We kept it going, and had a really good crowd response for a nearly packed bar, which come to think of it, it's been a while since I've played for that many people. Sweet.

Pictures coming soon.

UPDATE:
Show audio here. (Thanks Chris & Laïs!)