Wednesday, September 23, 2009
First Impressions
The skies over Akihabara are cloudy this morning. I've got a view of the famous electronics district from my hotel room on the 17th floor, and considering the crowds and the proximity to the JR tracks, it's incredibly quiet up here. I'm slowly starting to come to accept this city which I once felt was an incomprehensible chaotic mass.
I got in yesterday afternoon after what felt like the shortest plane trip I've ever taken. I barely had time to eat a sandwich and listen to one podcast before we were making our descent into Haneda. My bags were ludicrously heavy (seriously, what the hell am I carrying?) but I made it from the airport to Akihabara in a flash. My room here at Remm is very compact and stylish. It has only one odd flaw: there are no drawers for me to store my clothes, not even under the bed.
I went out to hang with Richard for a few hours. We had a fabulously decadent curry "dinner" (it was 3:30) at CoCo Ichibanya. Yes, that's chicken AND cheese. They charge you a bit more if you want the curry to be spicy, which I think is a clever way to make it seem more significant. I only ordered a 4 on their 10 point scale, and that was plenty spicy for me.
Richard, by the way, is doing great. Have I mentioned his video channel on YouTube yet? He's been making these funny little clips for a few months now. He told me he was working on two different ones this week so he's keeping himself quite busy. It was good to see him in such high spirits.
After playing some games and watching a bit of TV, I had to leave to get to a party on the other side of Tokyo. Chris Kohler had gotten my name put on the list for an informal gathering of video game professionals. For some reason, in my mind I thought it would be a very small, quiet affair. I have no idea why I thought that would be the case; I suppose when he said there was a list, I assumed it would be a single sheet of paper. There were instead hundreds of people in attendance, so there was a large line at the door and smaller but certainly inconvenient lines at the bar.
Those of you who know me in real life know that I am easily intimidated by parties and that intimidation factor is directly proportional to the number of guests. What you might not understand about this party was that a number of the guests are, in video game circles, rather famous. When you read and follow podcasts concerning video games as much as I do, there are certain names who loom over all the others. Some of them are writers I really admire or extremely knowledgeable about gaming history and trends, so I was essentially star struck as I saw all these familiar faces. Throw in the fact that there was this other guy wearing the exact same shirt as me (one of UNIQLO's game T-Shirts) and I was kind of a nervous wreck.
Chris Kohler is one of those people, but I had good reason to talk to him as he hired me and invited me to the party in the first place. I didn't know how to approach the others who I had no connection to. After a long while of absurd contemplation, I came to realize that I didn't need to be self-conscious about saying hi to someone I looked up to. I wasn't an autograph seeker or a paparazzo, I was just someone eager to pay a compliment. This is not something to sweat about.
Eventually, I did manage to greet and shake the hands of a couple different folks. Our meetings were brief and I had real trouble spitting out actual sentences instead of vague yet glowing remarks. When I did manage to say something (or better yet, ask something) it went a lot better. After all, everyone at the party was involved with games. We all shared a massive common interest in that regard, which is more than I can say for most parties I have attended. It took me a long time to figure that out, but once I did it made for much smoother sailing.
Today is the day I put all that behind me. The stammering and anxiety is out of my system now. The show starts tomorrow so I'll be meeting with Chris again to discuss the ins and outs of the job. That's the whole reason I'm here!
Hey, the sun came out. Awesome.
つづく...(Click here to read more)
I got in yesterday afternoon after what felt like the shortest plane trip I've ever taken. I barely had time to eat a sandwich and listen to one podcast before we were making our descent into Haneda. My bags were ludicrously heavy (seriously, what the hell am I carrying?) but I made it from the airport to Akihabara in a flash. My room here at Remm is very compact and stylish. It has only one odd flaw: there are no drawers for me to store my clothes, not even under the bed.
I went out to hang with Richard for a few hours. We had a fabulously decadent curry "dinner" (it was 3:30) at CoCo Ichibanya. Yes, that's chicken AND cheese. They charge you a bit more if you want the curry to be spicy, which I think is a clever way to make it seem more significant. I only ordered a 4 on their 10 point scale, and that was plenty spicy for me.
Richard, by the way, is doing great. Have I mentioned his video channel on YouTube yet? He's been making these funny little clips for a few months now. He told me he was working on two different ones this week so he's keeping himself quite busy. It was good to see him in such high spirits.
After playing some games and watching a bit of TV, I had to leave to get to a party on the other side of Tokyo. Chris Kohler had gotten my name put on the list for an informal gathering of video game professionals. For some reason, in my mind I thought it would be a very small, quiet affair. I have no idea why I thought that would be the case; I suppose when he said there was a list, I assumed it would be a single sheet of paper. There were instead hundreds of people in attendance, so there was a large line at the door and smaller but certainly inconvenient lines at the bar.
Those of you who know me in real life know that I am easily intimidated by parties and that intimidation factor is directly proportional to the number of guests. What you might not understand about this party was that a number of the guests are, in video game circles, rather famous. When you read and follow podcasts concerning video games as much as I do, there are certain names who loom over all the others. Some of them are writers I really admire or extremely knowledgeable about gaming history and trends, so I was essentially star struck as I saw all these familiar faces. Throw in the fact that there was this other guy wearing the exact same shirt as me (one of UNIQLO's game T-Shirts) and I was kind of a nervous wreck.
Chris Kohler is one of those people, but I had good reason to talk to him as he hired me and invited me to the party in the first place. I didn't know how to approach the others who I had no connection to. After a long while of absurd contemplation, I came to realize that I didn't need to be self-conscious about saying hi to someone I looked up to. I wasn't an autograph seeker or a paparazzo, I was just someone eager to pay a compliment. This is not something to sweat about.
Eventually, I did manage to greet and shake the hands of a couple different folks. Our meetings were brief and I had real trouble spitting out actual sentences instead of vague yet glowing remarks. When I did manage to say something (or better yet, ask something) it went a lot better. After all, everyone at the party was involved with games. We all shared a massive common interest in that regard, which is more than I can say for most parties I have attended. It took me a long time to figure that out, but once I did it made for much smoother sailing.
Today is the day I put all that behind me. The stammering and anxiety is out of my system now. The show starts tomorrow so I'll be meeting with Chris again to discuss the ins and outs of the job. That's the whole reason I'm here!
Hey, the sun came out. Awesome.
Labels: awkward firsts, but I love gatherings, celebrities, friends, Richard, Tokyo
つづく...(Click here to read more)
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Celebrating My Own Insignificance
I've got a meeting in Osaka this afternoon, so I don't have to go to school today. Lucky me...and by extension, lucky you because you get to read what I come up with during my day off.
Believe it or not, it was one year ago today that I started using Twitter. I'm not sure exactly how I got turned onto the mini-blogging service, although I suspect it had something to do with this charming video explaining how it works.Whatever it was that caught my eye about Twitter, I got hooked on it pretty quickly as you can see from my first sixteen posts. Once I learned how to upload photos and later integrate my tweets with my Facebook account, the feedback increased as did my compulsion to write. That's why I credit the fun of spitting out tiny morsels of my day with reigniting my interest in this blog, because after writing all those little stories I found myself eager to write longer ones again.
The results are clear: during my first year on the JET Programme (August 2007 - July 2008), I managed only twenty posts, but since I started using Twitter last summer I've written 155 posts and July's not over yet. I suppose I'll never reach the golden days of my Kansai Gaidai experience where I was writing long entries almost everyday, but with all the activity at home now I'll be elated if I maintain my current pace of two or three posts a week.
But Twitter has been rewarding in its own way because of all the random encounters it has given me. When I mentioned going to Cold Stone Creamery, the company's Twitter feed suddenly started "following" mine. All of those weird little Japan moments that I've mentioned has led me to meet (in a virtual sense) other foreigners in Japan and read about their experiences here. When I complimented Tropic Thunder I was followed by a "Sgt. Lincoln Osiris" who was tweeting in character. I even won a free Xbox game for participating in a MTV poll. The game turned out to be crazy hard and not for me, but the thrill of free stuff remained long after I lost interest in the prize.
The highlight of all this silliness came just the other day when I had a close encounter with a musician I greatly admire. When Robert Ashley (creator of the wonderful A Life Well Wasted) asked his followers for music suggestions, I recommended the now-defunct Cibo Matto as well as lead singer Miho Hatori who is still making music. Mr. Ashley didn't respond but Miho Hatori did, thanking me for recommending her music. The very idea that Miho Hatori read anything that I wrote was a thrill that I'm still riding high on.
So to all my friends out there, especially those of you who enjoy writing or use Facebook, I recommend giving Twitter a try. You never know where those 140 character messages will take you.
つづく...(Click here to read more)
Believe it or not, it was one year ago today that I started using Twitter. I'm not sure exactly how I got turned onto the mini-blogging service, although I suspect it had something to do with this charming video explaining how it works.Whatever it was that caught my eye about Twitter, I got hooked on it pretty quickly as you can see from my first sixteen posts. Once I learned how to upload photos and later integrate my tweets with my Facebook account, the feedback increased as did my compulsion to write. That's why I credit the fun of spitting out tiny morsels of my day with reigniting my interest in this blog, because after writing all those little stories I found myself eager to write longer ones again.
The results are clear: during my first year on the JET Programme (August 2007 - July 2008), I managed only twenty posts, but since I started using Twitter last summer I've written 155 posts and July's not over yet. I suppose I'll never reach the golden days of my Kansai Gaidai experience where I was writing long entries almost everyday, but with all the activity at home now I'll be elated if I maintain my current pace of two or three posts a week.
But Twitter has been rewarding in its own way because of all the random encounters it has given me. When I mentioned going to Cold Stone Creamery, the company's Twitter feed suddenly started "following" mine. All of those weird little Japan moments that I've mentioned has led me to meet (in a virtual sense) other foreigners in Japan and read about their experiences here. When I complimented Tropic Thunder I was followed by a "Sgt. Lincoln Osiris" who was tweeting in character. I even won a free Xbox game for participating in a MTV poll. The game turned out to be crazy hard and not for me, but the thrill of free stuff remained long after I lost interest in the prize.
The highlight of all this silliness came just the other day when I had a close encounter with a musician I greatly admire. When Robert Ashley (creator of the wonderful A Life Well Wasted) asked his followers for music suggestions, I recommended the now-defunct Cibo Matto as well as lead singer Miho Hatori who is still making music. Mr. Ashley didn't respond but Miho Hatori did, thanking me for recommending her music. The very idea that Miho Hatori read anything that I wrote was a thrill that I'm still riding high on.
So to all my friends out there, especially those of you who enjoy writing or use Facebook, I recommend giving Twitter a try. You never know where those 140 character messages will take you.
Labels: celebrities, site news, Twitter, writing
つづく...(Click here to read more)
Tuesday, June 22, 2004
Sexe et Animé
Last night I had an unusual dream. Well, unusual for me. I dreamt I was having sex with Morgan Webb. While I have had "sexy" dreams before, sometimes with celebrities even, I have never in my memory actually dreamt about a physical act of sex before. What makes this story really crazy is the next time I saw Morgan on X-Play, it was kind of uncomfortable. Almost like I couldn't look her in the eye anymore. I think sex has ruined our friendship.
On a less insane note, I watched Les Triplettes de Belleville this evening. Really good movie; it was weird but not so outrageous that it became boring. Indeed, the oddities only made it more charming.
つづく...(Click here to read more)
On a less insane note, I watched Les Triplettes de Belleville this evening. Really good movie; it was weird but not so outrageous that it became boring. Indeed, the oddities only made it more charming.
Labels: celebrities, movies
つづく...(Click here to read more)
Saturday, June 12, 2004
Watch and Learn
This guy has got to be the worst freestyle rapper that also happens to run his own website! Go now to Angry Naked Pat: Ice Cream Fantastic and see why rapping is, in fact, really hard to do well.
[3/7/09 Update: The videos are long gone, and "that guy" turned out to be Andy Milonakis]
つづく...(Click here to read more)
[3/7/09 Update: The videos are long gone, and "that guy" turned out to be Andy Milonakis]
Labels: celebrities, comedic insanity, rap
つづく...(Click here to read more)
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
Celebrity Sighting at The Rock
No, not that Rock, I'm talking about the Rock. Rocky's Deli, in Millwood! The 24-hour, anything-you-want-anytime deli! I ran in after class tonight and encountered a local celebrity with her kids. Naturally, her husband is out of town on business. I played it cool, of course. Hassling celebrities is for herbs.
つづく...(Click here to read more)
Labels: celebrities, deli, Westchester
つづく...(Click here to read more)
