THE KARATE KID [1984] review
August 18, 2008
In the summer of 1984, in Cape Cod, Massachusetts I went to see THE KARATE KID with my grandfather. The only moment I can remember clearly is walking out of the theater into the parking lot, at twilight time, seeing other kids doing the crane pose. Like all the other kids who just saw it, I was totally stoked to try karate. I believe every single kid who saw THE KARATE KID that summer left the theater doing some kind of karate motion.
Few movies have achieved such iconic status as THE KARATE KID. Pieces of dialogue from the movie are burned into pop culture. No doubt everyone knows “wax on, wax off.”
Skimboarding 2008 – Session #06 – Chigasaki
August 13, 2008
I wanted to return to skimboarding at Chigasaki beach this past Saturday for various reasons. It is the beach I have skimboarded on the most in Japan, by far, and is actually the 3rd most skimmed beach of any in my 21 years of skimboarding. The other reason was Aya. I wanted to propose to her, and I wanted to do it at the most familiar, most special place to me in the Tokyo area. Even though Chigasaki beach is little more than an ash tray next to the ocean, it is still special to me and it is still capable of producing some magic, and it did not fail me this Saturday evening.
Generation Kill episode #05 “A Burning Dog” review
August 12, 2008
WARNING — SPOILERS
GENERATION KILL is really hitting its stride now. The 5th episode, “A Burning Dog,” was riveting for every second of it’s hour-long running time. From the very opening seen I was sucked in and taken off my bed and into my television. The first season of GENERATION KILL is the best season of TV since the 4th season of THE WIRE.
Amazing Shinjuku Sunset [video]
August 9, 2008
I was sitting at my desk, procrastinating on proofreading work, when I saw out the sliding glass doors this sight—a column of feathery clouds being bisected by a fiery sun on its way toward the horizon. Every since I first got my Sanyo Xacti HD700 in February of this year, I have been filming sunsets from my balcony here in Shinjuku. I believe the sunset I witnessed today to be the best one yet. There is no need for me to describe it further, as you can behold it for thyself in the above HD video.
THE KITE RUNNER [2007] review
August 8, 2008
I value loyalty above almost all else. The character Hassan in THE KITE RUNNER personifies true, absolute loyalty. His loyalty stems out of purity. His loyalty is to Amir, and he may not exactly be worthy of such loyalty. The two boys are growing up in Afghanistan right before the Soviet invasion. In their carefree lives, there is no hint of this coming threat, save for the times the adults mention “the communists.”
A kite runner is not what I could have ever imagined. I will not describe what a kite runner is here. I will only say that boys in Afghanistan have a unique game involving kite flying. The kite flying scenes are filmed beautifully. It is good to sweep out of the rather harsh landscapes and up into the sky for awhile.
This is a movie where characters have secrets you never thought such a person could have. They are revealed unexpectedly in the story. There are surprising coincidences that clever scriptwriters like to employ. Yet nothing felt too gimmicky.
On the contrary, THE KITE RUNNER has a lot of heart, a lot of purity, and all of that stems from the childhood loyalty of the boy Hassan. Even I, not often moved by children, wanted to hug the boy and take care of him. His loyalty touched me deeply and I feel great affection for him, even now. To have such a loyal friend would be blessing.
The movie touches on the recent political situation in Afghanistan with the Taliban. The grip upon the country by the Taliban is revealed slowly, first only with facial hair rules, but then the ultimate laws are shown. And they are baffling to a person living in the modern world. In an excellent piece of editing, the director, Marc Forster, shows us the ludicrousness that in the year 2000 in certain places people are being stoned to death for adultery, by cutting to another place where such a thing is mentally and physically a world away.
The movie can make you emotional, and angry at characters and countries. Yet the kites continue to fly, not necessarily as they used to, but still they fly.
(I often mention about watching movies in HD. I watched THE KITE RUNNER via some manner of blu-ray, and it was stunning. I don’t want to say if you are not watching movies in HD you aren’t watching movies, but rather that watching a movie in HD is a whole other experience entirely.)
Gundam statue rises at Kami-Igusa station!
August 7, 2008
I cycled out with UK Mike (his post) to the Seibu-Shinjuku line station of Kami-Igusa to check out the newly erected (March 2008) statue of Gundam. It stands about 190cm tall (6 feet). It must be rather strange for people coming out of a train station and the first thing they see is Gundam! I wonder if the police in the koban behind the statue like their new view as well?
VIDEO:
Cycling with Mike, again, and throwing up, again!!
August 7, 2008
FULL RIDE STATS:- Distance: 15.86 miles
- Time in motion: 1 hour 1 minute 31 seconds
- Average speed: 15.5 mph
- Max speed: 31.0 mph
- Distance: NA
- Time in motion: 29 minutes 24 seconds
- Average speed: 19.0 mph NEW RECORD!
Walk down my street in Tokyo Japan with Google Maps Street View!!
August 6, 2008
I had heard of course of Google Maps “Street View” before. Street View is an option that literally shows the street in a series of connected photos on a regular Google Map. Google employees ride around in a van recording the images. This has lead to some privacy concerns and some people being caught in quite embarrassing positions. Japan had been left out on all this fun, however. Then yesterday thanks to a heads up from Akihabara News, I was surprised and stoked to learn that Japan has now been Street Viewed!
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