My husband and his buddies have played in a soccer tournament in Phuket, Thailand for the last couple of years. It is a 7's tournament (7 a side, and 7 minute halfs). I go along because, hey, I want my beach time, too! Usually, I just go to the beach or hang by the pool and this is the first year I actually watched them play. I video taped the games. Considering I didn't have a tripod, the filming wasn't too bad. I tried making a video from other years but I never got a result I liked...

I was goofing around and came across this music blog that listed the ultimate romantic frommage. Link I'm not a big fan of really romantic songs, especially high fat content romantic pop. Who am I kidding. When I hear that stuff I start thinking that I need an insulin shot. But, I had a good laugh reading the list of songs and mostly snickering at the memories I have associated with some of the songs. Dolly Parton's "Islands in the Stream" made the list. I don't have any romantic con...

I know that there is some adage that any commercial that sticks in your mind is a good commercial. Sticky is good. Or is it? Lately, some sticky commercials have stuck in my mind only to remind me that I'm not going to buy them. There is a product called Watering Gum in Japan. I suppose it is suppose to generate a lot of saliva. Being a native English speaker, I think that the product name hits me the wrong way from the start. But the nail in the coffin for this product was a commerc...

I can't stand the recent trend in TV shows which features eating contests or people eating enormous amounts of food. I don't know why it is such a big thing here. I never really enjoyed it, but lately I find these shows truly offensive. The latest offering in the gluttony celebration is a woman in her early twenties (I think). She is a "gal" and maybe 95 pounds soaking wet. Her little TV schtick is to have eating contests with huge grown men. While flicking through channels today I sa...

There are times where I enjoy the DVD commentary as much as the movie. Generally, it's for a movie that I've seen a lot or one that I can stand to lose a bit of the magic glamour of the finished product. The creative process is really intruiging. When DVD commentary explains the creative or storytelling process I absolutely adore it. When the commentary consists of people back-slapping each other or making stupid comments I end up being annoyed or wandering away to do some obscure housecl...

I used to chat on line at the "kitchen table" chat room on Anne Mccaffrey's website. When I move back to Tokyo, I didn't have internet for a while so I got out of the habit. Enough so that the new regulars thought I was a newbie. Hmmph. I was just thinking about that today (while on my Saturday Syndrome Quest for Stimulation) so I went to check it out. Gone! Even the bulletin (i know I spelled it wrong but I'm not getting up to get a dictionary... bulletain?) board is gone! What hap...

Living in Japan without cable TV has been good for me in that it forces me to watch Japanese so that I get more language practice. I am getting to the point where I get most of what is going on in some of the shows I watch regularly. Still don't enjoy most of the variety shows as I think it is stupid to watch people whack each other or roll around on the floor laughing, but lots of people obviously do. News comprehension is according to topic and how much attention I pay at the time. Ou...

If you know Shirou's "Ghost in the Shell" comic and Oshii's anime version of it, you will probably be really interested in this anime series. Then again, if you know the first two, you probably already know about the series. I enjoy the series a lot. I like stories that deal with what it means to be human. Struggling with consciouness, right, wrong. I checked out the official webiste and they have some writings by Kamiyama, the directer of SAC in the extras section. Even if you ar...

I rented this a while ago when hubby was on a business trip. I think he still hasn't come to terms with the fact that he has married a trekkie, so I try to oblige him by indulging when he is not around. He should just thank his lucky stars I'm not hard-core. My favorite movie? "The Undiscovered Country" when the Klingon moon of Praxis blows up and forces the Klingons and Federation to make peace. Corny and Kirk is irritating but I like the jokes and the familiarity. Love the music fro...