My_Shenanigans

Bandai released Kannagi Vol. 1!!

2009-07-17T08:56:00.000-07:00

Bandai has suprisingly released Kannagi Vol. 1 as part of their acquisition announcement. The first volume has the first 7 episodes of the 14 episode series, with volume 2 being released in september.

Also, animenationnews.com has posted free streaming of the first 2 episodes of Kannagi. They plan on posting two new episodes every week until the entire series is posted.

I'm super excited about this news. Kannagi was my favorite new anime series that came out last year. If you like slice of life lighthearted comedy series with tree gods, then I highly recomend checking out the series. At least check out the first episodes for free online at the link above.

Source Animenation.com.

Upcoming Anime Movies

2009-07-10T12:03:00.000-07:00

Later this summer, they’re some good anime movies coming out I wanted to check out. Granted they are only in Japanese theaters, with the exception Miyaki’s Ponyo (coming to US theaters on 8/14), they may eventually come stateside. Most likely as dvd/blu-ray releases rather than theatrical releases.

But here are the trailers for upcoming anime movies:

Summer Wars (Japanese Release 8/1)

Synopsis: When timid eleventh-grader and math genius Kenji Koiso is asked by older student and secret crush Natsuki to come with her to her family’s Nagano home for a summer job, he agrees without hesitation. Natsuki’s family, the Jinnouchi clan, dates back to the Muromachi era (1336 to 1573), and they’ve all come together to celebrate the 90th birthday of the spunky matriarch of the family, Sakae. That’s when Kenji discovers his “summer job” is to pretend to be Natsuki’s fiance and dance with her at the birthday celebration. As Kenji attempts to keep up with Natsuki’s act around her family, he receives a strange math problem on his cell phone which, being a math genius, he can’t resist solving. As it turns out, the solution to the mysterious equation causes a bizarre parallel world to collide with Earth, and it’s up to Kenji and his new fake family to put reality back in order.

Ponyo (US release 8/14)

Synopsis: A young boy, Sōsuke, befriends a strange looking goldfish whom he names Ponyo. Unbeknownst to Sōsuke, Ponyo is a magic fish who has decided that she wants to live with Sōsuke and the other humans. Unfortunately, Ponyo's decision to give up her underwater life creates a crack in an ancient magic spell, and places the world in danger. Together, Sōsuke and Ponyo must set things right.

Cencoroll (Japanese Release 8/22)

Synopsis: A huge monster shows up on the top of a building of an ordinary city, prompting the Defense Forces to go into action and causing the citizens of the city to start an uproar. Yuki, a brave-hearted and naturally inquisitive girl, happens to know a secret. Her friend Tetsu has been keeping and raising a strange creature called Cenco. Instantly becoming fascinated by Tetsu and his pet, a mysterious boy appears with control over the huge monster threatening the town. With that, an unexpected battle begins.

New episode of Haruhi

2009-07-02T08:58:00.000-07:00

Kadokawa is putting up the episodes of Haruhi on a youtube channel. Currently the second season of Haruhi, isnt really a season. They are rebroadcasting the first season, with new episodes placed in between old ones.

They re-aired the first seven episodes of Haruhi, which can be watched on youtube with english subs. Episode 8 is the first new episode, and you can watch it below! Enjoy!

Expedition Africa

2009-06-15T11:49:00.000-07:00

History Channel’s new series is three episodes in and I’m officially hooked. I’m already a history channel freak, as it’s probably one of the few channels I only watch. In fact, the history channel is always on my TV.

The third episode had the expedition crew finally finished their trek over the Uluguru mountains and into the dangerous Mkata Plains. The Mkata plains are the typical image of what I have in my mind when I think of Africa. Flat plains with tall grass, lions, elephants, hippos, you know the whole shebang.

They had to hike through the plains while being surrounded by all sorts of predators out there. And what was insanely dangerous and scary was the fact that they camped at night near a watering hole without protecting the camp. The night vision cameras paned out into the darkness and you could see eyes of hyenas! Man what a show! You can catch Sunday nights on History Channel at 10 PM.

Shangri-la Review

2009-04-07T11:09:00.000-07:00

The first episode of Gonzo’s new anime series, Shangri-la aired this past Sunday and through the magic of Crunchyroll, I was able to watch it a couple of hours after it aired. Whats my consensus? Read on….

Shangri-la is set in Japan sometime in the future. Due to bad pollution and global warming (Al Gore was right!), Tokyo has been turned into a humongoloid forest. This is to help the air purification of the planet. Throughout the forest, small self governing towns, thrive and carefully monitor the carbon pollution.

The main character of this series is pink haired teenager, Kuniko, who is her town’s leader in training. If you are familiar with the world of Naruto, you know each clan has its own city, it seems Shangri-la is similar. Each town must have a leader and it seems that each leader has a weapon heirloom which has been passed down. Oddly they all seem to be small dagger type weapons, but they hold some sort of magical power of course.

Kuniko refuses to use her clan’s heirloom, much to the chagrin of her grandmother, but instead uses her metal boomerang weapon thing. Which is pretty cool, she can take out tanks with that thing.

The first episode started off strong, but I was a bit confused at the end. At first we are introduced to Kuniko and her village and her supporting cast. This was the best part of the episode. The supporting cast is a group of zany people. Like Kuni’s “father”, a cross-dressing man, who appears not to be Kuni’s birth parent, but rather her guardian.

They then try to introduce everything else to the viewer, like the setting, the circumstance of the pollution, the market of carbon, and all of rest of the characters. But it wasn’t done that well, it jumped to scene to scene, and I was left confused. The episode ending with great action and cliffhanger that makes sure to hook the viewer (the magical power I mentioned before).

Even though I scratched my head during the middle of the episode, I’m definitely sticking to this series. I really like Kuniko and her village and I want to see more of them. Plus as usual the animation was pretty dang good, as expected from Gonzo. And one of my favorite Japanese artists, Range Murata, designed these characters, so they all look fantastic.

Check out the opening theme of Shangri-La below.

I'm on a boat! I'm on a boat!

2009-04-06T08:12:00.000-07:00

The latest vid from Sandberg and crew is awesome! Its hilarious, well done, and a good song. Check the video below, but be warned F bombs are a dropping.

Toradora! Anime Review

2009-04-01T09:01:00.000-07:00

My taste in anime usually is pretty sappy. I prefer to watch slice of life anime series, which tend to be comedies, rom x coms (romantic comedy), dramas, or a conglomeration of all three. Not to say that I don’t like any other genres, I am a guy after all, and I need my dose of mayhem, explosions, and carnage just like any other red blooded male. But on occasion I like to relax and enjoy slice of life comedy. So naturally, I gave Toradora! a try.

Toradora! is about RyujiTakasu, a gentle high school student, with a scary delinquent face, due to his estranged gangster father. Upon first encounters, people are terrified of him, in fact they tend to throw their wallets at him and run away. So of course he is utterly hopeless about getting a girlfriend. He ends up being in the same homeroom with his best friend, Yusaku Kitamura and his mega crush, Minorin Kushieda. On his way to school, he encounters the “school's most dangerous animal of the highest risk level", Taiga Aisaka.

Taiga, who happens to also be in Ryuji’s class and is a good friend of Minorin’s. Taiga has a huge crush on Yusaku, and upon realization, Ryuji and Taiga form a pact. They vow to help each other confess their loves to their respected crushes.

Toradora! starts out with a good premise, granted it has been done before in other rom x coms. But here it somehow feels different in this series. I believe it’s the characters in this series. They’re all so well acted and written that it feels new and not “cut and paste.” Around the midway point, the drama gets more prevalent as the characters develop and we see more about their backgrounds and feelings. There are a couple of clichés in the series, and at times can be predictable, but Toradora does it so well, I didn’t care.

In fact the production of the series was fantastic throughout all of the episodes. Not once did I notice a dip in quality of the animation, music, or anything. I have to give major props to J.C. Staff, the animation studio, as they delivered top animation every week for twenty five straight weeks without any breaks.

While I thoroughly enjoyed this series, there is a couple of nitpicks I have to point out. The ending of the series seemed a bit rushed, which I could see coming as the pace of the earlier episodes was a bit slow. It seemed like around 20 episode mark, the creators realized they only have 5 episodes left to finish the story. So they quickly wrapped up the story.

In fact, I think they could have used one more episode and it wouldn’t have felt rushed. But regardless of this, the ending of the series gave me the usual melancholy feeling. I felt happy and sad at the same time, which to me is a good measure of a good anime. I got so caught up in this series; it pains me that I’m done.

I want more episodes! It is popular over in Japan, hopefully DVD sales there will warrant a second series. I would also love if a company will license Toradora for release in the states, this series is just too good for US fans of rom x coms to miss out. So in conclusion, I give Toradora! an 8/10!

Also check out the new video I put up. Its the second ending song for Toradora!.

Gonzo's Shangri-la debuts 4/5

2009-03-31T09:48:00.000-07:00

Gonzo’s new anime series, Shangri-La, has just released a short trailer. The new series is set to debut this Sunday, April 5th, and it looks amazing!

Shangri-La shows the story of what happens to Tokyo when global warming turns the city into a tropical city in the middle of the 21st century. To reduce the temperature at the heart of the city by 5°C (9°F), the city is being reborn as the world's largest forest city. However, despite the flow of refugees to the new city of Atlas, there are not many residents who can actually live in this sanctuary for the elite. Moreover, anti-government guerillas are attempting to stop the re-forestation. (taken from ANN)

There’s a short streaming commercial found here. Click on the green “CM” link in the corner to view. As expected from GONZO, the animation looks flawless! Let's hope the very high production holds up for the whole series.

You can also check the English official website for the series here. You can look up characters, see some screenshots, and check out the blog.

Schoolgirl Outfit Urd

2009-02-27T12:29:00.000-08:00

While reading "Oh! My Goddess!" vol. 30, I encountered the mysterious and elusive, Schoolgirl outfit Urd! It's no secret that AMG is my favorite anime(and manga) series ever and Urd is my favorite character of the series.

So the combination of Urd and schoolgirl outfit is pure win in my book! Here enjoy these few scans I sneaked at work. I apologize for the cruddy quality.

Man, I would pay a lot of buckaroonies for a real good looking schoolgirl outift Urd figure. Come to think of it, I dont think there ever was a good Urd figure. Theres been plenty of belldandy ones(both good and bad) and I'm sure there were some garage kits of Urd, but not a good pvc figure. That needs to change!

Well, to celebrate, heres my favorite Urd moment in the first season of Ah! My Goddess. When she finally sees her Angel, love the music!

Why "Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li" will suck

2009-02-25T10:46:00.001-08:00

Theyre are probably many reasons why this movie will suck. But my number one reason why it will fail is this....

This is M. Bison in the movie. No disrespect to actor, Neal McDonough, playing Bison, hes a good actor. But that's not how the leader of the most terrifying terrorist organization in the Street Fighter world, Shadowloo, is supposed to look.

Maybe I'm wrong and he'll look more cool in the film, but I somehow doubt it.

Piano Recital

2009-02-24T16:51:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I attended my friend's piano recital at Temple University. Her name is Mo Ah Kim, remember it, as she will become a famous concert pianist in the future.

This was her second recital as a music major at Temple. I really enjoyed listening to her play, I came to her recital stressed because of the traffic in center city, but her playing soon calmed me.

She was very lovely in her gown and has gotten more confident in her skills. I could tell she was having fun playing for us.

Congratulations, Mo! I wish you all the best!

Street Fighter 4!!!!!

2009-02-20T18:30:00.001-08:00

It's been a while since my last post, but in case you didnt know, Street Fighter IV came out this past Tuesday! And after marathon playing these past evenings, my thumbs are killing me. : ( It's also been a fanatical work week as well. Been working in the evenings lately, which cut into my posting time.

But enough of that rabble rabble, lets get down to SFIV business! I pre-ordered the special edition for the 360. Got the call on Tuesday morning that my copy was in. Which was surprising as I was expecting it on Wednesday.

Sorry about the Kokoro appearance, she seems to be making her way into all of my pics lately. But the Special Edition version comes with a DVD of a full length animated SFIV movie(havent seen yet), bonus content dvd, a collector's hintbook, free token for downloadable costumes, and a Crimson Viper figure!

I was excited about the Viper figure, but ended up being highly disappointing in its size. Guess I was expecting a bit much, but still everything else was pretty cool. And if your a SF fan, you should get the special edition for all of these goodies. But if your not, then you can just skip it.

But as for the game itself(doesnt it look super awesome on my Plasma?!?!)? Its frickin' awesome! This was the first time playing the game, and at first I was a bit turned off by the bulkier character designs, but I grew to like them. This is the best looking street fighter game ever.

There's nothing cut and paste about this game, the animations have been completely redone and the fighting has been tweaked. Which is all for the better! The new fight mechanics and dynamic ultra combos camera angles add a fresh light to a 20 year old franchise.

The only negative thing about this is the lack of fightpads. I made the mistake of not reserving the special SFIV six button pads for 360. And cant find them anywhere, even online. And with them going for 100$(they retail for 40$) ebay, ill just wait till madcatz make more.

Still having problems connecting online, but with a new router on the way, ill def be online battling friends and foes from all over the world. Probably will get schooled, but whatever, I love Street Fighter!

Main picture is Ami-chan from Toradora! cosplaying as Chun-Li! Also, make sure you check out my new Anime opening of the week. Its the new opening for my fav anime this season, Toradora!

President's Holiday!

2009-02-16T12:09:00.000-08:00

Well, my company gave it's employees off on Presidents day! I love three day weekends! I think this is the first time I've ever had off on Presidents day, seriously.

Well, my company gave it's employees off on Presidents day! I love three day weekends! I think this is the first time I've ever had off on Presidents day, seriously. I went to catholic school all of my life, we never had off. My last job didn't recognize this as a holiday either, so I always had to work.

So what do I do on my day off? Clean, of course. Spent the morning vacuuming and dusting and washing huge pile of dishes forming in the kitchen sink. Bah! Well at least I got to sleep in and watch a couple more episodes of To Aru Majutsu no Index.

*photo has nothing to do with this post, its just a pic of someplace that I wish I could go visit on my day off today*

Working from Home

2009-02-11T09:34:00.000-08:00

I'm working from home for the first time today. It's pretty awesome working in my pj's. I get save money by not buying lunch or breakfast. Plus, I'm saving the world by not using my car and wasting gas! Its a win win situation!

Dont worry, I'm getting work not and not goofing around. Kokoro is here to make sure I get work done.

Re Reading Ichigo 100%

2009-02-10T13:35:00.000-08:00

With the recent post about the new upcoming Hatsukoi Limited anime series, I got nostalgic about one of my favorite manga series, Ichigo 100%.

It’s a high school comedy, romance series about an average student, named Junpei, who wants to become a film director. He never has any luck with girls until that one fateful day in which he fell in love with a mysterious girl with strawberry panties he saw on the roof of the school. From there we follow Junpei and all of his friends from middle school all the way to college.

Eventually, four different girls, (Pictured above, from left to right: Satsuki Kitaoji, Tsukasa Nisho, Yui Minamito, and Aya Tojo) all vie for Junpei’s affections. Each girl with different attitudes and personalities. My favorite of the girls, is none other than the tomboy, Satsuki Kitaoji, of course.

I fnished this series via fan scanlations a few years ago, but since Viz Media bought the licensed and is releasing the manga here in the states, I picked up all of the available volumes. Since only 7 out of the 19 volumes are released here in the states, it’ll be a while before the series again. But that’s cool, I’m enjoying the ride of Strawberry 100%.

Hatsukoi Limited Preview

2009-02-06T19:16:00.001-08:00

This April is the debut of the much anticipated, Hatsukoi Limited. It's a new anime series based on the manga, of the same name by Kawashita Mizuki

The manga artist of Hatsukoi Limited is a fantastic artist and story teller. Shes knows for writing some funny, heartfull, stories with some of the best drawn anime girlies.

Shes best known for her Ichigo 100%(or Strawberry 100%) manga, which went on for 19 volumes and eventually led to a short lived animated series. But, it was sadly disappointing and could not live up to the manga series. Many fans were dissapointed, including me big time!

But I think that everything will be turned around for Hatsukoi Limited. This looks really well done. Since the Hatsukoi Limited manga is only four volumes long, it could be a short series, not bogged down by a manga that lasted well over 150 chapters. Which means, they could have a bigger budget on animation, to really make the girlies look even better! What do you think? Is Hatsukoi on your watch this spring season?

Laser Cats 4 Yo!

2009-02-05T07:11:00.000-08:00

Laser Cats are back yall! And this time they have to stop the evil Cyber-Face! Guest starring Steve Martin.

Haruhi 2 in April!!?!?!? Wot!?!?!?! UPDATE!!!!!!

2009-02-03T12:42:00.001-08:00

UPDATE: ANN is now reporting that the Haruhi in April announcement, is not the new debut of the second season, but it's rebroadcast reruns of Season 1. Join me, fellow SOS brigade members and yell, "Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaooooooooooooooh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Over at sankakucomplex, they've examined the japanese commercial for the february issue of Newtype magazine. Which is supposed to have major news concerning the second season of Haruhi Suzumiya.

Apparantly looking at the screenshots of the commercial, theyve translated a couple of the headlines of the magazine cover.

What is of interest to us is the cover above, which bears the (small and yellow) text:

4月からTVアニメ放送開始
TV anime broadcasts commence in April
Elsewhere (top), in much bigger lettering, we see more ambiguous wording to the effect that “The Haruhi TV anime is finally underway!”

Man, this better be true and not just a tease!

New Heroes/Chuck back Tonight!!

2009-02-02T07:05:00.000-08:00

NBC’s flagship show, Heroes, comes back on tonight with all new episodes. If you watched the Super Bowl last night, you would have seen the massive campaigned they had for the series. They had a really cool commercial with the cast playing football against NFL legends. Favorite part was the Super Elway appearance! Click play on the youbute linky above.

Also, Chuck comes back on tonight with new episodes. In fact it’s a special 3d episode! I’m so glad new TV is back on. My Monday nights were pretty boring without my weekly fix of Chuck and Heroes.

Persona 4 Addiction

2009-01-28T14:12:00.000-08:00

Hello everybody, My name is Melvin and I'm addicted to Persona 4.

It's my first forray into the Persona franchise and I love it! For those who dont know, Persona 4 is a JRPG videgame for the PS2. I've played a lot of different JRPGS but Persona 4 is totally unique from the crapload of other ones out there.

First of all as you can see from the screen shots, it takes place in the modern world. No fantasy, medieval, or a future world in danger setting. It takes place in a small suburban town in Japan and the story isnt the usual "Save the planet from doom" story.

In Persona 4, you're trying to stop a serial killer who has a affinity to killing people seen on TV. His way of killing? He kidnaps people and throws them into this TV world and lets them die. I know it sounds strange and quirky but it works!

The battle gameplay is the standard turn based system, with a few different modifications. Like the use of Persona(or summons) which give the players special abilities and attacks. In addition there support attacks whenever certain scenerios are met during battle.

But the main draw for Persona 4 is the social friend links. There are many different types of personas which all belong to different categories. And to increase the strenght of these categories, you have to increase your friendships with characters in the game.

So naturaly you spend the game hangig out with friends, goign to school, joining clubs, and doing all sorts of different things to increase your stats. Basically whatever you do in this game, even during the non dungeon exploring parts, increases your stats. Whether its intelligence, courage, understanding, etc. Everything can be leveled up.

I find myself thinking about different strategies on tough bosses and situation lately. Who knew everyday life in a game could be so addicting? So if you have a PS2 and are looking for a different gaming experience, I would check out Persona 4.

Weekend at the Movies

2009-01-26T10:23:00.001-08:00

Saw a couple of movies over the weekend, and since I haven’t posted anything in a bit, I decided to put up reviews. The movies I saw were Wendy and Lucy and Gran Torino. Did I love them? Hate them? Only one way to find out….

Wendy and Lucy

This is an independent film about an outsider named Wendy (played by Michelle Williams) whose goal is to drive to Alaska in search of a new life with her dog, Lucy. The movie starts off in the middle of her voyage; it doesn’t chronicle her whole trip from beginning to end.

Her trip starts in Idaho, but the movie picks up with a stop in a small town in Oregon. Her car breaks down and with her money running low; her dreams of living in Alaska are in danger of never happening. Add to the fact that she looses Lucy; Wendy is in a tough spot.

The movie really showcases the isolation one feels when traveling alone. Add to the fact that Wendy doesn’t really have any family as well, and then we really feel her isolation in this desperate situation. Michelle Williams was great portraying Wendy, I felt that I wasn’t watching an actress in a movie; it was like I was watching some sort of documentary about a poor Midwestern girl in a tough spot. I wanted to reach into the screen and help Wendy find Lucy.

The director and director of photography deserve major kudos for shooting the movie this way. Add to the fact that it wasn’t overly produced with music and/or crazy camera angles that took us out of the movie. Wendy and Lucy is a very quiet film; there was no music, except the occasional humming by Wendy. But sound was used to fill the silence at times, like the occasional blaring of a train horn, or the sound of passing cars on an active street. The lack of music adds to the charm of Wendy and Lucy.

The only downside I have for this film is the fact that it’s too short. I really wanted more and would like to see Wendy and Lucy’s full journey. I really felt for this character and wanted to see if her hard work and tribulations reward her with her dream of starting a new life in Alaska.

So if Wendy and Lucy are playing in your area, please try to catch a showing. Its great little film and I hope it will get a wide release so that more people will be able to watch it.
Check the official website below for screening dates.
http://www.wendyandlucy.com/index.html

Gran Torino

The second film was the highly acclaimed Gran Torino staring and directed by Clint Eastwood. It’s about a grizzled, racist, widowed, Korean war veteran, Walt Kowalski (played by Clint Eastwood) who befriends his young neighbor, much to his chagrin, a Hmong boy named Thao (played by Bee Vang). Thao has no male role model or direction in his life and is constantly pestered by a Hmong gang who want him to join their gang. They force him into ‘hanging out’ with them and inform him of his initiation act, he has to steal his Walk Kowalski’s 1972 Gran Torino. Walk interrupts the theft but Thao ends up escaping without Walt recognizing the would be car thief.

Walt doesn’t give a dam about Thao, his family, or his problems with the gangs, until one night, the gang comes tries to forcibly take Thao with them causing an argument and fight on their front lawn, which spills into Walt’s property. Walt comes out with his rifle and threatens to shot one of the gang members in the face unless they get off his property. The gang then leaves in a huff. The next morning the entire Hmong community leaves gifts, food, and bouquets on Walt’s porch in gratitude for saving the family from the gang. Walt protests saying that he didn’t save them, he just wanted them off his property.

From there we watch Walt transform from a lonely old bitter racist to a friend and hero of the Hmong family next door, as well as the rest of the Hmong community. It doesn’t happen overnight of course, as Walt is in turmoil over an incident in the Korean War, which haunts him every day of his life giving him his bitter outlook on life. But it’s a very enjoyable transition throughout the film. Even in this drama, there are many laughs throughout the film, especially the scenes in which Walt is invited to a Hmong bbq and fish out of water hilarity ensues.

Gran Torino is an excellent film and well worth checking out in theaters. It has it all, drama, comedy, some action scenes, and a wonderful message. Not to say that it is a family movie, far from it. There is some harsh language, especially the racial slurs Walt seems to spout every other minute, and some tough scenes that are hard to watch. But enjoyed this film and I recommend it.

1/10/2009 Saturday Wrestling Voyage Part 2 : JAPW – Women’s Division “Female Revolution”

2009-01-20T10:16:00.000-08:00

We then headed out to the next part of our trip, the Jersey All Pro Women’s Division wrestling show in Bayonne, New Jersey. But first, we had to dig out my car out of the snow. The drive to Bayonne was nasty. The snow was coming down harder and the roads were slick. The roads were being plowed, but not all of the lanes were plowed. So what was scheduled a 40 minute drive took over an hour. But we got there in one piece so everything was cool.

We met Mike at the venue and we hung out at the bar until the doors opened. I talked to Jeff and had no problems getting my tickets with my paypal receipt. I never got my tickets in the mail, so I printed out my receipt. In fact the all of the staff was very friendly and were overall pretty cool people.

Death Rey and Haze were there selling some merchandise, as well as one of the Highlanders from WWE. I’m not a follower of the E so I don’t know which one, but I’m assuming it was the one that was fired.

When the show started, they brought out all of the ladies in the show to the ring and introduced each wrestler. This was pretty nifty, as fans could see who was there and who didn’t make it. Plus, this was the chance for new fans to get acquainted with them. During the introductions a scrum broke out between ODB and Lufisto.

Both girls were separated and they laid down the challenge, their match was turned into an anything goes last women standing match! Man, that fired up the crowd!

First match: Portia Perez def. Girl Dynamite Jennifer Blake
This was a good opener match and it was great seeing my current fave wrestler, Jen Blake. Portia has really improved lately and her ninja shenanigans are fantastic. At one point she was choking Jen on the ropes and informed me to go ahead and take a picture of my beloved hero. Man she is so evil.

But this was a good match, going back and forth with some good spots. I love Blake’s Kobashi chops! But in the end Portia stole a win with her signature Canadian Ninja Technique #6: Use the ropes for leverage on Pin.

Second Match: Cheerleader Melissa def. Nikki Roxx
It was good to see Melissa wrestling live again. The last time I saw her work live was at the last shimmer show I went to last year. The same with Nikki, her hair is longer now, but still short. She looks even cuter now.

This match was dam good! Its one of the must see matches from this card. Melissa worked on Nikki through the whole match with submission moves, especially her reverse texas clover leaf. At one point Nikki shouted, “God I hate this move!” while in that hold. (Pictured Below)

Nikki mounted several comeback attempts, but eventually Nikki submitted ending a fantastic match.

Third Match: Roxxie Cotton def. Sassy Stephie
Roxxie being there was a surprise. But since a few of the Canadian workers got stuck at the border and didn’t make the show, she was a last minute addition. Kudos to her for working three times in one day. (She wrestled twice at the WSU show earlier that day).

Sassy Stephie looked good, but she was on the defensive for the whole match. It was a shame cause I wanted to see what’s shes got, but when your working with Roxxie, you could only do so much.

Roxxie eventually won the match with the crippler crossface. Roxxie put it on Stephie a bunch of times during the match and got her to eventually tap.

Fourth Match: Sara Del Rey def. Daizee Haze
This by far was the match of the night! Both of these girls wrestled their asses off and but on a great show. Even though I’m not the biggest Haze fan, but she didn’t mess up any spots in this match.

They’ve wrestled each other so many times now, but this match felt like it was their first time working each other, it was great!

I really, really like Death Rey’s new ring attire and heel persona. I always thought that she should be heel with her wrestling style and this new gimmick suits her so well. The story of this match was the classic “David Vs. Goliath”, with Haze trying to withstand the punishment and beating from Death Rey.

Haze had many comeback attempts, but was thwarted by Death Rey’s prowess. It was like Death Rey was playing with her and there were a couple of close pin falls from Haze, but it was not enough, Death Rey made Haze submit in a modified and painful looking Gory Guerrero Special.

If your going to buy this dvd for one match, that was it!

Now it was intermission. It was crowded, but no where near as bad as the Intermission at the Eagles Club for Shimmer. I met up with Jennifer Blake, she recognized me as her number Fanboy from myspace. Turns out that I inspired her to have t-shirts made, awesome! I picked up like every promo she had and got an awesome pic with her. Thanks Jen, you’re awesome!

Also got to meet and talk to Lufisto! I picked up her latest dvd and a couple of her promos, and a nice picture with her as well. Next was the Canadian ninja herself, Portia Perez, she was also cool and got a promo from her and a cool pic. Then I got promos from ODB and Sassy Stephie. Nikki, Melissa, and Ariel didn’t come out during intermission.

Fifth Match: Raisha Saeed def. Ariel
Raisha Saeed made a surprise appearance, and explained why Melissa wasn’t there at Intermission. This match was ok, but too short. She beat up Ariel, and at one point hit the curb stop.

She eventually made Ariel tap to the camel clutch. Post match she announced that Amazing Kong will be at the next show in March. Woo!

Sixth Match: Annie Social def. Marie Lollipop
I guess with Roxxie making an appearance earlier in the match, Annie had to as well. Both of these girls were scheduled to be at the show, but still made the trip last minute. Kudos to both of them.

The match was pretty quick and ended with Annie hitting some split leg stunner move for the win. Post match Lollipop said something to the crowd, but it was in French so I don’t know what she was saying.

Main Event: ODB def. Lufisto in Last Woman Standing Match.
Hoo boy, these girls beat the holly hell out of each other throughout this match. It started out with a face off followed by a boobie chop fest. Each one taking turns chopping the crud out of each other.

The match soon spilled outside and into the crowd. But before they fought in the crowd, ODB slammed Lufisto’s head on the ring steps, busting up Lufisto pretty bad. I don’t think this was a blade job, it looked like a nasty gash on her forehead.

The match ended when ODB choke-bombed Lufisto off the entrance stage through a table. Lufisto couldn’t get up before the 10 count. The crowd gave these girls a standing ovation.

All in all, “Female Revolution” was dam good for a first event. Even with the crappy weather and the no shows, fans left happy and wanting more. In fact pretty much everybody reserved their tickets to the next show in March.

There was an after party after the show, but cause of the long drive back home, we headed out. My BK cheeseburger was frozen in the car, but I still ate it. I was really hungry and it would be a while before we stopped at the rest stop on the turnpike.

Another NFC Title game and another Flop by the birds...

2009-01-18T16:23:00.000-08:00

*sigh* You'd think I'd be used to this by now. One would think that a lifelong Eagles fan would be used to another NFC flop by Andy Reid and company. But I will never ever get used to it...

Would like to be an easy game for the birds, ended up being another huge disappointment. Right now I'm passed my anger phase and now I'm just depressed. Is Philly not allowed to have a superbowl win? All I need know is for the stinkin' cards win the big one.

And to those who say, "At least they got this far", thats not good enough. What sense is to go that far and not try to go all the way? You should never be satisfied on how far your team goes into the playoffs. If they started this, then they have to finish it.

But whatever, ill end this blog the philly classic line, "There's always next year."

But before i go, I have to give some Kudos:

-Kudos to Brent Celeck: This guy played his heart out and single handily brought the Eagles back in the game with his second half play. Forget LJ, hes the tight end of the future.
-Kudos to Desean Jackson: This rookie didnt quit at all. In fact at one point he was spotted encouraging Donovan on the sideline. His spectacular TD catch was probably the best TD postseason catch in the playoffs.

1/10/2009 Saturday Wrestling Voyage Part 1: WSU

2009-01-15T06:54:00.000-08:00

We braved the snow storms and the cold drive up to north jersey to get our fix of women’s wrestling. Was it worth it? In short, Yes! It was well worth it(thanks to the savior JAPW Women’s Division Show).

I started off the day by giving the new GPS a try on the way to picking up Steve at his shop. It worked great and the best part was that it re calculated routes within seconds. So, for those times I miss an exit or make a wrong turn, I know that GPS will be there to save me.

After picking up Steve, filling up the car, and our bellies with lunch, we hit the road to our first stop, the WSU show in Boonton, NJ. The drive up there wasn’t that bad until we were about a half hour away from Boonton. The roads were icy and snowy and traffic slowed down greatly. But even with the delay we still got there an hour before the show was supposed to start. We warmed up and ate a quick meal at the Chinese place a couple of doors down from the Theater and headed for the show.

The show was supposed to start at 3, but that didn’t happen. As we sat there in the venue for an hour, still freezing as there was no heat in the theater, we watched the workers slowly but surely walking into the venue. The weather was dampening everyone’s travel plans.

The show eventually started at 4 o’clock, an hour late, but that was because of the weather so that is understandable. We planned to just watch the first show and leave after intermission, but if it wasn’t for Rain and Lea Morrison, I would have left earlier. The show was pretty bad, except for a couple of exceptions. I also didnt take much pics as we sat in the crowd and not ringside as we normally do.

The first match was April versus Melissa Coates and it was a sloppy one. April looked great, but it seems she lost some weight. I don’t know how anyone that tiny and skinny could loose weight, but it seemed like she did. Melissa ended up winning the match, but I forget how. Afterwards, Rain came down and beat up on April and cut a promo on how she is the best in WSU and that shes going to prove it.

Up next was a tag match between Missy Sampson/Alere versus Katie Pierce/Lea Morrison. Katie’s tag partner was a secret until she introduced the new heel Lea. Which I liked very much! For some reason, Lea looks more fantastic as a bad girl. The red highlight streaks in her hair were a bonus. The match was ok, it was all Lea, as Katie was playing her role as evil mentor and making her do everything. Lea ended up getting the pin with a roll up, I think.

Rain was up next, and worked against Rachel Summerlyn. This match was good, nothing spectacular, but nothing bad about it either. Rain looked great and her “YEEEEEAHHHHHH!” went over with the crowd.

The soul sistahs came out and wasted my time with some promo about breaking up. It was boring until their opponents came out, Brooke Carter and Reyna Fire. Good flippin’ Lord! Reyna fire is a redheaded goddess! She’s tall, has smooth ivory skin, a fantastic rack, and long flowing red locks of silky hair! Why she isn’t in the E yet is a mystery. I don’t remember the match at all, just remember staring at Reyna.

Post match the one soul sistah announced she was pregnant, and the other sistah beat her up. It was like an episode of Maury, but during this beat down the highlight of the night occurred.

While the beating was taking place, refs came to the ring to stop it, the one ref ran to the ring, he slipped on the first step and gave the stage steps a Shinning Wizard! I died laughing for the rest of the show. Poor dude ended up hurting himself, but dam it was funny.

After this was the first main event I think, the tag champs of the beat down betties came out. Then Primetime came out and said that Kong didn’t show up, so instead her tag partner was Taylor Wilde! We were shocked and Steve proclaimed, “ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!?”

Taylor looked absolutely scrumptious. She made her way to the ring, and the match started and ended in about a minute. Double bulldog from Primetime and Taylor for the 3 count. New Tag Champs in a blink of an eye. Thank god I didn’t pay for my tickets.

Now it was intermission and we got excited hoping that Taylor Wilde would come out, but sadly no. Only Mercedes, Cindy, Rain, and Rachel came out. So I picked up some Rachel promos and talked to her briefly. Also got Rain to sign my yearbook and she talked me into buying a t-shirt and promo.

Aside from a couple of matches and seeing Taylor Wilde, albeit briefly, this show was a complete waste of time. Nothing against the girls in the ring, they worked their butts off to the best of their ability, but the booking was atrocious.

Well, be here for part 2 in which a car gets snowed in, an awesome show of wrestling commences, and an ice cold burger will be eaten.

Pork Tonkatsu!

2009-01-13T16:43:00.000-08:00

Tonight for dinner I cooked Pork Tonkatsu for the first time. It may look a bit ugly, but I guarantee it tasted heavenly!

Tonkatsu is one of my fav Japanese dishes. It's a pretty simple dish of fried boneless pork cutlets usually served with lettuce or cabbage and rice. Its not fancy, but its oh so delicious!

Got a recipe from youtube of all places and it tasted great! I burned the first cutlet a bit, but practice makes perfect.

Accompanied with the cutlet is some rice, lettuce for ruffage, some veggie dumplings, and the oh so yummy Tonkatsu sauce. Yummo!

Katsu and Flyers hockey?!? Maybe it's a new tradition!

I'm working on the JAPW and WSU blogs and will post them soon, I promise!