Kobayashi beats Chestnut in eating rematch

Source: NBC

In a chewy chow-lenge, Takeru Kobayashi outlasted Joey Chestnut when the eating titans faced off to see who could devour the most pizzas.

Kobayashi, a six-time world hot dog eating champion from Japan, consumed 5¾ P’zones in a six-minute span of chaotic consumption Saturday to edge Chestnut. The 25-year-old from San Jose, Calif., wolfed down 5½ P’zones on Stage 15 at Sony Studios.

“I’m a little bummed,” Chestnut said. “There’s nobody I like beating more than him, he pushes me harder than anybody.”

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This sets up the ultimate battle, the annual fourth of July hot dog eating showdown. Chestnut has won that the last two year and Kobayashi wants his title back!

Gokusen: The Movie

Here's the trailer for Gokusen: The Movie the live-action theatrical film based on Kozueko Morimoto's Gokusen school comedy manga

Yukie Nakama is reprising her starring role of Kumiko "Yankumi" Yamaguchi, the high school teacher with yakuza ties, one last time for the film. The film will serve as a finale to the three television seasons.


Youtube Link

I've seen the three season and there are definitely a few loose ends to tie up. The trailer looks spectacular and I'm wondering what will happen!

Little Saigon Coffee Shop is the New Hooters

Source: laist

Say you're a guy that likes attractive Vietnamese gals. You also have a passion for caffeine. You've no doubt been frustrated, and said to your friends time after time, "geez, when will Garden Grove get a Vietnamese coffee shop that offers more sex appeal than Starbucks' green aprons?" Time to get happy. Cafe Di Vang 2 is the spot. They're the "Asian Hooters for coffee," according to one of their bikini-wearing tea-pourers.

The bikini bar is nothing new so since the Vietnamese like to drink coffee, play cards and chess, a bikini coffe shop makes perfect sense.

Asian Ripoff LXI - Black Black Heart

Artist: Rene Liu and Stanley Huang
Language: Mandarin

It's a pretty good cover. As close to David Usher's original as can be. Although Usher really rocks this song in a variety of different versions.


Youtube Link

Other Asian Ripoffs

These Japanese girls look good enough to eat

Now that the Spelling Bee is over and I've felt smart for the day.
Back to regular blogging :)

Forget about lace and silk. In Japan, the hot materials for lingerie are onions and cabbage leaves.

Kavya Shivashankar wins 2009 Spelling Bee

Just saw it on tv :)

Source: AP

Kavya Shivashankar was amazing. Nailed every word without any trouble at all. This was amazingly her 4th time in the final round finishing 10th, 8th and 4th in previous years. Her final word was Laodicean.

My favorite Kyle Mou finished 4th bombing out on "schizaffin" spelling it "schizophine". He was very quick but I don't think took enough time to figure out the words. Either he knew it or he didn't and it finally caught up to him.

The fan favorite was Kennyi Aouad, he finished tied for 5th going out on the word "palatschinken". He had no idea what the word for a type of German pancake was and tried to put in german rules but came out with "pallachinkin"

All in all great entertainment and once again I feel alot dumber today. Until next year!


Youtube Link

Spelling Bee Final Preview

Source: Spelling Bee

One of my favorite events, and one that make me feel dumber and dumber every year is the National Spelling Bee. I watched the semifinals earlier today and there are 11 kids left.

They are:

19. Ramya Auroprem
65. Serena Laine-Lobsinger
88. Kyle Mou
89. Aishwarya Pastapur
103. Kennyi Aouad
110. Kavya Shivashankar
139. Sidharth Chand
158. Tussah Heera
170. Neetu Chandak
201. Anamika Veeramani
276. Tim Ruiter

So breakdown is 7 girls and 4 boys left.

1 chinese kid
1 black kid
2 white kids
and
7 indian kids (I think)

I'm picking the Chinese kid. He's wearing lucky number 88! GO MOU!!!
I'll be watching tonight. 8pm Eastern on ABC.

All Canadians have been eliminated. BOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Here's a clip from last year's winner :)


Youtube Link

iPhone to replace register at Japan university

Source: Reuters

A Japanese university is giving away Apple Inc's trendy iPhone to students for free, but with a catch: the device will be used to check their attendance.

The project, which is being tested ahead of its formal launch in June, involves 550 first and second year students and some staff of a department at Aoyama Gakuin University, which is located just outside Tokyo in Sagamihara city.

The school's iPhones are meant to create a mobile information network between students and professors, but they are also a convenient way for the teachers to take attendance in class.

As students enter the room, instead of writing their name on a sheet, they simply type in their ID number and a specific class number into an iPhone application.

To prevent students from logging in from home or outside class, the application uses GPS location data and checks which router the students have logged in to.

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They take attendance in university? I thought at that point you are old enough to determine if you want to show up to class or not. You're paying for it. I figured the University would be cheering for students to fail so they could get more years and money out of them. That's what spring and summer semesters are for!

This is terrible. It's like having a dog tag on you. GPS tracking? I can see a professor checking up on a student cause he's absent and see him humping some chick in his dorm room.

Yubi-Poki, Virtual Dual Purpose Knuckle Cracker Toy

Source: Japanorama

"Stop doing that!!"... One of Mom's favorite and most frequent expressions (often followed by "You'll put your eye out!") can be provoked in so many ways, especially by cracking your knuckles. That slightly liquid sounding SNAP seems to rub the human pleasure center both ways - much like the stroke of fingernails
on either one's back, or one's blackboard.

Funny how something that provides so much pleasure to one can cause so much annoyance to another... such is the case with cracking your knuckles. The Yubi-Poki virtual knuckle cracker will keep on cracking even after you've run out of knuckles.

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holy! They only thing more annoying then someone cracking knuckles is a fake knuckle-cracker!

Kurosawa's creativity goes on line

Source: Japan Times

Photos of nearly 20,000 items related to renowned filmmaker Akira Kurosawa, including his handwritten storyboards, scripts and production notes, were put on the Internet in an online archive Tuesday.

Many of the items in the Kurosawa Digital Archive are being shown to the public for the first time, according to film company Kurosawa Production Inc., which kept the creations. Kurosawa's eldest son, Hisao, heads the company.

The items include photos of scenes of such Kurosawa masterpieces as "Seven Samurai" and "Rashomon."

The nearly 20,000 items are part of some 27,000 that Ryukoku University in Kyoto helped convert into digital files.

"This material can help people learn about the logic of creating something," Hisao Kurosawa told reporters. "I hope we will be able to provide this archive in foreign languages such as English."

The archive Web site is at www.afc.ryukoku.ac.jp/Komon/kurosawa/index.html

Very cool. The site itself looks quite raw with pictures in file folders. Doesn't help that I can't read a lick of Japanese so I don't know what context each photo it taken. But still very cool to see some photos from movies I recognize.

Husband murders wife's cousin at divorce hearing

Source: Danwei

A divorce trial spiraled into a grisly murder yesterday at a court in Songming, a county on the outskirts of Kunming, Yunnan Province.

According to today's Life News, at about 12:40 pm yesterday, roughly 10 minutes before the trial was to begin, a verbal argument developed among the more than ten family members from both sides who had arrived at court.

Then the estranged husband, Deng Jiaxi, hacked at his wife Yang Changmei, the plaintiff in the lawsuit, using a sickle. Deng then turned his rage upon Yang's cousin Zhang Liping when she tried to stop him. When Yang fought back at Deng and attempted to wrest the sickle from his grasp, she lost two fingers.

All court personnel hid themselves during the violence, and no bailiff or judge interfered to stop Deng from leaving, or attempted to rescue the wounded － they were eventually sent to the hospital by police, who arrived later.

Yang was in critical condition, while her cousin Zhang died from wounds received to her back. Deng was still at large by the time the paper went to print.

Yang's relatives told the newspaper that they are going to sue the court for nonfeasance and will demand three million yuan in damages.

Hahahaha nice one China. Why does China even have police? They don't arrest anyone, they don't get suicide jumped off bridges and they don't break up fights and stabbing in a court room? I want to be a Chinese police officer!

Japan's earthquake rescue robot

Source: BBC

Earthquakes are a fact of life in Japan and so is a fascination with robotics.

At the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Professor Shigeo Hirose is developing a robot that could help rescue survivors after an earthquake.

The BBC's Richard Black took the opportunity to take a look at the robot and some of the professor's other creations.

This would be very cool. The saddest things I hear during earthquakes are victims who aer buried alive and aren't saved for 4-5 days! Having these little snake-like robots would help rescuers alot! Especially since they are often afraid to go deep into the rubble for fear more could collapse!

Chinese public outraged over case of Deng Yujiao

Who is Deng Yujiao you ask?

Source: Times Online

The case of the pedicurist and the lecherous official has galvanised public opinion in China.

Women’s groups, and even the conservative state Women’s Federation, have demanded fair treatment for 21-year-old Deng Yujiao who stabbed a low-ranking government official who demanded she provide him with“special services”.

Civil rights organisations and untold numbers of ordinary Chinese want an explanation for the arrest of a young woman who said she was defending herself against the unwanted advances of the 44-year-old director of the local business promotion office. And they want to know why a Communist Party official was frequenting a hotel that offered massages with “special services” – a euphemism for sex.

Such is the public indignation over Ms Deng’s fate that usually docile newspapers and websites have ignored a government directive issued last week ordering all reports to toe the official line.

The case is particularly emotive since it cuts to the heart of many of the most sensitive issues in Chinese society. These include abuse of the law in favour of vested interests at the expense of the weak, the rapid spread of the sex trade in a country whose Communist leadership prides itself on puritan values not to mention abuse of power. It is being seen as pitting the vulnerable, particularly women struggling to make a living, against the might of the state.

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It could be a landmark case. Usually it doesn't matter if it's self-defense or not. If an offical wants sex he should get it. If she refuses, she's in big trouble. If she stabs the guy, she's in deep shit. That's how China works. Rich and powerful get everything. So will public support pressure the courts into ruling fairly. We'll see.

New Japanese snack foods

Source: Japan Probe

Mezamashi TV shares some new snack foods that should be hitting a convenience store near you:

* Plum Pretz and Pea Pretz
* Pizza Jagariko
* Watermelon Karipori
* Salt n’ Garlic Shrimp Chips
* Beef Kebab Pringles
* Cookies released in collaboration with Afternoon Tea drinks (the hosts of the show mock the model’s correct English pronunciation of “collaboration”)
* Coconut Milk Churros snacks

The Bimbo Du Jour shows you snacks you should be eating while watching anime :)


Youtube Link

Plastic Spoon Chandelier by Daisuke Hiraiwa

Source: Cube Me

Japanese designer Daisuke Hiraiwa transforms everyday objects into striking examples of found design. Each Lamps are composed of clear plastic spoons that have been punctured with hundreds of tiny holes to allow light to filter through them in beautiful ways.

MMA: Jose Canseco vs. Hong Man Choi

For those who missed it :)


Youtube Link

Canseco is a BIG guy. He looks so small here compared to the other guy.

Japanese 'Buddha phone'

Source: Crave

The Odin 99 has landed on the streets of Japan, and a single tap of the phone's dedicated lotus-leaf button will load a private, customisable, animated altar.

The idea is to allow Buddhists to perform their dedications and rituals conveniently when away from home. You can simulate incense burning, purification rites and play music to help you meditate wherever you happen to be.

As far as our knowledge goes of inventions that seamlessly converge religion with phone calls, this takes the gold medal. Gold paint has been taken to the phone too, encrusting the otherwise conventional-looking device. Also interesting is that it comes with a metal Buddhist charm to be carried by the user, and two batteries -- the extra one considered 'a gift'.

That's pretty cool to be able to listen to chants at anytime. It could calm a person down uring the times they get really pissed off!

Of course I'm never sure what they're chanting. Sounds like "a la ba la a la ba uuuuummm" to me :)

China’s Dog Ban Rouses Fury - Could Kill 30000 dogs

Source: Epoch Times

The implementation of a controversial dog ban in Heihe City of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province was delayed due to pressure from the public.

The ban, announced on May 21, threatened to kill any dog found in the “restricted area” that includes the city proper of Heihe and four villages of the rural district in the city's administrative area.

The city’s 30,000 plus dogs are either family pets in the city or safe-guards in the rural areas. The dog owners say they cannot accept the decision of the arbitrary killings of dogs.

A blogger who claimed to work in local government said that the regulation was issued because a leashed dog frightened a small group of local officials in the street and bit one of them. That same night, the CCP Municipal Committee held a meeting to discuss the issue, and then issued the "dog ban."

Sheesh. This day and age if you touch someone's dog it's like killing a child. People are crazy for their pets. Just cause some wussy government official got bit by a dog he wants to kill all dogs? Nice one. This is an issue people could definitely revolt over. Dog lovers would die for their dogs.

Japanese Game: Dream C Club

Source: Kotaku

Dream C Club from D3 Publisher is a hostess game that lets players get drunk in-game and watch dancing girls. Here is one of those dancing girls.

So far, the game has only been announced for Japan, and it's recently been given a release date: August 27.

As we previously pointed out, Dream C Club features a drinking system called "IIS," which has players control their drinking using the Xbox 360 controller's analog stick and try to get the hostess shitfaced so she'll talk about personal things she normally wouldn't. "IIS" stands for "Interactive Inshu System" with "inshu" being Japanese for "drinking alcohol."

Youtube Link

Ugh what kind of singing voice is that? Guys? Is there really a point to playing a game where the object is to get the girl to sing to you?

UN Security Council condemns NKorea nuke test

Source: Yahoo!

The U.N. Security Council swiftly condemned North Korea's nuclear test on Monday as "a clear violation" of a 2006 resolution and said it will start work immediately on another one that could result in new sanctions against the reclusive nation.

Hours after North Korea defiantly conducted its second test, its closest allies China and Russia joined Western powers and representatives from the rest of the world on the council to voice strong opposition to the underground explosion.

After a brief emergency meeting held at Japan's request, the council demanded that North Korea abide by two previous resolutions, which among other things called for Pyongyang to abandon all nuclear weapons and return to six-party talks aimed at eliminating its nuclear program.

It also called on all other U.N. member states to abide by sanctions imposed on the North, including embargoes on arms and material that could be used in its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and ship searches for banned weapons.

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I think the UN is serious this time. Instead of just empty-gestures and blanket statements, the UN will produce a very strong-worded letter to Kim Yong-Il telling him what will happen if he continues to defy the UN over and over again.

Are kids going online for study or for fun?

Source: VietNamNet Bridge

This is a “shock”: Vietnam was not among the top ten countries for searching on “sex” on Google in 2005-2007. As of 2008, however, Google Trends reports that Vietnamese users had vaulted the country to fourth, third and then to the first position, ahead of Egypt and India.

Nobody can deny the benefits of the Internet, but the above statistic must worry us. Clearly, a segment of Vietnamese users go online to satisfy their addiction to sex, not for studies and research.

If they can’t visit the sex sites, why surf?

That is the statement of many young people about their habit of using the ‘Net as a means to satisfy their sex addiction. They browse the Internet only to only search for websites about sex.

The black website named “Mocxi”, which was closed recently, was familiar to many young people. This site had a huge number of members. However, this is not the only Vietnamese language sex site.

People look for sex everywhere. Sex has only been going on for thousands of years before the internet was popular. I'm sure the Vietnamese searches for sex before 2008. There was just no way of recording it!

China’s Ban on Blogger Blogs

Source: Blogging Tips

There has been much speculation about China’s recently imposed “blanket ban” of all Blogger powered blogs. Some believe this is intended to quell references to the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square incident, while others wonder if this is a technical difficulty as hinted on Blogger’s Known Issues page.

In either case, this ban affects blogs hosted on the *blogspot.com subdomain (approximately 275 million) and also those who use a custom domain for their Blogger blogs (statistics of which are very difficult to gather). Here are the results of accessibility tests from WebsitePulse which show whether sites are accessible from within China

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Seems the internet gets censored whenever there is an 'unpleasant' anniversary.

The simplest way to discover if your blog (or website) is inaccessible from within China is to use this free tool from WebSitePulse. Paste the URL of your blog in the window and hit enter. After a few moments, you will be presented with results which show if your blog can be accessed from China and comparitively with other servers from different continents.

Yup. Degenerasian is banned!

Cannes: Map of the Sounds of Tokyo

Source: Official Site

As The Cannes film festival ended, I noticed this little gem from Japan. A Japanese film directed by a female Spanish director. Looks like it's about a girl who works at a fish market but is a hired "hitman".

Have you ever seen nudity in the trailer of a movie? It looks very interesting.

Interviews:

Youtube Link

Trailer (NSFW):

Youtube Link

Asian Ripoff LX - Crush

Artist: Joey Yung
Language: Cantonese

Joey Yung about 10 years ago before she became a mega-star. Not a bad cover but a little plain.


Youtube Link

Other Asian Ripoffs

A Chili Sauce to Crow About

Source: NY Times

AFTER-HOURS calls to Huy Fong Foods, here in the suburbs of the San Gabriel Valley east of Los Angeles, are intercepted by an answering machine. One recent day, 14 messages were blinking when Donna Lam, the operations manager, hit “play.”

A woman told of smearing Huy Fong’s flagship product, Tuong Ot Sriracha (Sriracha Chili Sauce), on multigrain snack chips. A man proclaimed the purée of fresh red jalapeños, garlic powder, sugar, salt and vinegar to be “the bomb,” and thanked Ms. Lam’s employers for “much joy and pleasure.”

Another caller, hampered by a slight slur, botched the pronunciation of the product name before asking whether discount pricing might be available. Finally, he blurted, “I love rooster sauce!” (A strutting rooster, gleaming white against a backdrop of the bright red sauce, dominates Huy Fong’s trademark green-capped clear plastic squeeze bottles.)

“I guess it goes with alcohol,” deadpanned Ms. Lam, who, like David Tran, the 64-year-old founder of Huy Fong and creator of its sauce, is both proud of the product’s popularity and flummoxed by fans’ devotion.

The lure of Asian authenticity is part of the appeal. Some American consumers believe sriracha (properly pronounced SIR-rotch-ah) to be a Thai sauce. Others think it is Vietnamese. The truth is that sriracha, as manufactured by Huy Fong Foods, may be best understood as an American sauce, a polyglot purée with roots in different places and peoples.

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I don't like hot sauce that much and I can take a little dab in a bowl of PHO. So there's always a bottle of Sriracha in my fridge :)

Scared Off Of Your Toilet Seat!

Source: Japanorama

Patterned toilet paper is nothing new, there have been comic toilet tissue rolls, Sudoku puzzle patterns, even Hello Kitty tissue rolls but this may be the first time an entire novel has been given the TP treatment. We can thank Koji Suzuki for agreeing to subject his work to a fate worse than the most savage review and Shizuoka-based Hayashi Paper for convincing Suzuki to go along with their crappy idea.

Suzuki's no hack writer by the way - his previous credits include horror novels Ring and Spiral, both later made into popular Japanese horror films. His latest endeavor, Drop, is a nine-chapter horror story that happens to be set in a public bathroom
.

According to Hayashi Paper, reading Suzuki's novel in a similar setting will invest what should be a relaxing experience with "psychological fright".

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I'm amazed people still read in the bathroom. I never did. Once a relative of mine was watching something on his blackberry, took it into the bathroom and accidently dropped it into the toilet.

Reading off the same paper you're going to wipe with is weird. And I don't want to be reading horror and being scared while I'm sitting on the toilet!

Want a Rolls Royce for £30,000?

Psssssst (whisper) it's not real!

Geely GE! I get the Rolls Royce logo too!

Source: Daily Telegraph

The Geely GE was launched at the Shangai Motor show this week where it was immediately branded a "Phantom knock-off".

The 5.4 metre prototype, painted black and given pride of place on a raised plinth in the middle of Geely's stand is undeniably based on the shape of the Rolls in the shape of its cabin, windows and down-sloping rear deck.

Although Geely claims to be 're-inventing the classic' Rolls-Royce bosses considering their options and have consulted lawyers and say the company is keeping its options open.

"Our colleagues in Shanghai are taking a serious look at it," a spokesman told the Daily Mail. "Rolls-Royce Motor Cars is very protective of its brand image and takes seriously any attempt to imitate its products.

"Rolls-Royce is currently keeping its options open and is in consultation with its legal advisers."

The grille, the Flying Lady mascot, also known as the Spirit of Ecstasy, and the Rolls-Royce name and initials are specifically protected.

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Nice. Make a car and use every part of a Rolls Royce and then not call it one. Hope they get their pants sued off.

Cannes: C'est Fini!

Source: Cannes Official Site, Yahoo!

It's all over in Cannes. Asian films picked up a couple of prizes.

Chinese director Lou Ye won for best screenplay for his tale of a women suspecious that her husband is having an affair with a gay lover.

Related: Cannes challenges Beijing film censors

Best Screenplay: Lou Ye for "Spring Fever"

Korean director Park Chan-Wook shared the jury prize, for Thirst

Despite a rousing standing ovation, Ang Lee's film Taking Woodstock won nothing.

The winner of the Palme D'or was an Austrian film called The White Ribbon. A black and white film about a children's choir in a village in northern Germany soon before World War I.


Youtube Link

Would-be suicide jumper pushed off bridge

Source: CNN

A passerby pushed a would-be suicide jumper off a bridge in southern China because he was angry at the jumper's "selfish activity," Chinese media reported Saturday.

It happened Thursday in the city of Guangzhou as Chen Fuchao threatened to jump off Haizhu Bridge, China's Xinhua news agency reported.

The bridge has gained a "macabre" reputation with 11 jumpers having thrown themselves off the bridge since the start of April, Xinhua said.

Traffic was held up for nearly five hours and a crowd gathered as Chen sat on the bridge, threatening to jump, Xinhua reported.

Chen wanted to kill himself because he had 2 million yuan ($294,000) in debt after a failed construction project, Xinhua reported.

Lian Jiansheng, 66, who was passing by the bridge, offered to talk Chen down, Xinhua said. Police refused, but Lian broke through the police cordon and climbed to where Chen was sitting.

Lian greeted Chen with a handshake, then pushed him off the bridge, Xinhua said.

Chen fell 26 feet (8 meters) onto a partially-inflated emergency air cushion, damaging his spine and elbow in the fall, Xinhua said. He is now recovering in a hospital.

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Humanity is fucked up like this. Someone shouldn't think they're doing good by pushing someone off a bridge. And of course a crowd gathers. Everyone wants a view.
Where's the police? The guy only held up traffic for 5 hours! There was nobody there to help this guy. They all just wanted him to jump.

Related: China Digital Times

Japanese beer for kids

Source: Baltimore Sun

The Tomomasu company of Japan once made a non-alcoholic drink for kids chock full of the guarana (twice the caffeine of coffee), with enough kick to have the little ones running up the walls.

It didn't sell very well, so they put it in a brown bottle and changed the name to Kidsbeer.

Whoosh ... turning your kid into a kinder-meth-head is much more attractive when it seems like you're getting them drunk. All the chore-doing benefits of kiddie Red Bull combined with the gateway drug priming for later alcoholism.

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Phhhhhttt just give kids real beer. It's better for them.

Esthe WAM Hair Removal: Beauty Bowling

Source: Funny Commercials World

Released: May 2009
Advertiser: Esthe
Brand: Esthe WAM Hair Removal Course
Agency: Ogilvy & Mather Japan, Tokyo
Country: Japan

Creative Director: Takuya Matsuo
Art Director: Masahide Yoshimi
Director: Yoshinari Kamiya
Production Company: Pyramid Film, Tokyo
Copywriter: Hono Nakano, Wataru Sato
Producer: Koichi Hara

Youtube Link

Hahaha one left!

No Shredded Clothes, No Game

Source: Kotaku

Battle damage brawler Ikki Tousen: Shining Dragon is known just for that: battle damage. And since it's girls in sailor suits and maid outfits, damage comes in the form of shredded clothing.

Known as Battle Vixens in the West, Ikki Tousen is also a manga and animated series. The above image is taken from the anime's third season, Ikki Tousen: Great Guardians.

Publisher Valcon Games was was planning on bringing PS2 game Ikki Tousen: Shining Dragon to the West, but those plans are in a holding pattern. Blame a "Mature" rating from the ESRB, which pumped out this description:

All the female characters are dressed in short skirts or skirts with a high slit. The game features frequent depictions of panties, cleavage, and exaggerated breast jiggle. A special attack move allows some characters to rip opponents' clothes to shreds – exposing even more of the female anatomy (legs, breasts, partial buttocks).

And that right there, that dreaded "M" rating seems to have sealed the game's fate in the West. Colin Goron, Co-founder of Valcon Games, put it best: "We could remove all the stuff that makes it an M-rated game, but then we don't think the customers would be very happy buying an Ikki Tousen game without all the shredded clothing." Talk about knowing your audience.

Rating something "M" almost means nothing. People will just get older people to buy it. Most orders are online now anyways.

Seems a harmless game to me. A little clothes shredding, a little jiggling, big deal. At least nobody is raping anyone.

Tiananmen anniversary unimportant to China's youth

Source: LA Times

In his baggy shorts hanging below the knees, Puma sneakers and spiky hair, Wang Kangkang is hip to the present, clueless about the past.

Although he comes often to see the nightly ceremony of the Chinese flag being lowered at Tiananmen Square, he doesn't know what happened here in 1989 and doesn't really care.

"Well, it happened before I was born," the 19-year-old said, looking down at his sneakered feet as the crowd shuffled out of the vast expanse of concrete on a balmy evening. "In any case, it's history. Why should we dwell on the past?"

On June 4, 1989, hundreds of unarmed civilians were killed as the army made its final push to crush a student-led pro-democracy demonstration in Tiananmen Square. As the 20th anniversary approaches, the government has fortified its extraordinary information blockade on the bloody crackdown. Anybody in the country trying to search on the Internet for information about the square, one of Beijing's most popular tourist attractions, is likely to get the message "This page cannot be displayed."

But to a large extent, the efforts are overkill: Apathy as much as censorship has pushed the events of 1989 into the dark recesses of history.

The young Chinese -- one graying activist calls them "the stupid generation" -- remain willfully ignorant about the past.

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It's probably for the best. If the guy on the right of the picture in the red hair and the tank-top leads any pro-democracy movements, then democracy is in big trouble!

Rubberduckzilla

Rubberduckzilla!!!!!!!!!

Ok, I dont know about you, but I've never ever had another girl feed me a drink out of a bottle!


Youtube Link

Non-anglo names barrier for job hunters

Source: Vancouver Sun

Canadians with Asian names face a daunting level of hidden discrimination when searching for a job, University of B.C. economics professor Paul Oreopoulos has found.

“In some cases, applicants are being turned down for an interview because of their name, even if they are the better hire,” he said.

Oreopoulos sent out 6,699 fake resumes to Toronto-area employers in 2008, changing up the applicant’s name, educational background and country of work experience.

Even when applicants had identical Canadian work experiences and educational backgrounds, every 100 resumes with English names resulted in roughly 16 calls from employers. For every 100 resumes with Asian names, only 11 generated calls from employers. That means a resume with an English name was 40-per-cent more likely to generate a call back.

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Sad but true. That's why most Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and to a lesser extent Japanese use English names in North America. It's just easier.

I've heard it around the office too. People dogging on other people's names cause it's too hard. The idea of finding a job is to get your foot in the door and then knock them out with your fabulous interviewing skills. But with a difficult name, sadly alot of people won't get through the first screening at some companies.

How about you? Have you ever found any obstacles with your name?

Movie Reviews - May 22, 2009

Source: LoveHKFilm

Movie reviews for this week. Nothing really outstanding. I'm waiting for reviews of the Cannes entries.


The Scandal Makers (Korea)

Blockbuster Korean film about a single man in his mid-thirties whose life is turned upside down by his long-lost daughter and an adorable, precocious grandson. This high-concept comedy may sound like commercial fluff, but talented performers, smart direction and agreeable laughs make this a crowd-pleasing winner.

Youtube Link


Night and Fog (HK)

The surprising follow-up to The Way We Are, Ann Hui's Night and Fog is harrowing and genuinely involving. There are occasional moments where the film goes too far, but on the whole this is an impressive and compelling motion picture, and Hui's direction is sharp. Based on a true story.

Youtube Link

Mandate (Korea)

This low-budget supernatural thriller will find audiences who like their horror cheap and cheesy, but it won't do much for anyone else.

Youtube Link




The Triumphant General Rouge (Japan)

Like its predecessor, The Triumphant General Rouge is an entertaining medical thriller. Also like its predecessor, the film is so glossy and commercial that it starts to feel cheesy. Featuring the always-entertaining Hiroshi Abe.

Sorry, can't find trailer for this. If you find one let me know :)

Asian Ripoff LIX - Vietnamese Medley

Artists: Anh Minh, Doan Phi
Language: Vietnamese

Ah only the Vietnamese could put three songs into a medley that have nothing to do with each other :)

1. Telephone-moi
2. Jamaica Farewell
3. Lambada


Youtube Link

Previous Asian Ripoffs

Ziyi! Your Lipstick Smeared!

Source: CriEnglish

Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi appeared at the Cannes screening of the film "Inglourious Basterds" looking flawless, until she smiled.

The jury member of the short film section was spotted cleaning her teeth with a finger before walking the red carpet. Her attempt proved to be unsuccessful, as the photographers easily caught with the red stains on her teeth when she grinned.

Guess she needs a more responsible cosmetician. That, or she needs to pay more attention to the food she eats before a big event.

Hehehe sloppy girl. That's WAY too much lipstick to be putting on anyways. Everyone is speculating what she ate or how this happened. I'd bet five dollas there was some sucky-sucky on the side. :)

40 men in sword gang battle in Chill-Chilli Chinatown restaurant

Source: Liverpool Echo

A BLOODY “straightener” erupted in a Liverpool restaurant between two rival Chinese gangs armed with a sickening arsenal of weapons.

Up to 40 men, some wielding meat-cleavers, hammers, two-foot machetes and a Samurai sword, clashed in Chinatown's Chilli Chilli.

In astonishing scenes the mobs sat together and enjoyed drinks before the ringleader and “referee” signalled with his hand for the fight to begin.

During the violence accomplices guarded the front door of the Nelson Street restaurant to stop customers going in.

Inside the Chinese gangs were viciously slashing and chopping their rivals with sharpened blades .One blood-drenched man was left with four stab wounds to his back.

Another suffered a serious hand injury after one attacker brought the lethal Samurai sword crashing down from above his head.

Yesterday Merseyside Police applied to temporarily close down the restaurant with one officer describing the fight as the “most violent seen in my 25 year career”.

.....more

Wot? Worst violent? Liverpool's one of the most violent cities in the world and this cop hasn't seen worse than this in 25 years? Nobody died, which is a shame. Was anyone even arrested?

LG Display Unveils 'Thinnest' LCD TV Panel

Source: Tech On

LG Display Co Ltd has developed what it claims are the world's thinnest 42- and 47-inch LCD TV panels. Employing the company's edge-lit LED (light emitting diode) backlight system, these LCD TV panels realize a panel thickness of 5.9mm.

The company's proprietary LGS (light guide sheet) technology enabled the company to reduce the thickness of the light guide plate (LGP) by more than half. LGP changes the direction of light beams. In addition, the 42- and 47-inch LCD TV panels weigh in at a mere 6.1kg and 7.3kg each, about 50% lighter than the same size of conventional CCFL-backlit product.

The displays can reproduce a rich range of natural-looking colors with color saturation level of 80% (NTSC). The panels feature the company's 120Hz technology with a motion picture response time (MPRT) of 8ms, eliminating motion blur and boasting full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution.

A) I'm not sure I want a tv that thin. It might break!

B) They finally made a tv thinner than the "Bimbo du jour" presenting it.

AP reporter quarantined in China

Source: Google

There are four of them waiting for us, tottering about the hotel parking lot in yellow biohazard suits.

"One question," says the translator, before he lets us out of a government van that's locked from the outside. "Would you like separate rooms or a room together?"

"We're married," we say.

"Yes," he replies, sweating under his plastic safety goggles. "Separate rooms or together?"

Uh-oh.

My wife and I are in perfect health, but after flying to China for my college friend's wedding we're being quarantined in a remote hotel for seven days. The reason: Our flight from our home in Havana included a layover in Cancun, and China is taking no chances with swine flu.

....

Pleasant women in biohazard suits and old-fashioned, underarm thermometers take our temperature every day at 7 a.m. and noon. They giggle when we try to speak with them in Mandarin. We think they are different women each time, but it's hard to tell behind the suits and masks.

"Temp-reach, temp-reach," they say. Then, after the thermometer has done its thing: "OK. Normal."

Every morning, a man with a tank on his back fumigates the hallway carpets. Workers come into our room to scrub the floor and furniture with disinfectant. They give us disinfectant pills for the toilet: You throw in 10 before using it and 10 afterward. The garbage can has a mustard-yellow bag inside, marked "Warning! Infectious Medical Waste."

We all know the expression "Pictures or it didn't happen!" This is truly one story I would have never believed unless I saw pictures for myself.

BIOHAZARD SUITS? Taking temperatures? Locking people up for a week? Does China have any doctors with a fucking clue? It's THE FLU not some flesh-eating disease where you need protection from head to toe. Cause apparently, you can get swine flu through your toes.

Don't you find it ridiculous that the people doing the testing are in biohazard suits and the reporter is in SHORTS!? What kind of ass-backwards medical testing procedure is this? They should be able to test someone and find out in a nanosecond if they have the flu or not.

The flu came from Mexico and I assure you there are no biohazard suits in Mexico. Seriously if we didn't know any better, we'd think China was in 1909 not 2009.

I hope more stories from people mistreated in China come out to show the world what a joke that country is.

20-year-old crowned most beautiful transsexual

Source: China Daily

Resplendent in a figure-hugging grey and black dress, Sorrawee Nattee wept tears of joy after being crowned Thailand's most beautiful transsexual at a unique pageant.

Sorrawee took the top prize at Miss Tiffany's Universe 2009 in the beach resort of Pattaya, beating off 29 other transsexuals and receiving a small Honda car, and 100,000 baht ($2,860) in cash on Friday night.

"I'm very excited," the 20-year-old from Thailand's southern Songkhla province said, touching the glimmering winner's crown with disbelieving fingers.

She appeared overwhelmed by hordes of photographers, camera crews and well-wishers, the scene played out before a live television audience of 15 million people.

In a nation obsessed with beauty pageants and famous for its sexual tolerance, this elaborate contest is taken every bit as seriously as the more traditional competitions.

The pageant had categories for Best Costume, Miss Photogenic and even Miss Unlimited Sexy Star. Dresses ranged from flowing white ensembles to shimmering red numbers and pink miniskirts. High heels were a must.

All contestants were born men, and organizers said they hoped to raise public awareness of transgendered issues.

.....more

I would think that winning the Thailand version of this event is more difficult than winning the world event later in the year. Kind of like being the Canadian curling champion or the Chinese ping pong champion :D

Rural gender imbalance in China will worsen

Source: Taipei Times

The problem of too many men and not enough women in Chinese villages is likely to become much worse, a researcher warned.

China has 32 million more men aged under 20 than women, a paper published last month by Therese Hesketh of University College London. Her research suggests that rural areas, where the imbalance is greatest, will be further affected because of women “marrying out” and going to live in cities.

“It looks as if high sex-ratio areas, particularly in central China, are likely to get worse. Because of migration, we are hearing again and again that women are going to urban areas and staying. In rural areas that will exacerbate the sex ratio very markedly,” she said.

“In the past, migrants have tended to go back home to permanently settle. But women [now] are finding partners in urban areas and not going back. Men are unable to do that. Urban women will not marry a migrant man; men can’t marry up,” she said.

.....more

Too many taboos that will never change are causing the problem. Every family must have a son. So under 1-child policy rule, every family has a son. And in rural area men can't marry up. So they have to marry a farm girl too. It's the whole class society thing. There are no farm girls to begin with and if there are any, they're gone. The poorest farm girl can go into the city and find a husband, especially is she's beautiful. The poorest farm guy? He needs to find a poorer, uglier farm girl.

It never ends.

Tokyo citizens leaving the city to farm?

A Reuters video report about city dwellers learning to farm in Japan:



Sounds fun! $400 for an 8 week lesson seems a reasonable investment for stress relief. Beats sitting in a tiny apartment looking at Oppai all day!

Ang Lee's 10-minute standing ovation

Source: Yahoo!

Director Ang Lee's English film Taking Woodstock won a standing ovation at its premiere in Cannes on May 16. The film inspired by a true story, is a hot favourite among the 20 films competing for the prestigious Palme d'Or.

Together with the cast and his wife, Lee arrived at the red carpet for the premiere screening of his film at the 62nd Cannes International Film Festival.

The comedy, which recaps the crazy hippie era, received good reviews and great acclamation. The audience stood clapping for almost 10 minutes, boosting the director's confidence in clinching the highest prize at Cannes.

The Palme d'Or is what Lee needs for a complete record of victories at all major film festivals. He has previously won the Golden Lion (Venice Film Festival) in 2005 with Brokeback Mountain and 2007 with Lust, Caution; and the Golden Bear (Berlin Film Festival) in 1993 with The Wedding Banquet and 1996 with Sense and Sensibility.

Nice! That would be like winning the career grand slam! We'll see who the winner is on the weekend!


Youtube Link

Japan astronaut tests 'flying carpet' in space

Source: Yahoo!

A Japanese astronaut tested a "flying carpet" in outer space, folded laundry and used eye drops as part of a series of zero-gravity challenges submitted by the public.

Standing on a white sheet, Koichi Wakata was gliding smoothly through a cabin of the International Space Station, as if snowboarding, in a video clip posted online by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).

"I flew on this magic carpet by using adhesive tape so that the soles of my feet stayed on it," the 45-year-old revealed, speaking into a microphone during what appeared at times like a variety show.

The experiment was part of 16 offbeat tasks selected from ideas sent to the space agency by hundreds of Japanese citizens, from nursery school pupils to a 90-year-old man.

Tackling another challenge, Wakata showed how to use eye drops in zero gravity, squeezing out a tiny ball of liquid and letting it perch at the tip of the container before carefully bringing it to his eye.

Wakata also handled the awkward task of folding laundry in zero gravity, struggling with a shirt and then, for added difficulty, the floating arms and legs of a blue space overall.

He performed the tasks in the Japanese laboratory Kibo (Hope) of the ISS on May 15, having also performed challenges in April, including push-ups.

The Japanese are watching waaaaaay too many silly game shows if they're flying around in carpets in space. Either that or watching too much Aladdin.

Uniqlo Combo BraTop Keeps Girls Cool, Gets Guys Hot

Source: Japanorama

Summer means fun in the sun, swimming pools and cooler chests but it's the latter that are all the rage in Japan this year. We're talking busts, not beer - though with millions of braless women expected to hit the street this summer you'll definitely need a few icy cold cans to press against your forehead.

Pay attention now, I said braless but not topless: the BraTop from Uniqlo combines the support of a bra with the convenience of a camisole. Designed especially for Japan's notoriously hot & humid summers, the BraTop features adjustable shoulder straps and molded mesh cups that wick away perspiration.

According to G-cup gravure model Yuri Morishita, keeping a cool chest is vital to her modeling career. Says the busty model in Weekly Playboy magazine, "Well, women's chests perspire a lot and in the steamy summer heat, mine become smaller, to the point that I have to go down one size." I did not know this!

.....more

Ah there's alot you don't know my friend Steve :)

Although when one doesn't have a cup size to begin with, sweating profusely isn't going to make anything smaller!

U.S. Senate: Hello Kitty. She's everywhere!!!!!

Who would have thought! Hello Kitty shows up on TV in the U.S. Senate!
North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan is using The Hello Kitty credit card as an example of credit card companies targeting young people and is the argument for a planned bill to limit the marketting of credit card companies to people under the age of 21.


C-Span Link

It also made the news shows like The Rachel Maddow Show


Youtube Link

Sanrio must be loving it that THEIR credit card is the example of credit card targeting. Free advertising! If you didn't know there was a Sanrio credit card! You do now! And you want one now! Forget 10 to 14 years old. I'm 30 and I want one! :)

Commercial:

Youtube Link

Vietnam's condom business goes upscale

Source: Google

In Vietnam's fast-growing commercial capital Ho Chi Minh City, most people buy cheap condoms from no-frills roadside kiosks, at the drug store or in supermarkets.

But two brothers have opened an upmarket condom boutique here, saying customers want more choice and more sophisticated options -- even in a country known for being socially conservative, where sex education is taboo.

"Doing this business is good for the public and the society," says Nguyen Khanh Phong, 28.

"We went to the authorities and asked for permission and they allowed us," adds his 21-year-old brother Nguyen Hoang Long.

"Now things come easier," he adds, noting that the business -- open for more than two months now -- is thriving.

The shop, called Volcano, makes no attempt to hide what it's selling. Condom boxes are stuck to the glass doors of the tiny store, the walls are painted pink and shelves are stacked with condoms from across Asia.

"We spent a lot of money," Phong says. "It looks friendly."

.....more

WOO! Your friendly neighbourhood condom store.

Actually Vietnam isn't as socially conservative as one would think. Especially in the Southern part of the country where Vietnam has been influenced by centuries of first French and then American influence. There is plenty of nightlife in Ho Chi Minh City where youngins can be seen clubbing late into the night. Having a store like this is great. The more youths are educated about sex and enjoy sex, the better.