New T-Joh Joint: "What's Up with Lexi?"

The LPGA's rookie class of 2014 can't catch any breaks.  The very same day I finally get their membership right I find out Tiffany Joh has released a new video.  I present "What's Up with Lexi?"



'14ers, the ball is in your court. Or rather, you have the honors now....

[Update 1 (9:46 pm):  Ugh, I was trying to figure out what T-Joh was parodying and having no luck, but 9-going-on-10 onechan knew right away.  Of course, she sent me to a different parody of "What Does the Fox Say" rather than the original, which is when I figured out that I am super-old.]

Lady Gaga on New Year's Eve Kohaku Uta Gassen

Just like Annika Sorenstam and Paula Creamer before her, Lady Gaga delivered a great performance in a big event in Japan:  the New Year's Eve countdown/musical extravaganza on NHK known as Kohaku Uta Gassen.

Somebody uploaded the closing montage from the 62nd annual show, along with the final judgment of who won the competition between the Red (girls') and White (boys') team.  It gives you some sense of the range and kinds of J-pop, enka, and other forms of music popular in Japan in 2011:




You probably noticed Lady Gaga in the montage, but here's her full performance of "Born This Way":



And "You and I":



I don't know if her performances counted toward the Red team's total, but maybe she helped pushed them over the top for the 1st time since 2004. Somehow I doubt groups like AKB48 needed the help, though:



Heck, I think they outnumbered the guys all by themselves!

Kuromi Is My Motor; Or, Listen to Your Mother

The past couple of years--since my girls have gotten old enough for me to get back to gearing up for and playing competitive golf--I've been very frustrated with my game. I've been generally hitting the ball very well and putting well intermittently, but what used to be my bread and butter--partial wedges and recovery shots around the green--has become my nemesis. It's been no fun feeling cursed with hands of stone. Well, after my latest tournament disappointments--a bad Utica City Amateur followed by a terrible Buffalo district men's amateur qualifier--in July and early August, I took a little time away from playing golf, and whattaya know, as I've been gearing up for the NYSGA Mid-Amateur qualifier in Rochester in a couple of days, every part of my game is working pretty well. I've been shooting a bunch of 35s, 36s, and 37s of late, due to hitting a lot more fairways and greens, getting up-and-down better when I miss the green, and making more of my birdie opportunities.

I don't know if it's just that I usually play really well in August, but I do know that my mom's advice to just play a little looser and avoid overthinking in the middle of a round has been very helpful, once I actually thought about what she said, that is. Switching over to a Kuromi suito (thermos) with water instead of going with bottled Ito-En teas is helping me remember to swing more freely, too.

Hoping some Onegai My Melody helps me qualify for my 2nd-ever Mid-Am! Here's some relevant youtube for ya until I get my Safeway Classic preview out--hope it helps your game as much as it's been helping mine:





Think I'll be listening to some Cake on my ride to Rochester!

When T-Joh Gets Bored, the World Is a Better Place

Tiffany Joh is making more music. Enjoy!



Glossary.

For an encore, here's the new version of her LPGA Christmas song.

[Update 1 (8:14 am): And for more on the Futures Tour grads, check out Happy Fan's overview.]

Mostly Harmless Turned 3 Last Friday...

...and oh how the time flies....

So for Mostly Harmless's third birthday I'm thinking of buying the blog an electone:



No, wait...a shamisen!



Hmm, maybe a viola?



No, no, no--electone!



Yes, electone it is!

Make It Star Blazers in 2010!

Check it out: there's a new animated Star Blazers movie that's been out in Japan for almost a month!



It goes by Star Blazers: Rebirth in English and Space Battleship Yamato in Japanese.



I encourage you to check out parts 2 and 3 of this promo. Go for the clips from the new movie and original show, stay for the evolving conversation between the cartoony comic relief dad and son--no Japanese needed. Now all I need is the movie to come to the States--with subtitles!

Oh, and there's also a live-action movie starring SMAP's Kimutaku coming out late this year:



The last 5 minutes of that teaser put me in the mood for the theme song of the show my brother, father, and I used to get up at 6 am to watch when I was a kid!



Here it is in Japanese:



Here's are 2 earlier Japanese versions:





Once more, with subs:



There's even a "nose flute" version out on teh intertubes. Now if only I could find a veggie instrument version!

J-Skate Fans Pwn J-Golf Fans

OMG! LOL! Mao Asada's fans rule!



At least Ryo Ishikawa makes 2 appearances here....

[Update 1 (6:36 am): Not exactly an inspired performance by Mao-chan in Moscow this weekend:



But check out the little girl shouting "Mao-chan, gambatte!" ("go for it, Mao-chan!") at the start and "sugoi" ("wow! amazing!") at the end of this home video of her free skate. Cho kawaii!]

[Update 2 (11/9/09, 4:11 am): And now I find out it's not even Ryo-kun but instead Ryota Ito in the video....]

Tiger Woods Sparks International Incident

Young girls and otaku all over Japan are petitioning anime fan and Prime Minister Taro Aso to issue a formal protest to the USGA for the U.S. Open coverage on TV Asahi preempting Fresh Pretty Cure Sunday morning. A 3-year-old asked for comment screamed, "NOOOOOOOOOO!" Her older sister, 5, had a different reaction. "Didn't we watch it?" she asked. When it was explained to her that we had watched a taped show from the previous weekend, she didn't seem that concerned. When asked to give her reaction to being able to watch 2 episodes in the same day (had she been able to), she replied, "I'd be tired." When told older episodes are on youtube, she said, "Let's watch!"

Happy Birthday, FMA!

Some birthday wishes for the Full Metal Archivist....

May an international flight be in your future:



May J-pop always be on youtube for you:



May Daisuke Takahashi come back from his knee injury better than ever:



May you always have someone to take care of the alarm clock for you:

Totoro iPhone Ocarina Theme/Robo-Murasaki

For Valentine's Day.



Plus a robot that recites the Tale of Genji, courtesy of Bill Benzon.

Yep, Mostly Harmless is romance central.

Japanese Star Wars v. Japanese Spider-Man

I would be remiss in my ongoing attempt to unite animation, sf, music, and golf otaku of all genders, ages, and nationalities were I not to pass along these gems from the 1970s:





Which is better at blowing your mind? Note how both the giant robot and Kamen Rider traditions are invoked in the latter. But the former's lyrics must not be underestimated.

Can you top these?

[Update 1 (9:57 am): I vote for the latter, on the grounds that its opening probably influenced The Tick's theme song:



But I'm willing to be persuaded.]

On Missing Japan

They do New Year's Eve right in Japan! NHK's "Kouhaku Utagassen" is not to be missed, particularly this year when Jero will be performing (along with dozens of others, including the little girl who sings the Ponyo theme song, and, of course, the Full Metal Archivist's faves, SMAP) in the traditional battle of the J-pop stars. That said, we're missing it for the 2nd year in a row. So sad! Hopefully we'll catch the highlights on youtube or veoh!

[Update 1 (6:10 am): Jero just won the Best New Artist award! Omedeto gozaimasu!]

[Update 2 (6:15 am): Turns out that one was his 2nd such award this year. Here's his 1st.]

[Update 3 (10:48 am): Of course, the nice thing about being here is that you get to catch snippets of the show on youtube and veoh before the evening. Here's Jero's performance...with his mom in the audience!


Watch JERO / Umiyuki (Kouhaku Utagassen) in Music Videos  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Wow!]

[Update 4 (4:28 pm): The Ponyo song was the climax of a tribute to the music of Miyazaki's films:



Wow!!]

Wonder Girls

Why, oh why, can't the LPGA's end-of-year celebration be as fun as the KLPGA's? Thanks to the folks at Seoul Sisters.com, you can check out some photos from the Ritz Carlton Plaza Hotel in Seoul, where the KLPGA's young guns--6-time-winner-in-'08 Hee Kyung Seo, Ha-Neul Kim, Ran Hong, So-Yeon Ryu, and Rookie of the Year Hye Yong Choi--did a little dance number to "Nobody," a K-pop smash hit by the Wonder Girls (whom they got to meet, as well).

Thanks to the wonders of teh intertubes, here are the originals, in a cute little video that gives the song a little fictional backstory (please note, Carolyn Bivens, their English is pretty good, too!):



And the KLPGA's wonder girls themselves.

BTW, the entire female K-pop pantheon loves this song. Check out the Golden Disk Award Show's remix performance from Friday:



It's K-pop 101!

Change

Finally!

The Politics of Miyazaki

Daniel Thomas MacInnes of Conversations on Ghibli has done the animation world a great service in posting and commenting on a Japanese documentary on Hayao Miyazaki's North American promotion tour for Princess Mononoke at the end of the last millennium. But as good as his focus on the business marketing context of the Ghibli-Disney relationship's beginning is, it's his penultimate paragraph that's the most significant part of his piece, for it touches on something the Full Metal Archivist was picking up on throughout the documentary:

Still, as an artist and dedicated Ghibl Freak, I am endlessly annoyed by all these stupid questions from the suits, the expectation that Miyazaki dumb his work down to the level of...I dunno, the average George W. Bush voter. Why does everything in this country be dumbed down to the lowest common denominator? Why does everybody have to be so mindless, so sloven, so stupid? Thank God there will be no President Sarah Palin in 2009. But in this swamp, that possibility is always lurking nearby, just like November snow in Minnesota.

In fact, Thomas shouldn't have backed off on his self-described "rant" or chalked it up to his health or mood in his final paragraph. Pay attention to Miyazaki's emotional response to the questions asked by most American film critics: he's angry and tense, not just nervous or anxious. The assumptions behind the questions are pissing him off, and because of that, his answers are quite revealing. But the conception of politics Miyazaki is drawing on is much broader than only electioneering and lowest-common denominator media culture, ranging from the interaction between creative artists, their works, and their audiences (particularly children) to the politics and pedagogies of form. No time to elaborate on this now, but will be happy to in comments.

BTW, the FMA fears Ponyo will be his last film. Here's the theme song:



For more on the characters and themes (in Japanese), head over here. MacInnes is the source for those of us limited to English.

Happy Birthday to Me!

The Full Metal Alchemist's birthday gift to me was the fan-subbed live-action version of the hit anime Nodame Cantabile. (Think Bad News Bears meets classical music. It's one of those funny-but-moving J-dramas I've already written about here.)

Just for you all, here are some opening and closing songs from the anime:



And here's the anime-style ending song from the special episode that takes place after the series we watched ends.



For the series itself, though, I recommend veoh.com--the episodes only get chopped down into 2- or 3-clip sequences.

Oh, and by the way, it's inspired a dance for all the kids out there:

Beautiful Life

Our first post-Labor Day Monday won't dawn all that happily for everyone on the PGA Tour not named Vijay Singh (who's guaranteed the $10M FedEx Cup prize just by finishing the Tour Championship when it's finally played after the Ryder Cup), everyone on the Futures Tour who finished outside the top 5 of its money list (Vicky Hurst, Mindy Kim, Sarah-Jane Kenyon, M.J. Hur, and Jin Young Pak snagged the available high priority status LPGA cards), and, well, everyone in the LPGA office.

So this barely-watched youtube clip of a toddler watching Inai Inai Ba! is for them:



Just keep that "Guru Guru Dokkan" song in your head today and everything will be fine!

"Soshite Taberareru": On Pikmin

Where the hell was I when the video game Pikmin was released? (The title comes from English--"pick me!", though, not "pygmy," as I originally thought.) And why did I only find out today (from the Full Metal Archivist, of course) how popular this song by Strawberry Flower was across Japan not so long ago? Do not click on this link unless you don't mind having "Ai no uta" in your head the rest of the week.



Apparently sarariman really identified with the little plant-animal hybrid characters who blindly follow that space dude, usually to their deaths. Go figure. Anyone ever play this?

Mostly Harmless pop quiz: spot the differences between the American and Japanese commercials!

Akazukin Chacha: Precursor to Precure (and Ojamajo Doremi)

Here's the theme song of a manga/anime that the Full Metal Archivist and her sister read/watched in the years before she came to the States!



Here's the opening of the first episode of Akazukin Chacha:



It's kind of Little Red Riding Hood morphing into Wonder Woman/Green Arrow, with all the humor you'd expect from such a henshin. Plus, Shingo Katori (of SMAP fame) was a voice actor on the show!

Bye-Bye Bacteria

To celebrate the end of onechan's sinus infection and imoto's ear infection, here's the first episode of Chibi Maruko-chan for your viewing pleasure. Will this be onechan and imoto in a few years?



The subtitles are almost as funny as the episode itself, eh?

These sisters have practiced the theme song's dance moves!