White on Rice

This movie isn't great. But, I enjoyed it. It's on Netflix streaming. It has lots of awkward moments.

New York Comic Con/Anime Fest 2010

Here's some video I took at the New York Comic Con/Anime Fest. I didn't get a lot of good footage because of the crowds, though.

The Assemblage of the Crystal Sphere: A D&D Story

The Assemblage of the Crystal Sphere: A D&D Story is a pretty terrible D&D mockumentary :(. It's about a group of D&D gamers, playing out the last few months of sessions concluding a 5 year campaign. If there was any humor at all in it, it was very subtle. But, mostly it was a lot of awkward moments and interpersonal strife. Available on DVD from Netflix. But, not recommended :(.

Memoirs of a Secret Empire/The Bushido Blade - Fact and Fiction

After watching the PBS documentary Japan: Memoirs of a Secret Empire on Netflix, it was weird to watch the 1981 movie, The Bushido Blade. Admiral Perry has apparently never heard of the Prime Directive :). In fact, this movie had the feel of the old school Star Trek series or a Western movie of the time. The movie was very not PC, with a black face performace on the US Navy ship and asian boobage every 20 minutes. There's also a lame deus ex earthquake during a pivotal sword fight :(. The only YouTube trailer I could find to show was in German, but the movie is in English on Netflix.



Here is Part 3 of the PBS documentary Japan: Memoirs of a Secret Empire. Mind you this is almost an hour long, but it is very interesting. Some of this is portrayed in the movie The Bushido Blade. Though, the movie adds a lot of unhistorical stuff and a lot of nonsense. The documentary is recommended. The movie is not, heheheh :).

The Dungeon Masters

Watched the documentary, The Dungeon Masters, for the second time. I found it to be the most depressing documentary on RPG gamers ever :(.

Convergence Art Show NYC August 2010

Here's video I took at the Convergence Art Show.

Honey and Clover

Watched the live-action, movie version of Honey and Clover. I think I prefer the anime version, which I had seen both seasons of. The anime had more comedy, and the movie seemed to be all drama and awkward moments. The story revolves around art college students who are all friends and involved in several, unrequited, love triangles. It seems each character loves someone who loves someone else. What I found realistic in this was that unrequited love, remains unrequited, and everyone realizes they will all grow apart after graduating, but will always cherish their friendships. I was kinda amazed they found someone who could play Hagu-chan. Yu Aoi from Hula Girls, actually fits the role as well as can be expected, even more preferable than the original anime/manga version. I highly recommend the anime and the movie was a decent retelling. I will soon be watching the live-action, japanese, TV drama version.



Here is a fan-made, anime music video (AMV) of the series.

Hula Girls

Watched the japanese movie, Hula Girls. It's based on a real-life story about a cold, northern, japanese, coal mining town. The town's mine is beig shut down and 2,000 miners will be put out of work. A Hawaiin themed tourist attraction is planned to save the town, and the coal miners' daughters all get together to form a Hula troupe with the help of an instructor from Tokyo. But, the local miner's union is against the project. It was decent and had a Footloose kinda feel to it.

Herb and Dorothy

Saw an interesting documentary about an old couple who had been collecting art throughout their lives. The fascinating thing is they did this on their meager salaries as a librarian and postal worker, amassing a huge and varied collection in their small NYC apartment. Eventually they donated their collection to the National Gallery of Art where it can be shared with the public; never once selling a piece for profit.

The Taste of Tea

Finished watching The Taste of Tea. The movie follows the surreal lives of the Haruno family. The movie is very mellow and lacks a strong unifying plot. Instead, we get a slice of life of each member of the family. Strange side characters get thrown in every now and then, just to add more weirdness, rather than adding to any plot. The slow pace of the movie had me falling asleep at times, and I ended up watching this in three separate sittings. Not bad, but not very good.

Love Com (Lovely Complex)

Watched the Japanese movie Love Com (Lovely Complex.) It's about the tallest girl and shortest boy in school, who are best friends, but have feelings for each other. Unfortunately they keep their feelings to themselves due to anxiety because each was rejected in the past by other people due to their height. Was a fun and strange movie. The lead actress is awkwardly cute. She has the strangest expressions, gestures and hairstyles O.o'. Honestly though their height difference didn't seem that drastic, but it must be a cultural thing.

The Red Baron

The recent German film, The Red Baron, is finally available in the US on DVD. It is also available streaming on Netflix. I had been awaiting this movie for awhile. The air combat scenes were amazing :). It is an idealized, mythic vision of WWI. But, it was such an epic spectacle to behold. I had never seen so many plan...es in the sky, even if they are just CGI :). The actual story dragged on quite a bit, and from what I've read, is full of historical inaccuracies. Also, it may feel uncomfortable to have the Germans as the hero protagonists :(. But, there is an apologetic message in the film. Overall, I recommend it for the air combat scenes alone :). For a US/French view of WWI air combat, I also recommend the film, Flyboys.

Couch Woes

So, months ago my couch ripped. I had only used a stop-gap measure to fix it using duct tape slid into the interior of the rip, to stop it from getting any worse. Recently, my sister found a leather repair kit at Staples and the video below will show the results.

So, as you can see the results were less than perfect :(. But it will have to do. For anyone with a similar problem, I would suggest testing the color mix on some scrap before applying it to the couch :(.

AT-43 Karmans

DC HeroClix: Batman

Groo the Wanderer

Back around 8th grade and my early days of high school. I used to be a fanatic of the comic book series, Groo the Wanderer by Sergio Aragones. You might remember his artwork from Mad Magazine and TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes. Well, one time I wrote him a fan letter and included a SASE asking for his autograph. Imagine my surprise when he mailed me back not only an autograph but a sketch of his character Groo the Wanderer and inscribed it to me!!! :)