b?'s magical mystery stadium tour! #3

#3: Hiroshima Municipal Stadium　広島市民球場
Location: Hiroshima City, Hiroshima Pref.
場所：広島市、広島県
Team: Hiroshima Toyo Carp
チーム：広島東洋カープ
Capacity/定員: 31,984
Opened: July 20, 1957

We've made it to the final 3, and you can't go wrong with any of them. the final order took some serious thought and I'm sure it will be up for debate but with this selection, it is set. 3 stadiums left, 3 days to 1st pitch, get your tickets now!
so at #3 we have Hiroshima. My experience with Hiroshima is a bit tainted because i had a horrible sunburn from waiting outside before a game last May. But, the only reason Hiroshima was destined for only 3rd is that it no longer exists (for the sake of argument). After 51 years of service, Hiroshima Municipal Stadium (Also refered to as Hiroshima Civic Stadium) has been retired in favor for Mazda Zoom Zoom! Enough about that.One fault Hiroshima has is that it feels (and was) thrown together quickly. It was built in only 7 months! there are very few concessions available and about 2 tiny bathrooms for the entire left field section! What Hiroshima lacks in building planning, it makes up for in charm. From its retro-dirt infield to its minor-league dimensions to its reddish-orange foul poles it feels like a wonderful place to watch a game. it feels very intimate. Hiroshima also has a big advantage in that the team name does not (usually) contain a company name (along with Yokohama) and is owned mostly by the city. This leads to Hiroshima having some of the best fans in Japan, loyal to the end with one of the best chants in all the land. However, it is a bit overused. Hiroshima is also the only place where you don't actually need to leave the stands to smoke, just climb to the top of the bleaches and fire it up with a nice view of Hiroshima castle. Ah, location. Hiroshima municipal stadium had the best location of all. A perfect downtown spot, across the street from the A-bomb dome (原爆ドーム).This is a huge loss for the new stadium, however, it will be a bit more convenient as the new stadium is placed right next to the tracks at new Hiroshima station (新広島駅). The new location will be much better for out-of-towners, but it will lose a lot of its atmosphere. I'm sure the carp fans will still show up in force. I'm excited at the prospect of visiting the new stadium because it's a unique design and from what I've heard, it'll be more like a U.S. stadium as it's gonna be the only stadium in Japan with different distances to the right and left field walls! crazy! I'm not sure what the plans are for the land on which Hiroshima M. Stadium stood, but I'm sure it will not be nearly as interesting, nor have the cultural significance of Hiroshima Municipal Stadium For all its faults and because all of its charm, Hiroshima M. Stadium will be dearly missed. お疲れ様, 広島市民球場!

location: +5
history: +4
fanmasphere: +3
concessions: -4
smoking: +10
bathrooms: -4
sight lines: +4
field surface: +5
outside: +5
surroundings: +5
seats: +1
atmosphere: +4
security: +5

total: +43

b?'s magical mystery stadium tour! #4

#4: Skymark Stadium スカイマークスタジアム
Location: Kobe City, Hyogo Pref.
場所：神戸市、兵庫県
Team: Orix Buffaloes
チーム：オリックスバファローズ
Capacity/定員: 35,000
Opened: 1988

I'll start this off with a simple statement. Skymark is only #4 because it has a short history and it really doesn't have a "home" team as the Buffaloes play most of there games in the Osaka Dome nowadays. It's really too bad, this is one of the real jewels here in Japan. I'd say that it is the most American-like stadium of them all in Japan. Skymark is a in an unfortunate location, it's pretty far from downtown but surrounded by trees in a pretty scenic area/sports complex. The old name was "Kobe Green Stadium," which was fitting because the seats are all green, and the surrounding area is, well, green. The entire stadium is well designed with a wonderful concourse behind the outfield seats that offer a really good selection of foods, I highly recommend the giant cheese-dog! Orix fans have some of the best chants in the game and they do a Soccer-esque towel chant sometimes that is pretty original and hard to follow, luckily they give you an instructional guide (which more teams should) for the un-initiated. The views are perfect, baseball sight lines. The only obstructed views are from the concourse, something they could fix, but they would lose some advertising space. I've being trying to think of something negative to say about the place and it's hard. It's far. And I guess the seats don't have any backs, but other than that it is near perfect. I just wish that the Buffaloes would play more games there, like all of them. This year they are only scheduled to play there 13 times this year... sad. I'm glad that I had the chance to visit and if only it had a little more history and tradition (remember the Orix Buffaloes are a merging of the "Orix Blue Wave" and the "Kintetsu Buffaloes" in 2004).
location: -0
history: -2
fanmasphere: +3
concessions: +5
smoking: +2
bathrooms: -1
sight lines: +5
field surface: +5
outside: +3
surroundings: +2
seats: +3
atmosphere: +2
security: +4

total: +31

b?'s magical mystery stadium tour! #5

#5: Kleenex Stadium Miyagi　クリネックススタジアム宮城
Location: Sendai City, Miyagi Pref.
場所：仙台市、宮城県
Team: Touhouku Rakuten Golden Eagles
チーム：東北楽天ゴールデンイーグルス
Capacity/定員: 23,000
Opened: 1950

At #5 on our tour we head to the most northern stop on our journey to the city of Sendai (仙台) in Miyagi prefecture (宮城県). Until the last moment Kleenex Stadium Miyagi was sitting pretty at #2. what, you ask, caused me to knock it down to #5 then? well, it was a tough decision. I guess it comes down to accessibility. it's just in a far off land that most people wouldn't care to visit normally. I think it's a wonderful stadium with a longer history than you would guess (especially because there was not a pro team there until 2005?). After the Touhoku Rakuten golden eagles(東北楽天ゴールデンイーグルス) moved there, the stadium went through several renovations to create a very unique stadium. There are more seating choices than any other stadium in Japan and also unique is that the home fans' main cheering section is in left field. The stadium is a short bus ride from Sendai station and buses are frequent. What makes k stadium stand out also is the number of quality restaurants around and in the stadium. There are tons of great choices and i recommend the beef tongue curry (牛タンカレー), a local specialty. Security... Kleenex Stadium Miyagi is the only stadium that I've sat anywhere besides the outfield and if you sit in the infield, be ready for a strip search! they are serious! i also sat in the outfield and that is pretty average as far as security goes.Also, it should be noted that you can freely come and go from the stadium after receiving a simple hand stamp, something i haven't seen anywhere else.
Eagles fans are good. They've really rallied around their new team and are very supportive however, because it is still a new team, most of the cheers are pretty generic and the team song (sounds very classically right-wing-ish) is played over the loud speakers complete with words during the 7th inning stretch. Another reason i knocked this one down, lack of tradition. Still, one of the best/most interesting/unique baseball stadiums in Japan. Oh, did I mention that it is named "Kleenex Stadium Miyagi"????????

location: +1
history: -0
fanmasphere: +2
concessions: +5
smoking: -1
bathrooms: +2
sight lines: +3
field surface: +1
outside: +2
surroundings: +5
seats: +3
atmosphere: +2
security: -0

total: +25

WBrC in Cincinnati!

anyone? anyone? the WBC is all over. didn't know? you don't live in Japan. it was ridiculous. people all around the country, people who couldn't care less about baseball the other 51 weeks of the year were geeked for the WBC. it was pretty exciting. one thing that was funny, and apoc touched on this a bit on his show, was that students were pretty surprised when i told them that Americans don't care about it. i was asked by nearly every student (especially after the U.S. lost) who i was rooting for in the Japan x U.S. game. i told them that i was rooting for Japan because i like the players better, and because i think it's more important for Japanese people. Americans don't care. i also thought that it was a good thing that the U.S. lost because (i hope) it will embarrass them and (hopefully) make them take it more seriously next time. i think that if the U.S. had won either of the 1st 2 WBCs we would keep sending out the same tired old slobs like we did in basketball. until we got embarrassed and then got serious. hopefully, we'll get serious next time...
anyway, MLB is more important. let's see, over 130 years of history vs. 3...

although there were several (most) games that were unwatchable blowouts (there are fewer "called" games in little league!), there were also a few really good, classic games. the 2 best games would have to have been the 2nd match up of Holland and the Dominican Republic. a great game with great drama. also i gotta say the title game between Japan and Korea was one of the most exciting games I've ever seen. that being said, there need to be some changes... 1st: the double elimination format is stupid, at least for the entire tournament. what's wrong with a round robin format for the 1st couple rounds? it's good enough for the world cup. I'd also like to see Japan play someone other than Korea (5 times!) and Cuba. they were in the same groups as 2 teams they never played (Taiwan and Mexico). there's been talk of expanding the number of teams for the next WBC with play-in round(s) and i am down with this! why are there only 3 countries from the Caribbean? and one from South America? finally, don't ever again put 2nd round games in Dolphins Stadium! it's a freakin football stadium! it's built to hold 80,000 people and when you have a game between 2 teams from different countries in a country that doesn't care about the WBC to begin with, 78,000 empty seats doesn't look good on TV. how about letting another country hold the 2nd round? or how about all of it? at least keep the games in baseball stadiums...
by the way, no games were actually played in Cincinnati.

b?'s magical mystery stadium tour! #6

#6:Yokohama Stadium 横浜スタジアム
Location: Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture
場所：横浜市、神奈川県
Team: Yokohama Baystars
チーム：横浜ベイスターズ
Capacity/定員: 30,000
Opened: April 4, 1978

I know deuce is gonna be disappointed that Yokohama stadium would show up this early in the countdown but it was only a last minute change that got it this high. I ended up moving Seibu Dome down a spot because it does have some security and a roof. Yokohama does not have the disadvantage of a roof. It also all but lacks the "presence" of security which is awesome! You can pretty much walk right in with bags of beer. A huge plus! What Yokohama is lacking is much personality. It's fairly generic. The most remarkable feature of the ballpark is the oddly shaped lights. The concessions are sparse. I mean, really sparse. There's like one place. Pretty weak. Another problem is that in the outfield, the stands are stupid sharply angled. During a rain game I bailed on my ass while walking down the stairs, and I bailed hard, it was hilarious. You'd think that this would give you some decent sight lines, however, take a look at this view...Although these obstructed view seats aren't numerous, they are pretty lame. The one good thing that Yokohama has to offer is that you are very, very unlikely to end up with one of these seats because one thing that Yokohama doesn't suffer from is what you might call "crowding"yeah, this is actually during a game...
I will say that I do enjoy Yokohama, it's convenient for me (easy to get to from the Keihintouhoku line via Kannai station (京浜東北線、関内駅) and of course it's also located near Chinatown (中華街), Minatomirai (みなと未来), Yamashita Park (山下公園), Foreigner Cemetery (外人墓地), and the bay. It's a good place to spend a summer day with smuggled beer and some homies. There is a very high chance of rain as it seems 99% of Baystars games experience some amount of rainfall... odd.

location: +4
history: -2
fanmasphere: +1
concessions: -5
smoking: +1
bathrooms: -2
sight lines: -0
field surface: +3
outside: +2
surroundings: +5
seats: +2
atmosphere: +2
security: +5

total: +16

Call of Duty: World at War, check!

alright, so riding the train home now and i thought it was about time to get to this review. i think i finished COD WaW over a week ago and it was seeming that i might never get around to reviewing it, but here we are now.

so, WaW is a good game. the graphics are great, the sound is awesome the levels and missions are well designed. there's not much negative to say about the game except that it's fairly short. dude? and i ran through almost the entire on-line co-op campaign in a night, and the single player campaign isn't too much longer. that said, the game is intense! tons of action and periods of adrenaline pumping fire fights, and pant peeing banzai charges. the sound of the game is wonderful and really puts you in the action, super-great if you rock some surround sound headphones.i do also have to say that the "variety" missions, where you are a gunner in a plane or a sharpshooting sniper, seem to have been more of an afterthought and aren't done nearly as well as COD4. i think they might have been better done as loading sceen mini-games. the exception to this was the tank level that provided some sweet explosions and good action. i would have liked to have had an option for an in-the-tank view but oh well. alltogether, WaW is a rockin good time, just 3 pieces of advice to the makers: make variety a priority or leave it out. make it longer. make it fully on-line co-op!

score:
a one cup ozeki and a bottle of bitberger

b?'s magical mystery stadium tour! #7

#7: Seibu Dome 西武ドーム
Location: Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture
場所：所沢、埼玉県
Home Team: Saitama Seibu Lions
チーム；埼玉西武ライオンズ
Capacity/定員: 35,655
Opened: April 14, 1979

At number 7 on the countdown, we stay in the Kanto (関東) area but head slightly north to Saitama prefecture. Although this stadium has been through several name changes in its day, it is the Seibu Dome. Ah, a dome... but! It's not what you have come to expect from a dome, it is actually really cool. There's no air conditioning! The reason is that it is not completely enclosed. Although the roof covers the entire field and stands, beyond the stands the walls don't touch the ground. It's pretty cool. It lets the breeze flow in and lends to the possibility of balls actually leaving the yard. The concessions around the stadium are pretty nice with a decent variety of food. The security at Seibu dome is a bit on the strict side so hide your beer well! Seibu Dome is also a bit different than a lot of other stadiums around here in that it's not really near a big station but this seems to keep down on unnecesary crowding from passengers that haven't just left the stadium. The closest station is Seibukyujo-mae (西武球場前) and the stadium is surrounded by trees and a sort-of theme park. The stadium itself started out without a roof and remained that way for nearly 20 years before the roof was completed in 1998. The most unique feature of the stadium the the outfield which only has a few rows of bleachers behind a sloped, astro turf hill where people can throw down a tarp, kick off their shoes and set up a little picnic like atmosphere. Don't let the shoes go to far away because they are great beer holders since it is sloped, your beer will fall over if you set it down. Seibu fans are pretty loyal eventhough many of their best players have left over recent years and they have some of the best cheers of any fans in Japan. Catchy!

location: +2
history: -3
fanmasphere: +2
concessions: +2
smoking: +2
bathrooms: +2
sight lines: +1
field surface: -5
outside: +2
surroundings: +2
seats: +3
atmosphere: +3
security: -3

total: +10

b?'s magical mystery stadium tour! #8

#8: Chiba Marine Stadium,
千葉マリンスタジアム
Location: Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture
場所：千葉市、千葉県
Home team: Chiba Lotte Marines
チーム：千葉ロッテマリーンズ
Capacity/定員: 30,000
Opened: February 2, 1990





Chiba Lotte Marine Stadium is just a short trip out of Tokyo but it's a world away. The stadium is accessed by using Kaihin Makuhari station and then a decent walk towards Tokyo Bay. The surroundings are a stark contrast to what you would leave behind in Tokyo with no skyscrapers and expansive views in all directions. The stadium is located near the Makuhari Messe conference complex and not too much else. It is one of the stadiums with any decent parking available near the stadium, but of you're walking, you'll be doing a lot of it compared to what you can expect from most stadiums here in Japan. Marine Stadium has a couple of things going for it: it's near the ocean, it has a unique design (for Japan) and the Marines fans are some of the loudest and most loyal of all in Japan. However it has several things that don't much go in their favor: concessions are few, the fans look and sound more like a combination of soccer and racing fans than baseball ones, the outfield stands are near vertical and it has astro turf... astro turf... It's not a terrible stadium, I mean it's pretty average though, remenicient of the cookie-cutter multi-purpose stadiums built in the U.S. in the '60's and '70's. It's unique location is a plus, but the biggest thing it has going for it is that Bobby Valentine is the manager of the team... It doesn't have a dome! But, astro turf...

location: +2
history: -3
fanmasphere: -0
concessions: -2
smoking: +1
bathrooms: +1
sight lines: +2
field surface: -5
outside: +1
surroundings: +2
seats: -0
atmosphere: +1
security: +5

total: +5

b?'s magical mystery stadium tour! #9

Roll up, roll up for the stadium tour! The crack of the bat, the smell of the grass, it's spring again. Ahh, it's spring again! Although the 1st pitch of the 2009 NPB season is still a few weeks away, it's time to start rolling out my "b?'s magical mystery stadium tour!!" To start, here's a list of the stadiums I have yet to visit here in Japan:
*note: I will visit Sapporo dome in June, and I will try to visit the new Hiroshima stadium this year. Other than those, all remaining stadiums are stupid domes...

Sapporo Dome, 札幌ドーム
Location: Sapporo、Hokkaido
場所：札幌、北海道
Home Team: Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters
チーム：北海道日本ハムファイターズ
Capacity/定員:　53,845
Opened: June 3, 2001

Fukuoka Dome, 福岡ドーム
Location: Fukuoka
場所：福岡、福岡県
Home team: Fukuoka Softbank Hawks
チーム：福岡ソフトバンクホークス
Capacity/定員: 35,695
Opened: April 2, 1993

Nagoya Dome, 名古屋ドーム
Location: Nagoa, Aichi Prefecture
場所：名古屋、愛知県
Home Team: Chunichi Dragons
チーム：中日ドラゴンズ
Capacity/定員: 40,500
Opened: March 15, 1997

Kyocera Dome, 京セラドーム
Location: Osaka
場所：大阪、大阪府
Home Team: Orix Buffaloes, Hanshin Tigers
チーム：オリックスバファローズ、阪神タイガース
Capacity/定員: 36,477
Opened: March 1, 1997

the countdown from 9-1 begins now!

#9: Tokyo Dome, 東京ドーム
Location: Tokyo
場所：東京、東京都
Home team: Tokyo Yomiuri Giants
チーム：東京読売ジャイアンツ
Capacity/定員：: 55,000
Opened: March 17, 1988
By far the worst stadium I've been to in Japan. It's not close. It's a dome. The seats are small, the aisles are narrow, the walls are high, obstructed view seats and steep slopes in the outfield... shame, shame. Tokyo dome, aka the big egg, is located in Korakuen (後楽園 (aka Tokyo dome city, an amusement park)) in central Tokyo with easy access from Korakuen (後楽園駅) and Suidobashi (水道橋駅) stations. Concessions are decent and one of only a few stadiums where you can see the field from the concourse (excluding the outfield). Tokyo dome is pressurized so you are sucked in and blown out of the revolving doors. The biggest negative (aside from the roof and the overall forgetfulness of the stadium itself) is the security. Security is very strict so you'll either be paying inflated prices inside, or you'll be carrying 5 cups to your seat. Oh yeah, and it's the home of the most annoying fans in Japan with the most annoying cheers for the most annoying team. At least there's never a rain out...
location: +5
history: -2
fanmasphere: -5
concessions: +3
smoking: -2
bathrooms: +2
sight lines: -2
field surface: -5
outside: -4
surroundings: +3
seats: -5
atmosphere: -5
security: -5

total: -24

Mexico's uniforms and Korean pitcher's heads wreaking havoc on advertisers everywhere...

i just thought this was funny...

1, 2, 3, da!

Sunday night mornin and went out to Shinjuku to party it up with a couple of her old classmates. normally i don't fancy going out to the big city on the weekend, more specifically, when i don't have to work there. but this time i was pumped because we were going to a place called アントニオ猪木酒場 (Antonio Inoki saka-ba). Antonio Inoki is the Hulk Hogan of Japan, by far the most famous wrestler of all time here, and he opened some wrestling-themed restaurants around town. the food is a mix of Japanese, Korean, and Brazilian (apparently, his second home). the food was decent, a bit on the small side if you're sharing between 4 people but the beer is good. i ran through about 5 big mugs (大ジョッキー) before getting in deep with some tequila... poor choice as always. i got way too drunk... luckily i didn't have to leave to work until 5pm today. the one disappointment i had was that i couldn't get beer in what the called the "super heavy class (スーパーヘビ
ー級)" mug. for some reason, the only let u get wine and crap like that in the big glass. what's the point? overall a fun time, i recommend the "1, 2, 3, salad" the staff does a little speech for everyone who orders it.

assassin's creed, check!

let me get this out of the way at the beginning because i really only have one nice thing to say about this game. the visuals are great. ass creed looks fantastic. the city detail and building detail is beautiful, the lighting is nice, and the characters are well designed. now for the rest...

game play:
drags on and on, and as dude? said, when you've finished the 1st level, you've played the whole game. there's simply no variation. what ass creed wants you to do is sneak around from rooftop to rooftop (something mirror's edge did soooo much better) which is clumsy at best, climb up to the top of buildings to view the city. although it is beautiful, it gets old pretty quick. the fighting in the game is terribly boring. there are some really cool animations when you kill someone, but, this too gets really old, really quick. the fighting is very frustrating because the best course of action is to just wait for the opponent to attack and then counter, over and over. being proactive is a waste of time seeing as the opponent will block every single attack you throw at them... ahhhhh! bosses are no more difficult to kill than a regular character, they just have a bunch more people surrounding them that get in your way. it's all together frustrating. the worst single aspect of the
game is the crazy bums and beggar ladies that constantly get in your way. the bums push you and the ladies stand in your way and follow you around. it's needless. i hate it.story:
to be honest, i don't remember. i stopped paying attention after the first couple cut scenes. oh god, the cut scenes are loooong, booooring, and freeeequent! ahhhhh! i got to the point of taking bathroom breaks during the cut scenes becuse i didn't need to understand the story to progress in the game at all. the story was boring, and convoluted. forgettable.
there is a 2nd ass creed in the works and I'm not sure what it's gonna be like. if the game play questions are fixed, the cut scenes are shortened and the graphics are equal i might be willing to give it another shot. i think the next one will be taking place in Japan or China because of clues at the end of the 1st one. it might make for an interesting dynamic and might cut down on the crazy Templar based confusing (stupid) story crap.
score:
a bucket of ice cold water to wake them up.

the ol' poo shoe...

Thursday night i was up late doing something, i think watching the baseball game i had recorded or something when sleepy time rolled around. i headed to the bathroom to take care of business before bed and as i walked in, an overwhelming stank smacked me across the face! after i sat down a voice from the adjoining stall called to me. it was asking me for a hand... although i thought it was strange, i pulled up my pants and opened the door to find none other than t-fizzle on hands and knees, pants down, struggling to get up. an unfortunate situation for sure, but my eyes immediately picked up on the location of a bathroom slipper hanging precariously over an open Japanese-style toilet, full of poo... the following played out in my mind as if on a movie screen in crystal clear detail seconds before it came true in real life on grainy home video. that was lame. as i helped t-fizzle up to his feet, the left slipper dragged through the poo and then made contact with my right foot
... ewwww! now, i don't know what caused t-fizzle to be in the original situation (drinking, or a bad back or leg or something like that) or how long he'd been there (I'm thinking awhile), but what i do know is that the toilet should have been flushed before i arrived... poo foot, gross.
now for something completely different. this weekend was good. by weekend, i mean of course, Thursday. i woke up at about 6:30 to watch Holland vs. Puerto Rico (lame), U.S. vs. Venezuela (lamer) and then Mexico vs. Australia (lamest). i ended up taking a good nap during the final game and afterwards, mornin and i headed out for some food and some hot sauce. for food it was to T.G.I.Friday's! I'd been wanting to make a visit for some time, and it was good. had some tasty fajita action with a ridiculous brownie deal for desert (note: don't order the full size!).mornin ordered a crazy cheescake thingit was all very tasty but stupid filling and put me into an immediate food coma. after lunch/dinner, it was off to find me some hot sauce! i re-upped on my death sauce (f'n love it!) and picked up a couple others so this is the full array of my hot sauce stash:after getting back home it was time to lay on the floor for a few hours and so we watched "what happens in Vegas" starring Cameron Diaz (hate) and Ashton Kutcher (no opinion). it was pretty formulaic and the story was boring but it was decently funny because of one guy from the daily show, and some guy with a beard so, overall watchable. girls'll like it.we also watched a new episode of the amazing race and an episode of no reservations and then i was back to my game quest, this time with assassin's creed. it'd been so long since I'd played it that I'd forgotten what to do and how to do it... gonna finish that B soon!

They found the cornel!

Cornel Sanders (カーネルサンダース)　has been recovered from the Dotonbori River (道頓堀川)after 24 years! After the Hanshin Tigers (阪神タイガース) won the 1985 Japan series (日本シリーズ)to become the champions of Japan, some overzealous fans decided to dump a statue of Col. Sanders (they stand in front of all the KFCs here in Japan) cursing the much beloved Tigers to a lifetime of sadness. Much like the "curse of the Bambino" for the Bo-Sox, and the goat thing for the Cubs. Today is a day to celebrate! I didn't catch the whole story but a guy (I think a city employee) was trolling the Dotonbori River and came across what he thought was a big drum of some kind but when he pulled it up, he found none other than the famed statue of Mr. Sanders. Tigers fans across the world thank this guy for his diligence.

In other news, some playlists for you! I woke up at the godforsaken hour of 9:30 this morning and thus I listened to all the new podcasts before I was out the door.
the way into work sounded like this:
1. ゆず / 四時五分
2. Black Star / yo yeah
3. James Brown / night train
4. Gang Starr / intro
5. Pearl Jam / why go
6. Metallica / (anesthesia) pulling teeth
7. Melechesh / unnamed
8. Alice in Chains / i stay away
9. Nirvana / smells like teen spirit
10. Modest Mouse / fire it up
11. 8-ball & MJG / nobody but me
12. DJ Diplomat / white day 2007

man, i was having flashbacks with Pearl Jam, A.I.C. and Nirvana all making appearances on the countdown. Sea-town holla back!

and the way home:
1. Audioslave / shadow on the sun
2. butt? / no airplay vol. 20! (skipped this one)
3. コブクロ / どんな空でも
4. Matisyahu / got no water
5. Gnarls Barkley / gone daddy gone
6. Incubus / track 8
7. NoFX / juice head
8. Stone Temple Pilots / pretty penny
9. Incubus / rogues
10. Nate Dogg / your wife
11. INXS / the gift12. 50 cent / high all the time
13. Jimi Hendrix / all along the watchtower
14. Kurupt / loose cannons

let the games begin!

oh baby! it'd been a looooong winter, and with Saturday, that all came to an end, the flowers came out, the birds sang, the bees buzzed and it was good. although fall and winter belong to football, in japan football is unwatchable. all winter i was a caged animal. I'd been yearning to get out to the ballpark to enjoy some cheer, and beer and some sports action. Kawasaki Frontale X Kashiwa Reysol got me out. mornin and i headed out around noon, we stopped off at a grocery store called Otento to get some food and beer. i picked up a sweet chicken cutlet sandwich (チキンかつサンド) and some fried chicken (から揚げ), both of which were very tasty. we got to the stadium at about 12:30 and settled down in a little park across the street at a picnic table to eat and wait for melvis. melting faces came around at about 1:15. 1:50 rolled around and we headed back over to the stadium to get in and get some seats. surprisingly, they had opened the gates before the scheduled 2pm time and so we got a bit hosed with our seats. we ended up sitting on the corner, pretty decent, but far from the supporter's section, and thus, a bit quiet for my taste. oh well. we had 2 hours to kill so there was a lot of drinking done. i made it through a 6-pack before kickoff. also, when we walked in, we received a wine glass featuring the 'comedy' duo ......... and inside the box both mornin and i won a chance at a prize. we headed out of the stadium and around the corner to test our luck with the raffle. nada. we both got a cheap bag. it's a kinda cool design, but i wanted a free jersey...
kickoff! buya! the game was a bit slow, we didn't set ourselves up for as many chances as usual and it was pretty obvious that some opening game jitters and rust was effecting our play. Reysol put a sloppy goal in early in the 2nd half and later, my boy, Chong Tese put in an equalizer and that was it for the scoring. a 1-1 draw to start the season. damn. well, it's a long season, but i hope we can get 3 points out of the next game. there was an adorable little girl sitting in front of us, she provided a lot of entertainment for us when the game got slow.
after the game we all were heading back but i had some trouble with my front tire. no air. i pumped it up once but it went flat again. i tried and tried to get air in, but it just came pouring out again and again. i gave up and just rode home on a flat tire. i was exhausted. there is a pretty decent amount of hillage between my place and the river and on a flat tire, it is not fun.after getting home, it was time to watch the WBC match up of Japan and Korea. it was a slaughter. the game was called in (i think) the 7th inning because Japan was up by more than 10. amazing, considering in the 2006 WBC Japan lost to Korea twice, and more recently, lost to them in the Olympics. mornin and i headed out around the 5th inning to get dinner, some tasty okonomiyaki at 浜しん.
Sunday was a good ol', mostly lazy day. the morning (afternoon) was spent doing a little neighborhood shopping with a lunch at the high noon cafe in 御嶽山 (ontakesan) where we grubbed on some tasty sandwich action. after lunch, it was back home for call of duty, American idol, Korea vs. China (another blowout), tasty ravioli dinner and finally some amazing race! a full, and exciting day!

call of duty 4, check!

well game 3 on my list has been crossed off. i put in a couple of days of work over the weekend and that was enough to wrap it up. i started this game so long ago that i had forgoten most of the missions that i had played previously. the infrared, bombing people from an airplane mission was rad, but it totally slipped my mind until the closing credits. the game overall is excellent. there are a few frustrating parts here and there, but checkpoints are updated frequent enough that even if you make a little progress you will be rewarded with not having to repeat too large of an area. what really is the golden point of the game is the variety of action and the pronounced lack of crappy bodygaurd missions. from what i've heard, the best part of the game is the online play, however since there is no online co-op for dude? and i to rock, i've only done a bit of it. overall, a top notch shooter, one of the best ever probably.
rating:
headshot, the good kind!