If I write it down I won't forget it

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

The Other Website

This month I've been really busy working on my websites. As well as setting up this Mindtheft blog to post the photos, videos, website links and stories I used to post on Mixi and MySpace I also have another two websites on the go.

My other website is Big On Japan, which I've been trying to redesign and add more content to in order to improve its chances of being included in Japanzine's Best of the Web list. Big On Japan is about 'Life in Japan from a gaijin perspective, focusing on Japanese people, language and culture' and includes writing about my observations and experiences in Japan plus photos and YouTube videos. Enjoy...

Monday, January 29, 2007

The Perfect Valentine's Gift

For all you guys out there wondering what to get that special lady in your life, here's a great suggestion from Justin Timberlake:

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

The Bad Person Test


(Originally posted on Mixi on Saturday, December 23rd, 2006)

This is a test to see if you have a 'bad person gene' inside you.

Take a look at this picture. If you smile or laugh then you've got the bad person gene...

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

The National 'Basketbrawl' Association

(Originally posted on Mixi on Friday, December 22nd, 2006)

I've never really been a fan of basketball as I can't get past the monotony of the game. I know there's a lot of skill involved and I've heard it can get quite exciting at times but whenever I watch it, basketball just seems like a bunch of guys running backwards and forwards.

Despite my lack of appreciation of the sport however, this week I tried to find an NBA basketball video on YouTube for the first time ever. The reason was last weekend's news about the New York Knicks vs Denver Nuggets game, which ended in a full scale brawl involving pretty much everyone on the court.

The first video of the brawl I watched has actually been removed from YouTube at the request of the NBA, but I found another one:


While I was looking for this video I also found loads of other videos featuring NBA fights including this legendary Indiana Pacers vs Detroit Pistons brawl from a couple of years ago:

(just do a search for 'NBA fights' and you can find numerous other 'basketbrawl' vids)

Seems like there's often more excitement in an NBA game than I realised, though a lot of it is not so 'sportsmanlike'.

The British Expats

(Originally posted on Mixi and MySpace on Thursday, December 14th, 2006)

I found this article the other day, pretty interesting stuff. Apparently almost 10% of British people live permanently overseas although this figure is hidden by an equal number of people immigrating to the UK and replacing them, so the population remains the same.

The reasons people leave the UK to live elsewhere are various - bad weather, long working hours (though not compared with Japan of course!), high property prices, and so on - but perhaps the biggest factor is that everything is so expensive there. With 17.5% consumer tax, excessive duty on cigarettes and alcohol, and international companies charging Brits more than other Europeans for their products it's hardly surprising the country is frequently referred to in the media as 'rip-off Britain'. And to think that Japan is still misperceived by British people as being an expensive country...

The Racist Outburst

(Originally posted on Mixi and MySpace on Friday, December 08th, 2006)

The sitcom Seinfeld is one of my favourite TV shows of all time, so when I heard that Michael Richards, who plays Jerry Seinfeld's wacky neighbour Kramer, had become headline news because of a racist outburst I was both surprised and intrigued.

It appears that Richards was performing at a stand-up comedy club in LA and got fed up with some members of the audience ignoring his act, finally venting his annoyance at their behaviour with a torrent of racial abuse. (a full account of the incident can be found here).

Due to the offensive nature of his outburst, a lot of news sources weren't able to show or explain just how harsh his tirade was so (as usual) I had to check out YouTube to find the full uncensored version of the incident; I was also able to find Richards' apology on The Tonight Show and the victims of his racial abuse being interview on NBC.

Watching the three videos together gives a fairly complete account of what happened. Check them out at your own risk though - not only will Richards' outburst offend some people, it may also change the way you view the Kramer character on Seinfeld and spoil your enjoyment of the show in future.

The Outburst


The Apology


The Victims


There's also a great alternative account of the situation, that's been created by editing Seinfeld clips together with footage of the outburst and the apology:


Funnily enough, however, there's no mention of Michael Richards' racist outburst on the official Seinfeld website yet, and I doubt there'll be any new TV shows or stand-up performances to add to his career notes anytime soon either...

The Streets Videos


(Originally posted on Mixi and MySpace on Monday, December 04th, 2006)

Mike Skinner AKA The Streets - is one of the most interesting artists to emerge from the UK music scene in recent years, his unique blend of hip-hop and UK Garage styles and vivid lyrical description of London life gaining him fans around the world. Today I've been checking out his music videos on YouTube and here are the best five. Enjoy...

The Irony of It All

In this track/video Skinner highlights the potential polarity of two popular lifestyle choices by playing the roles of two stereotypical British characters - the working class lager lout and the middle class student stoner. He plays both characters well, and genuinely looks drunk in the pub scenes!

Fit But You Know It

This track sounds like Blur's 'Parklife', and like that song it'll have you singing along with the chorus. The video uses the premise of Skinner collecting his holiday photos from the camera shop, and the photos are used effectively to illustrate the track's story about him meeting a 'fit' girl while he was out drinking. Keep an eye out for a cameo appearance by some of the main actors from British football hooligan film 'Green Street Hooligans'.

Weak Become Heroes

This track is an ode to luvdup clubbing and the video sees Skinner enjoying a night out at a club. The visuals match the song's lyrics and house music vibe perfectly, and the vid is sure to appeal to anyone who's experienced the UK club scene.

Blinded By The Lights

At first this video seems like it's going to be a simple rehash of the 'Weak Become Heroes' video, but with a wedding reception instead of a club. Instead however, the video does a good job of enhancing the lyrics of the track which - like the album it's taken from - places an emphasis on storytelling. The track is about his girlfriend cheating on him with his best mate, and in the video Skinner gets figuratively battered in the middle and literally battered at the end.

Don't Mug Yourself

There's a surreal quality to this video as the set keeps changing as Skinner moves (or, more accurately, is moved) from one location to another. The best thing about this video though is the facial expressions used by Skinner and the other actors.

Hope you enjoyed the clips. You can check out more info about The Streets on his MySpace, and I'll be putting his complete music promo videography on one of my other websites (Club YouTube) very soon.

Monday, January 22, 2007

The Stinking Rose


(Originally posted on Mixi and MySpace on Sunday, October 29th, 2006)

A couple of years back I went to San Francisco with my friend DH and stayed at the excellent Green Tortoise hostel in North Beach. One night we decided to go to The Stinking Rose, a nearby restaurant which only serves garlic-based dishes. I went for the Rabbit In Garlic Tomato Sauce, a roasted bulb of garlic and a dessert of garlic ice cream from the California town of Gilroy, the self-proclaimed garlic capital of the world.

Needless to say, countless beers were also consumed and I awoke the following morning to find myself freezing my tits off. It seems that even though it was December, the stench of garlic was so bad that our 6 roommates in the dorm at the Green Tortoise had to open the window in a futile attempt to ventilate the room. Hardly surprising as DH and I ate a total of 6 whole bulbs of garlic between us...

'Nothing'

(Originally posted on Mixi and MySpace on Thursday, October 19th, 2006)

There's an episode of Seinfeld called 'The Airport' where Jerry is talking to a model on an airplane about the ice cream sundaes they're eating. He's talking about the even distribution of the ice cream and caramel in the sundaes and, impressed with his observation, she tells him 'I've never met a man who knows so much about nothing.'

To me, this is the ultimate compliment as I share the same love of observing the everyday minutia of life as Jerry Seinfeld (although minus most of his insightful humor, of course). I also love finding out interesting facts about topics I don't know about, or even better, topics I thought I knew about but in fact didn't.

In my future blog posts then, you can probably expect numerous snippets of trivia, as well as my observations and interpretations of the world around me. And, since I'm currently living in Japan, needless to say there'll be plenty of discussion about all things Japanese.

Enjoy...