Tax college wrap-up

Well, it's all over - to be honest, the 6 days went by pretty quickly, without a hitch.
It's not hard to see why I might have been intimidated at first, if you just have a look at the textbook:


Not exactly inspiring stuff... interestingly, the foreign guy in the photo is Jack, an acting friend of mine. Another colleague, Shelley, is also in the book. She was my wife in the 'ALS' disease drama that I did. She has been acting and modelling in Tokyo for 17 years now... back to the glory days, when the studios used to pay for a taxi to take you to and from the shooting location - now we have to pay ourselves for a train. Humph!

Anyway, here's an extract from my favourite part of the book;

"In the Japanese Tax system, there is the non-permanent resident and the permanent resident. Within the resident status, there is the non-permanent resident and the permanent resident. The area of taxable income and methods of taxation are decided according to those classifications. A non-resident is taxed on income from a source within Japan. A non-permanent resident is taxed on income as follows: --- from a source within Japan, from a foreign source but paid in Japan, or for any amount of income remitted to Japan. A permanent resident is taxed on income from sources both in Japan and abroad."

Phew... got that? Any fun language games pop into your head after reading it? There wasn't really much we could do except for explain the language points, read and repeat, and role-play. Luckily for me, I only witnessed one case of student sleepage.
But, you know, as I've previously mentioned, teaching isn't about the materials, it's about the people. Teacher-student chemistry is paramount! I got on very well with my students this time - I was lucky that there were no bad eggs (just one party pooper can really stop everyone from expressing themselves).
Here are my band of merry tax-officers;


Check out the inspiring breeze blocks used for the government building!

After the penultimate day, we went for a 'bonenkai' - year-end party, in a local izakaya. Much beer was consumed, and karaoke was sung. I sang 'Linda, Linda' by the Blue Hearts - a classic 80's Japanese punk song - and, I think, 'The Power of Love' by Huey Lewis and the News (my signature song). Things were a little blurry by then - my students had, quite easily, persuaded me to also drink nihonshu (sake). Double fisting on a work night. Oh dear.
The party dissipated, and a couple of students took me to another izakaya - by now everything is a blur. I remember sitting down, and my next memory is of standing next to the cash register, giving a nearby bin a generous covering of my stomach acid... in glorious technicolour. I need to take my suit and jacket to the dry cleaners today. Like good, honourable Japanese people, I'm sure that my students won't tell anyone of my somewhat humbling antics. Yet here I am boasting about it. Must be a cultural contrast there somewhere.
Inevitably, on my last day I wasn't feeling too perky, but we all ploughed on, and before we knew it, the course was over. In the last class, the sun set clearly behind Fuji-san again, and this time, armed with camera, I was determined to capture it;


Please bear in mind that my camera has a wide-zoom lens, so Fuji actually appeared much larger in reality.

Well, I'm not one for metaphors, visual or no, but well, the course is over. Who would have thought that a 6 day tax English course could provoke so many thoughts, and my stomach. Of course, I don't want to do it again, if possible!

Thoughts, life, jobs, etc

Quite a lot of things tend to happen lately. Things that excite, things that bore, and things that defy themselves.

Recently, the tax college has started to go well. I'm finding a rhythm, the students are used to the class, and we're all getting along. The course finishes in two days, and we're going out for a party tomorrow night.
You would assume that teaching tax English to tax officers would be dull as hell, but, it has actually turned out to be a fun experience - and, of course, very well paid. More money in 6 days than I have previously managed in a whole month of acting.
I've also realised, again, that I am actually a very good teacher - in so far as I can keep the students interested for a good 90% of the lesson. I don't know why, but I do tend to grin and smile throughout teaching. It's a cheeky grin, because I know that I can abuse my power, and the students find it funny when I do. If it looks like you are having fun, then it projects onto your students.
I will be the first to admit that I'm not the best at actually teaching language points, and getting students to memorise grammar. But, that's not really what I'm here for. Japanese students are very good at this by themselves. What they need is to increase their ability in speaking situations, so I just try to get them talking as much possible - nonsense is fine. You'd be surprised by some of the funny shit they come up with. One of my students loves the word hate. Hate is a fairly hilarious word really, when you think about it. He uses it with reckless abandon. We laugh. You would probably laugh too.
For the record, the main reason that I don't like teaching is the preparation - and preparation is key in this industry. I just can't concentrate when I have to pre-read the texts, note possible language and vocab points, think of exercises and fun, original games...
So, they've asked me about another course running in January, so I may do that too. The thing is, several things seem to be starting to rotate now.
On Thursday, I have an interview with a video game localisation company to help proof-read translated games. If I want a career in the game industry, I'm sensible enough to realise that this would be a very valuable experience. The money is pretty crap - but thats not the intention.
Also, in January, I will have an audition for a Motion Capture job for a video game. This would be a great job to get. Experience and money wise.
On top of this, there is the (shrinking) possibility of the Thailand movie job in February. It's all enough to make me think that, well, my visa expiring in March is a bit of a damn pain.
Oh, and, also, there was a brilliant sunset today from the classroom - the sun set behind mount Fuji, searing it's outline a reddy-gold. I stopped the class to check it out. I didn't take a photo for you though, sadly. So I stole this similar one instead:

I do, however, promise to scan in some of my tax textbook soon - so you can see what I have to play with :-P

Films, new jobs, nonetheless blasé

I guess that this week should have been a big week.
I acted in my first ever movie.

It's called 'Nippon no Aozora' (Blue skies over Japan), and is basically about the McArthur treaty - the post WWII negotiations between Japan and America over future military capabilities.
I was just an extra. But a good extra, you know. Not just walking in the background - I have a 10 second scene which features me giving Hershey bars to Japanese kids. I'm a member of the Military police. They even gave me a 40's hairdo, and brickloads of make-up, as if I'd been in Okinawa for a month.


I didn't even shave properly. I didn't bother to look at my scene in the script. What was I thinking? There's no doubt that I had one eye on my PS3 video. It may be sad, but that made me think more than a movie debut did. Will I be in the IMDB now? It comes out in March. I think I'll wait for the DVD. It would be too embarrassing to burst out into laughter when I appear in the cinema. I always gaffaw when I see myself on TV (apart from when I've been edited out, of course).
My distracted performance was even more compounded by the rather strange direction. The Director didn't speak directly to me. One of the AD's told me a basic outline, but the actual cut was different. Very confusing. Add to this the random factor of kids, who did something different in every practice shot. Also, I had no specific lines, but I was free to say anything that came to mind, as long as I told them exactly what I said later for the Japanese in-movie translation. My mind was so preoccupied with all these variables, that I'm not sure if I even remembered to do an American accent! We only did one cut. No second chance. I was so disorientated that I forgot my coat. And then we drove to the station, and I realised that I was still wearing the military trousers...
I guess that acting in movies is kind of hard. I'm also convinced that good directors make bad actors look good, and vice versa. Let's hope that I get better directors in the future!

I've had a number of interesting costume roles lately. As a special Christmas gift to my fans around the world, next week I will compile a video of all my cameos that have been screened in the past month, but weren't big enough to warrant it's own video. It'll be a bit like those disappointing Christmas comedy specials on BBC; AbFab or whatever.

As an appetizer, here I am, taking names and kicking some quite serious butt-ocks.

"Hey, you - shut up!!"

"Your ass is mine, cowboy!"

But that's not all. Starting today, I started a one-week course teaching English to Japanese Government Tax Workers. Not just general English. Specific, tax English. For 110 minutes each lesson. All day, every day, same 10 students. It is dry. The English is impossible to teach. But the money is very good.
I sincerely hope that this will be my last English teaching job - my soul seems to have had it. Money or no. This doesn't make me happy. Dressing up as a policeman, for 1/3rd the money... bring it on!

Video game video generates heat

Things recently got interesting concerning the PS3 video that I posted on Youtube yesterday.
I spent a good 6 hours transferring the video file, encoding, translating and subtitling it. My general goal was to get it done and get it out there.

I managed to get the video linked in at Kotaku.com - one of the internet's biggest gaming news blogs. You can see the article here. It's a site that I've always enjoyed - its always had a good group of writers writing insightful and amusing game news. Because it's such a popular site, it does, of course, attract its fair share of tossers. Being a blog, these tossers do, of course, have the ability to comment. One of the reasons that I seldom comment on blogs and forums is due to said tossers, who seem to be preoccupied with antagonising, insulting, bragging and generally, well, being tossers. It's the main reason why I've always kept my blog low-key - I want to distance myself from such people. They, like the one ring, have only the power to destroy.

Needless to say, whilst my video did garner some nice, insightful comments, it did also attract a couple that, well, hurt my feelings. Is this what blogging is all about? Exposing yourself to the opinions of tossers, living in fear of what they may say? Sometimes I've noticed that my friend here, Tim, who is himself a video game journalist of some renown, sometimes gets personal attacks in response to articles that he writes. He defends himself vigorously. Sadly (or maybe it's a blessing), Kotaku has a strange invite system for commenting, so I am unable to defend myself against the criticisms. I will just have to let them lie/lye.

The criticisms in question were attacks of my translation of the TV program.
Here is what _yeah had to say;

Those subtitles are horrible. Just from the first three lines (actual translation in brackets, wrong translation used in the video in quotes)

販売初日は大行列! (There was a massive line-up formed on the release date!) -> "Massive slowdown in sales!"

あっと言う間に売り切れとなった超人気ゲーム機プレイステーション３。 (The super-popular game console that was sold out almost instantly, the PlayStation 3) -> "The item in question: The Sony PlayStation 3."

町から姿を消したはずでしたが (Although it should have all but disappeared from the city by now,) -> "Despite officially on sale only domestically"

意外なところでバンキシャは発見！ (We at Bankisha have discovered it in some very unexpected places!) -> "We have discovered exceptions!"

... I had to stop watching at that point before I stabbed my damned eyes out. Eugh.

and bugbread has this to say;

Those are truly fucked up subtitles, and it's not a matter of brevity (that's expected in subtitling); they're just wrong.

No wonder the guy's section got completely cut, his Japanese comprehension is horrible. I'm sure that the quizzical look that he got after answering a "ridiculous question" was quizzical because they asked him a perfectly sensible question, which he didn't understand, and then he gave a nonsensical answer based on what he guessed incorrectly that they had asked him.

Um, ok guys, I really think you need to chill out a bit. This is a Youtube video. I make no claim to be a professional translator. I am not being paid. I am doing a public service. If I didn't translate and post this video, nobody would have, and these people would never have had the chance to see it anyway.

In language teaching we say that 'making mistakes is part of the learning process'. I knew that I wasn't 100% accurate in that video. I knew that I got some stuff wrong. But I tried. And I have no doubt that my Japanese ability improved thanks to this exercise.

Whilst I don't mind anyone who wants to correct my translations, when people start making it nasty in order to try and make themselves look cool, or better... let's just say that I'm disappointed at these kind of people. They wish to maintain their clique of perfect Japanese speakers. Well, this isn't the matrix - I can't just install Japanese in my mind, there is no Japanese dongle that fits snugly in ones rectum. As far as I'm aware, anyway. If you wanna learn, you gotta make mistakes.

So, my message to everyone - don't let yourself be cowed by these cowards!

Kotaku Link: Foreigner's PS3 opinions Cut by Japanese TV

This leads me on to think: what does blogging and new media mean? What potential does it have, when we are exposed to such reckless commenting? Imagine if you were watching Newsnight, and after every article, they would have to show 20 comments by chavs, mostly involving swearing, chest pumping and bias. Yes, it's democratic, but where can it lead us?
In the past 6 months, I have finally started to feel like I am starting to discover purpose in my life in Japan. Like everything has been building up to it. Whilst I had a great time in the process, the first 3 years here do now seem somewhat... like a long dream. A paused existence. I came to Japan to chase the holy grail of gaming, to try and see where I might fit in. I think I'm getting closer.
What has this got to do with blogging? I have met two gaming journalists in Japan now; Tim as mentioned and Brian at Kotaku, and, I must say, they are both very nice guys. They have never been anything less than friendly, generous and willing to help. Regardless of what you think of their writing or journalistic abilities, at the core they do not slag individuals off with no purpose.
Secondly, why is it that I am always cautious in comparison? I have an acting friend called Jack, who has been working here quite a while. Thoroughly nice chap. Every time there is a new actor on set, he introduces himself. What a blindingly good idea I thought! Why not establish trust as the base of a meeting, rather than caution? I almost always wait for someone to introduce themselves to me, or I wait until I have observed somewhat of their character first. I think it is a hang-over reaction from school. Damn school.

I am quite resolved that, despite the layer of miserable humans that populate forums across the web, I will not be goaded into mud-slinging. Their arguments always - always contain some massive flaws of sense or logic that can be pointed out without seeming arrogant or condescending. If someone is being a dick, I would prefer to make them feel disappointed by their actions, rather than make them think that I'm a dick too. Can we reform these people? Is there hope? We are all products of society after all, and it would be pointless to hate these individuals. They will constantly resurface. It is an unsolvable problem. So there is no point hating them.

So, in conclusion, I say again to all the people out there who criticise others for a lack of perfection - what are you adding to this world?

And, what do you think? Can others help me iron out this mental crease?

My PS3 opinions deemed inappropriate for Japanese TV :-(

Finally, I got a video-game related TV job last weekend. I was scheduled to appear on 'Bankisha' (shortened form of 'Bangumi Kissha', or 'Reporter TV program') to talk about the availability of Japanese Playstation 3s in the UK. The program tries to make itself out as some kind of rogue journalism, getting to the heart of burning issues.

There were four of us foreigners in the program's segment, and needless to say, I was the only one who even knew what a PS3 looked like... (it was merely coincidence that I was chosen, they needed a British guy).

The recording went quite well, and I managed to make some good, valid points. So, imagine my horror when I eventually watched the show and realised that they'd edited me out! I spent a good hour or so fuming about it this morning. With hindsight, I think I can now guess why they used the other dudes, but not me. It would seem that my knowledge on the subject stopped me from towing the line, and I actually stood against some of the main points that the program was trying to make.

First, you should watch the video, then I will tell you what my section entailed, and you can make your own judgments.
Oh, and by the way, if you are only interested in seeing me, and don't care for the program, you should skip straight to part 2.



Ok, so basically, in our section, we had to do an eBay search in our region for PS3s, and then the staff and camera would come over, and we'd chat about it. They basically wanted to show two things; that lots of Japanese units were available abroad, and that people were paying ridiculous prices...

First, I pointed out that eBay had forbidden people from creating ps3 auctions in the UK until February, so any units that were there weren't really indicative of demand, or the real prices being paid. They weren't interested. What they were interested in was the most expensive listing that came up - 1,200 pounds - and they focused on that, going, 'wow, how expensive, just as I thought the UK is the most expensive!'.
Now, this simply wasn't true, and I am sick of the UK getting painted with the 'most expensive' brush. So, I pointed out the truth;
This was a buy it now price, nobody had bid on it, and nobody would, because the guy was being greedy.
Some units (the ones with bids, and I also showed them the finished auctions) were going for less than 500 pounds. He translated that into Japanese yen, and it came out at almost double the Japanese PS3 retail price. 'That's really expensive is!' he said. I didn't think so, considering that the UK PS3 is rumoured to launch at 425 pounds anyway, and won't be coming out for months - it doesn't seem like such a ridiculous price to me when put in that context. There are always some people who just have to have it. He asked me if I'm going to buy the system for 500 pounds. I'm sorry, but what a ridiculous question. I said no, because I live in Japan, and can get it for the Japanese price. He gave me a quizzical look. What the heckfire was he expecting me to say! 'Oh no, I can't buy it... only crazy rich people can afford that!' Seriously, what the hell!! What kind of mentally challenged people watch this show, if they think that Bankisha flew people in from these four countries who can speak Japanese, and now they are going to fly back and buy a PS3?!?

Anyway, so, yeh, I'm pretty bitter about it. Of course, I knew that Japanese TV was crap and sensationalist, like a TV version of the Daily Mail, but I have to say that I was disappointed nonetheless. I was looking forward to the chance to get some exposure talking about games on national TV, and informing people about foreign perspectives... but I was dashed. Still, I would rather be edited out than to simply follow the pied piper and smile and grin whilst they channel their lies through ignorant foreigners. Bad journalism!

Anyway, besides my own personal grudge, I don't like the basic premise of the program - that PS3's aren't available in Japan because Chinese people and other foreigners are buying them all surreptitiously. No fingers are pointed at Sony for having a pitiful number of units available at launch, and screwing the Euro zone by delaying the launch there and raising the price. Even if not a single foreigner bought a Japanese PS3, they would all be sold out after all - I mean look people, you still can't walk into a store and buy a frikin' DS Lite here!

Website renewal!!

It's been stressing me out like hell the past few days... but, things have started to come together, and the blog is a hideous beast no more!
I've simplified the design, tidied things up, and added a handy media player so that you can listen to Nyago music whilst you read :-)

I hope all this effort is appreciated by my massive readership!!

Nyago

It's true, I am a professional model

Still don't believe me?
I recently paid money to have some professional photos taken for my portfolio. I figured that the reason I got turned down for a lot of jobs was due to the amateur nature of my present portfolio photos. When a company is paying like 2k for a model, they'd like to think that said model is at least professional I guess.

Anyways, look and judge for yourself.

Getting ready for Wii

This week, I got paid quite a bit more than I was expecting by a couple of my agencies, just two days before the release of the Nintendo Wii... a sign? Of course it is! I came to Japan to experience things like this, so why not :-P

Anyways. Started off pretty well, got to Yodobashi Akihabara at 7:30pm, and saw a sign that says that the queue starts at 8pm. There weren't too many people around, apart from some obligatory homeless dudes out to make a quick buck:



There didn't seem to be any of the madness and humming throngs that accompanied the PS3 launch, for various valid reasons (lower retail price, more units available). So, I went and, sniff, parted company with my little-used Gamecube, for a paltry 15 pounds... oh well... with Gamecube playback functionality built into the Wii, the console is pretty much obsolete, so I was happy to get anything for it.

So, I went for dinner with gaming friends Tim and Rudy, bog standard family-restaurant fare, in the ubiquitous restaurant 'Gusto', our typical haunt. The waiter was even more patronising than usual, repeating our order to us 3 times, and... get this... speaking to us in CASUAL Japanese! The horror! Damn his unorthodoxy!

We returned to the Yodobashi store at about 10:30 to get in line... but were greeted with silence, and this sign:


Egads! Why, cruel fate, must you cheat me of my most cherished Wii?
Instead of having people line up all night, they gave out tickets to those in line (much like the ones you get when you go to the deli counter in the supermarket), and told everyone to go home. Then you could just get some sleep and come back at 7am, no fuss, no pushing and screaming like at the PS3 launch.
Our grand plan for the day was to go to the Premiere of Casino Royale in the glorious Roppongi hills cinema, and then line up and get a Wii. Things were not quite going to plan.

Luckily, the story has a happy ending. AKihabara is just 15 minutes walk from Ueno, where there is also a Yodobashi store, albeit much smaller. So I got a ticket! Lucky! It actually worked out quite well - Ueno is closer to my home, and there were hundreds less people in line, meaning that we won't have to wait as long to get the goods come morning...
Happy days.


Well, needless to say, the rest of the day was pent in child-like glee. Nothing quite beats the ceremonial unwrapping of a new console (for the record, the Wii is immaculately parceled).

A taste of Wii

Sorry, I couldn't resist the Wii gag... I'm sure that I'm not the only one...

Well, anyhows, me and the Rumster went down to the National Exposition centre in Chiba last weekend for Nintendo's 'Experience Wii' weekend. And, I must say, we had lots of fun. Lots.
It was good to see that, compared to the Tokyo Game Show, it was well lit, and the crowd was much more diverse (less geeks, more families).
Is this the start of genuine family gaming? That's clearly the aim of Wii Sports, and I challenge anyone to play Wii golf and not have fun. Even the serious salaryman above is smiling(almost)! Me, I can't wait to play Trauma Centre (a surgery simulator).

More recording troubles o(#_#)o

I certainly haven't had much luck lately when it comes to recording my acting jobs.
Last month I did a promotion Video for media manufacturer Imation, almost exclusively using me. I'm trying to get a DVD copy of the ad, but my agency is notoriously fickle about these things, so I doubt that it will materialise.
The ad was only shown for three days on a big screen outside Shinbashi station in central Tokyo. The ad was only shown once an hour, so we waited, in the rain. Eventually my camera ran out of batteries, so I had to use my mobile phone. When it finally came on, my hands were so cold that I had difficulties pressing the button! having tried in vain for about three hours, this is all I could capture - just pictures of my hands! Oh well. Click on the eSnips buttons for more video disappointment!!

Oops x 2

Well, I was on TV twice in the past week, but I'm afraid that I missed them both...
In this work, you ask your agents to tell you when the shows are going to be on TV, but of course they never do. Why would they? For me, it's like a tangible part of my life failed to tangibilise... maybe they'll be on repeats in the future. Maybe not.
I was particularly looking forward to one of them, where I give wedgies to a pair of rubbish xenophobic comedians, and talk about steak and ale pie. It's the first time that I'd really had a chance to be myself on TV (in a semi-scripted way).
Fear thee not, I will be more vigilant about my appearances in the future! I don't want to disappoint my fans!
Hello?

The Laws of Eternity (Eien no Hou)

That's right heathens, I know the secrets of the heavens and you don't! All thanks to Anime.

The other day, I got an email from some random guy through CrissCross Friends - a MySpace styled community website here in Japan. He was giving away free tickets for this Anime in Shibuya, and I thought well, why not, it's free, it's Anime... what could go wrong?

The film is actually a vehicle for the teachings of Ryuho Okawa, head of the quasi-religious sect 'The Institute for Research in Human Happiness'. Sounds interesting already, doesn't it?

First, don't fret, I haven't joined. I'm pretty sure that I haven't anyway. In fact, how disturbed would you seriously have to be to have your theological point of view altered by a cartoon?!

Anyway, I'm sure that you're all dying to find out what the Laws of Eternity actually are... well, I'll tell you some! That's right, now you can also spread the word!
The key points are;
- be utterly selfless, and never do things expecting something in return. This will give you a halo, and allow you access to lower heaven (upper heaven is restricted to special people, like Edison and the founder of Toyota [?]). Getting to heaven gives you an eternity to master your craft in peace - which sounds fine if you're an artist or scientist, but what if you're a road worker? Or one of those guys directing traffic? How about an eternity of mastering the secret art of working in an abattoir? Sounds like more like hell to me.
There are loads of ways to access hell, try some of these;
- be a sex pest, and you will rise an dip in a sea of blood until you repent.
- commit schadenfreude, and spend a very long time indeed climbing a cliff face - you working class scum
- think nasty thoughts, and black gas will come out of your head, and hell will find an adequate punishment for you.
Hell is so much more creative - more 'out of the box'. The highest form of heaven, the '9th Dimension', is populated by a religious all star team that include Jesus himself, Buddha, Moses, and, erm,Isaac Newton. They are all massive and shower the Earth in gold dust. No sign of apples.

The movie even tries to have a story to carry all this. This and much more; oh so much more.
4 young people - 2 Japanese, an American and a Hispanic, are visiting the Thomas Edison museum in New York, when Ryota, the hero who we eventually find out is the reincarnation of Thota (the ruler of Atlantis, flying airbuses and all) communicates with Edison via a Shaman, and is told an equation to build a Spirit Phone, which will enable him to visit the Spirit Realm...
Should I stop now? Is it feeling creepy yet? Because wait - Edison is in trouble! Not enough people know the truth!! Let's help him!
The film finally reveals its true colours in a hideously protracted sequence in the the movie's centre, when Yuko, the only girl of the 4, meets Florence Nightingale, Mother Theresa and a fully able Hellen Keller who all proceed to tell her the Laws of Eternity, a bizarre mish-mash of science and all religions (no mention of Islam strangely). By now, some people are leaving the theatre, others are frothing at the mouth... meanwhile, Yuko is on the floor, weeping uncontrollably... "If only everyone knew the truth... there would be no war!"

Eien no Hou reaches it's peak soon after, with an utterly mental sequence where the 2 foreign guys find themselves in Hell after feeling miffed over not becoming angels (yes, that's enough to land you in hell these days - in fact the movie includes the handy statistic that more than half of all dead people end up in Hell these days - great ice breaker!). When the Japanese couple come to save them (they're angels by now), Hitler summons a giant daemon - a cross between an elephant and an armadillo. Whilst the... armaphant? tramples on various things, Nietzsche writhes in the background, screaming "Ha ha! God is DEAD!"
Don't worry, all is not lost! God Eagle, an Incan prophet, sacrifices himself to distract the armaphant mega-beast, and in his act of heroism is transformed into Mecha-God-Eagle, who under Ryota's remote control, destroys the armaphant with a giant sword whilst screaming "THE TRUTH CANNOT BE DESTROYED!!". I guess at the very least, these guys have a pretty colourful imagination, but it's always disturbing (yet frankly hilarious) to see efforts by religious groups to be 'down with the kids'.

Well, I could write about it all night - I have never watched anything before where every single part of the story was contentious. Suffice to say, the movie is a massive, impressive and convoluted crock of animated horseshit. It really makes you wonder how people end up being like, say Tom Cruise. Pity the fools. You'd probably do best to stay away from this Anime unless, like me, you find displays of communal madness intriguing. It's probably better than The Passion of Christ after all.

For those of you dying to know more;
the official website
the movie trailer on Youtube

Monomane Battle 39

Was the result a fix? Maybe not, but it was certainly setup to be this way (maybe that's what a fix is anyway!)
Regardless, please watch this exert of Japanese prime-time comedy, and ask yourself - what if this is as good as it gets?
I spent hours laboriously sub-titling this one, any comments welcome! The least I deserve is one minute of your time for some scathing criticism!

Documentary about rare genetic diseases

Another main role here, playing an ALS victim - turns fit young people into Steven Hawking in less than 5 years!
If you want to see more about this, try and find the Documentary 'So much, so fast', it's quite moving. You can see more real footage - in English - about this guy in it.

This one is about 25 mins long; I've cut it up into 3 parts.

Trivia - the guy below in the white shirt is the guy in Lost in Translation who speaks German in the sauna. So there.

Unbelievable - Boston murder!

My first main acting role, see if you can tell whodunnit! It's all dubbed in Japanese of course - them's the beans.

This is more than twenty minutes long, so make sure that you see all 4 parts!

Keep track of Nyago's career on t'internet

Wow, hooray, finally, everything is coming together. Looking more hideous, but that's good. Who needs a degree in design after all, when you can cobble things together so easily - in minutes!!

Feel free to use the big Youtube panel on the right to gain access to videos of that weird bloke on Japanese TV. I'll also be blogging new videos into the main panel here.

Let's kick things off with that old debutfrom early September - Yuuki, crap drama, filmed in Nagano prefecture. Starring that immensely popular guy from the boyband 'Kat-Tun'. What a dreamboat.

Nyago makes music, tells no-one

Well, only two or three people have known about my music-making exploits of the last six months, but now the whole world can share in this heavenly knowledge!! I've stuck them on an external Yahoo site, so you can get to them any-damn-time you want, by clicking the 'Nyago music' link on the right hand pane.
At the moment, I'm churning out about 1 song per month - quite crap really, I know. Trust me, you don't know how much effort it takes!

Here's the link again if your eyes can't stretch over; http://uk.geocities.com/getoffmyface

Comment, or I won't let you listen anymore - so there!

Nyago returns - kind of

OK, so I realise that I haven't blogged anything in 5 months. Well, the website was a bit hideous if we're all a wee bit honest. Yeh, it's still hideous, but at least I have some stuff to put on it.
For now, getting stuff up has priority - until the future, please excuse the cutnpaste appearance!

comments?

can you comment now?