areaseven

What's Engrish without J-Pop?

Being the absolute Macross Plus fan, I own practically every format of the series (DVD, VHS and the ill-fated MovieCD), except LD. But I might skip this release, as I see no difference between it and the first DVD releases.

Don't know much about Christian music, but I used to listen to the Christian metal band Stryper back in elementary school.

Anyone here listen to Judas Priest? Breaking the law! Breaking the law! Breaking the law! Breaking the law!

If you want excellent Japanese food in L.A., go to Gyu-Kaku. I went to the one in Beverly Hills (a few blocks away from Lawry's) this past February for my b-day, and I must say that the food was beyond delicious and the friendly staff was like no other. Another restaurant I recommend is the Bear Pit. It's located on Sepulveda Blvd. off the 118 freeway in Mission Hills. If you crave American BBQ, look no further. I highly recommend their Kodiak meal. It's a hefty meal that's actually light on the wallet.

Has anybody noticed that over the past year, hair metal has made a comeback with a vengeance? Here are some examples: - Late last year, Van Halen released The Best of Both Worlds, their most definitive compilation CD to date. The band also reunited with Sammy Hagar (which is still bad for Van Halen purists). - Speaking of Van Halen, "Panama" was selected as the opening theme for Gran Turismo 4. - Motley Crue also reunited (they sucked without Vince Neil, anyway) and released their compilation CD Red White and Crue. - The Scorpions' hit song "Rock You Like a Hurricane" was recently used in a recent T.G.I. Friday's commercial, as well as the first episode of Pamela Anderson's latest show Stacked. - This month, Def Leppard will release Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection. Being a Def Leppard fan for life, I'm not missing out on this one. - RATT, Cinderella, Quiet Riot and Firehouse are headlining VH1's Rock Never Stops tour (last year's tour featured KISS and Poison). Now if only Axl Rose got the real Guns 'N' Roses back together. I refuse to recognize the current band as GNR, and I'm definitely not looking forward to this Chinese Democracy CD they're releasing (if it'll ever get off the ground).

Final coverage of the Season Two boxed set: Disc 3 Sledge in Toyland A toy company tycoon is shot dead by a remote-controlled tank. Hammer and Dori must find out if the tycoon's mistress has any connection to his murder. Icebreaker (special guest star Adam Ant) When the archbishop of a foreign country comes to town, an Interpol agent is sent to assist the police in guarding his life from an assassin known as "The Pelican." Hammer gets paranoid when Dori is attracted to the agent. They Call Me Mr. Trunk A spy attempted to steal a biological weapon from the Army, but ended up contracting it in his system. The police is assigned to locate the suspect, but not to touch him. Unfortunately, Hammer brings him in, only to find out that he's already dead - potentially contaminating the entire precinct. Model Dearest Hammer offers to help a woman find her cousin, who had landed a modeling contract before she went missing. But when Hammer is ordered out of the case, Dori goes undercover as an aspiring model, only to discover that the agency is a front for a white slavery ring. Sledge, Rattle, 'n' Roll (special guest star Davy Jones) Hammer and Dori investigate an unusual string of murders that has plagued a heavy metal band and their recording label. Disc 4 Suppose They Gave a War and Sledge Came? When a computer tycoon is murdered during a paintball session, Hammer and Dori question the company's executives, whose personal paraphernalia have been marked as evidence on the scene of the crime. But when all the clues don't add up, Hammer joins the executives in a game of paintball to nab the murderer. The Secret of My Excess Hammer is secretly hired by the governor to rescue his daugher. However, he must make sure nobody knows about his assignment. It Happened What Night? Hammer and Dori pose as newlyweds as part of a surveilance team to crack a narcotics case. Unfortunately, they get too drunk in the middle of the stakeout. Making matters worse is that they taped their own sexual antics instead of the drug deal. Here's to You, Mrs. Hammer Hammer meets up with his high school friend, who is now a lawyer. He discovers that his friend is getting married, and the bride-to-be is none other than his ex-wife.

Pics taken with a Samsung Digimax A6.

Depends on which model. Some are molded in that one color and sprayed with clearcoat (i.e. red Supra, black Skyline). Others are molded in white and sprayed with the specific colors (i.e. silver Supra, burnt orange 350Z). IIRC, the yellow Skyline is a white body underneath. Try using paint thinner (or brake fluid, as some MWers would recommend) to strip the yellow.

Lucky bastard. You managed to meet the legend of wrestling legends. The greatest wrestler I've met was Chris Benoit three days before WrestleMania 21. Unfortunately, I don't have pics because those dicks over at RVD's 5-Star Comics were charging $20 to use your own camera. But I did get my copy of Hard Knocks: The Chris Benoit Story DVD autographed (go a couple of pages back for the image).

You think that's bad? Rey's used to stuff like that. Remember back in WCW when Kevin Nash made him a human dart by throwing him head-first to a TV truck? Or how about two years ago, when he was strapped on a stretcher and the Big Show whacked him against a ring pole? Eddie turning heel was somewhat expected, given that the writers have no more ideas for him as a face.

Earlier tonight on SmackDown!: - John Cena's first music video "Bad Bad Man" aired for the first time. It's a parody of The A-Team with Cena playing the role of Hannibal and two other jabronies playing B.A. and Murdock. The video also features Gary "I'm broke, so I'm making those Cash-Call infomercials" Coleman. For the most part, SmackDown! is not worth watching. However, there is probably one reason to stay tuned...

Oh yeah, I forgot about those types of people. Some Robotech and Gundam Wing fans come to mind when it comes to people with no taste.

Working at RadioShack does have its privileges. Employees get 10% off name-brand merchandise (i.e. Sony, RCA, Samsung, etc.) and 30% off any RadioShack product - including XMODS. Even more if it happens to be a former store demo unit. Early this week, my boss decided we shouldn't have any XMODS demos in the store - and we had every one of them on display except the '65 Mustang. Shortly after the demos were repacked and stored away, I decided to buy the red Supra. It was all scratched-up and the chassis was dirty, but it didn't matter. For $25, it's a steal. Besides, I recently bought the silver Supra body kit and I had some fresh leftover parts from my Skyline. After a few hours of cleaning and modifying, my Supra drift machine was completed. Here are the specs: 1997 Toyota Supra Turbo - Stage 2 Drift Motor (30,000 rpm) - Metal Bearing Upgrade - BOMEX Body Kit - Chassis Upgrade (Clear Chassis + Carbon Fiber Upper Decks) - Suspension Upgrade (Soft front & Hard rear) - Tire Upgrade (lubricated Hard Slicks + Brake Discs & Calipers) - Wheel Upgrade (Enkei) - Command Logic Lights - Command Logic Ground Effects Upgrade And here are the updated specs of my Skyline: 1999 Nissan Skyline GT-R R34 - Stage 2 Drag Motor (30,000 rpm) - Metal Bearing Upgrade - AWD Upgrade - Billet Aluminum Wheel Knuckles (courtesy of AtomicMods.com) - Billet Aluminum Tie Rod (courtesy of AtomicMods.com) - BOMEX Body Kit - Suspension Upgrade (Soft front & Hard rear) - Tire Upgrade (Soft Slicks) - Wheel Upgrade (ACE) - Command Logic Lights

And while the new BMW 3-series looks decent, the rest of the lineup looks bland. Chris Bangle designs BMWs like Syd Mead designs Gundams.

Glad you mentioned that. On a recent issue of Motor Trend magazine, their "Jumping the Shark"* featured spinners and how quickly they've gone out of style. Sooner or later, spinner companies will go out of business, only to re-emerge 20 years later... (*The title comes from a cliffhanger season finale of Happy Days, when Fonzie rides his bike in an attempt to jump over a shark pool.)

I did some research and found out that Geneon is handling the DVD rights in Japan. Perhaps that answers the question. If they can release ultraviolent titles like Hellsing and Paranoia Agent, as well as excessively ecchi titles like Ikki Tousen and Hanaukyo Maid Team: La Verite, licensing Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan should be no problem. But then again, who's actually gonna buy it?

Ah, crap. I figured those links wouldn't work. Here are the direct links: Scott's Anime Almanac: Dokuro-chan Sea Slugs! Anime Blog > Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan Momotaro Daioh: Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan

Did I forget to mention that the show contains some BDSM as well?

Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan ( 撲殺天使ドクロã¡ã‚ƒã‚“ ) Hal Film Maker/Media Works/TVK/Geneon Entertainment, 2005 Let's see if Geneon's gonna license this one in the U.S.... Directed by Tsutomu Mizushima (Genshiken, Har�+Guu) Based on the manga by Masaki Okayu Running Time: 23 minutes per episode Not Rated (Suggested 16-Up). Contains extreme violence and gore, nudity, suggestive sexual situations with minors, and possible drug use on the part of the production staff. In the future, a man named Sakura Kusakabe is destined to create the technology for eternal life, which (due to his lolicon tendencies) freezes all women's aging once they turn twelve. God refuses to allow this, and so he sends his angels to the past to kill Sakura before this happens. But one angel, Dokuro-chan, decides to try to change the future without killing him. Problem is that Dokuro-chan is very temperamental, and is constantly killing Sakura (and lots of other people too) in incredibly bloody ways with her giant spiked club. Good thing she can bring people back to life - if only to gruesomely kill them again the next time she loses her temper. Story: D+ At first glance, one may think that Dokuro-chan is just a copy of DNA², as its premise is some chick from the future sent to the present day to prevent some kid from doing something potentially bad. The problem is that in the first two minutes of the series, Dokuro-chan has already accomplished the mission given to her by God. Yet, she continues to "hit the reset button." As a result, the story loses its point before the opening sequence. Another problem with Dokuro-chan is its fan service. Yes, I'm talking about T&A, but Dokuro-chan happens to look like a 12-year-old, and that's just wrong. Animation: C- Nothing spectacular here, except whenever Dokuro-chan clubs Sakura across the head. And we're not talking about straight decapitation. Blood and pieces of his brain and skull go splat all over the room. It's like watching Gantz and Elfen Lied, only without any visual eye candy. Soundtrack: C+ Too generic, even though the opening theme is a bit catchy. Cast Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan features Saeko Chiba (Kyoko in Heat Guy J, Hajime in The World of Narue) as Dokuro-chan, Reiko Takagi (Kaolla Su in Love Hina, Rio in Ultra Maniac) as Sakura, Rie Kugimiya (Alphonse in Fullmetal Alchemist, Rizel in Rizelmine) as Sabato-chan, and Ayako Kawasumi (Mahoromatic, Megumi in RahXephon) as Shizuki. The Bottom Line If you're a sick freak who likes ultraviolent anime, go ahead and check out Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan. For everyone else, you may need more than a six-pack to endure the pain. Links Official Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro-chan Homepage (Japanese) Reference Anime News Network

Grendizer ugly? I don't think so. Gaiking is the king of ugly robots. Just as ugly is that one nuclear-powered Jet-Alone (JA) from Neon Genesis Evangelion. Now when will Bandai make a chogokin Mechander Robo?