While looking through the Aerostich catalog I noticed they were selling an anime named “Kino’s Journey”. I checked for it on Netflix and saw that the 15 episode series was available so I put it in my queue. The story is about a traveler, Kino, and her talking motorcycle, Hermes. They travel the semi-fictitious world, stopping and visiting many different countries. These countries vary in size, technology, and culture. Each episode is a small self-contained story and usually has some insight into human behavior. I found the series to be pretty interesting, sometimes shocking, sometimes funny. But most of all, I enjoyed the motorcycle footage. It looked like a cool “motorrad”. The opening and closing theme songs are really good too. When I was riding my motorcycle last week, I couldn’t get the opening song out of my head!
I love this song from Lupin III. When I played the remixed version, Mariko knew exactly where it was from. Remix version below.
This is the best Pokemon theme song. Right Mikey? I like the season 4 version of the same tune too:
The theme song from Magerarenai Onna. I’m becoming a big fan of Aiko.
Mariko’s mom sent over a couple bottles of rayu (ラー油) which is really popular in Japan now. This one is not the original one that became popular, but is a competitor’s brand. I wasn’t really impressed. It looks really hot, but in actuality I found it to have no heat at all. It seemed to me to have a bit of garlic flavor though. We added some scotch-bonnet flakes to it, and now it is very karai (辛い).
Anyone one else print out the Michael’s coupons before going to the store? Typically you save 40-50% off of a single item. My purchases for the kids’ school projects are usually pretty inexpensive, but it’s great to get them at half off anyways. I’m thinking about buying a nice oil paint set, though… could save some serious cash with my 50% coupon! Just do a search for ”Michaels coupons” and you will find them.
I’ve been watching a few older doramas starring Kanno Miho lately, and have also been following her show that has just concluded. Magerarenai Onna is the story of an idealistic woman who is in her 10th year of trying to pass the bar exam to become a lawyer. With that underlying plot, the story unfolds with her finding a couple friends, having troubles with her boyfriend, the resolution of her relationship with her mother, and ultimately her taking the bar exam. Kanno Miho is a pretty good actress, and the supporting cast do a good job as well. There isn’t a whole lot of character development in the main character, but all the supporting cast are affected by her idealism in one way or another, and their lives change dramatically. This dorama has a lot of funny scenes, and is pretty lighthearted, so if you are looking for something realistic and serious, look elsewhere. However, Magerarenai Onna kept me interested the whole way through, and the conclusion was satisfying and fun. While not an excellent dorama, I’d still recommend it.
I love this song by Suneohair. Ending theme from Honey and Clover
Lyrics can be found here.
You can add the 2010 Winter Olympics schedule to your calendar by going to this page on MarkThisDate.com. I added it to my Google Calendar and now I can keep track of all the events. If you use another calendar program, such as Outlook or iCal, you can find an appropriate schedule there as well. Very handy! Opening Ceremony is tonight, BTW!!!
