In the wake of yet another oil disaster (yes, I'm talking to you Enbridge),
I think it's high time we looked at the Petroleum industry, its history and where we'd be without it. Fortunately, I have a little manga primer to help us along there.
So here is the manga adaptation of 石油 (seki yu = petroleum.) まんがはじめて物語 (manga hajimete monogatari = manga beginning story)
Our protagonist is a handsome lad with whiskers and narration is provided by a pink pig-like creature.
Who does he remind me of?
For those of you who don't believe all that dinosaur nonsense, maybe this will enlighten you.
But our entrepreneur continued experimenting with his newfound creation, much to the disbelief of his neighbours.
We have ignition!
So he started tapping the wells...
Though there were still setbacks.
Our little pig demonstrates the proper use of a pipe.
Bruce Lee lasted quite a long time in the fickle field known as Acting. How did he keep in shape, you might ask? Thanks to consuming several different Protein drinks, he managed to maintain his washboard abs. What surprised me is that his daily regime also included lots of exercise by utilising Suntory Protein Water as a prop. Yummy!
Much to my surprise, this wasn't the first Energy drink from Japan that Bruce indulged in. This one goes back as far as 1996!
A final thought, I thought this was really well done...until I viewed the ending. LAME!
ps. Check out the Label below, "Blue III" to see a different side to Bruce Lee. I have seen them live several times (sound it out...Blue Three = Bruce Lee!) This is a really bad quality video of them that I took with my cell phone:
Let me bid a fond farewell to the late great American born yet Canadian actor, Maury Chaykin. (Most actors escape Canada for Hollywood, Maury stuck around.) You knew that whenever he showed up in a movie, you were in for a treat. Always one to surprise you, he celebrated his 61st birthday by dying!
Pal, Alex offered up two of his quotes:
When asked, "Have you invited the Lord into your heart?" He replied, "Are you crazy? The place is a mess!"
From Dances With Wolves: His final line to Costner was "tell the General I've just pissed my pants." He then blows his head off!
Love it!!
Thanks to him, I have a Kevin Bacon count of two! He and the Bacon were both in "Where the Truth Lies" giving him a KB count of one. Maury and I were both in Act of Vengeance in which I once saved Chuck Bronson's life! Though I don't recall ever meeting him, I'm fairly certain we must have had a scene together. (We were also in Night Heat and Due South but I don't know if we were in the same episodes.)
You can always look him up on IMBd to find out his movie history and here to make your life more convenient, are some of the awards he's been up for:
* 1986, Nominee, Gemini Award
Canada's Sweetheart: The Saga of Hal C. Banks
Best Performance by a Lead Actor in a Single Dramatic Program
Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television
* 1989, Nominee, Genie Award
Iron Eagle II
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television
* 1990, Nominee, Genie Award
Cold Comfort
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television
* 1994, Winner, Genie Award
Whale Music
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television
* 1997, Winner, National Board of Review Award
The Sweet Hereafter
Best Acting by an Ensemble
National Board of Review of Motion Pictures
* 1998, Winner, Gemini Award
La Femme Nikita (episode "Innocent")
Best Performance by an Actor in a Guest Role in a Dramatic Series
Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television
* 1998, Nominee, Gemini Award
Emily of New Moon (episode "Paradise Lost")
Best Performance by an Actor in a Guest Role in a Dramatic Series
Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television
* 2003, Nominee, ACTRA Toronto Award
A Nero Wolfe Mystery
Outstanding Performance – Male
Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists
* 2006, Winner, Career So Far Award
Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film
* 2006, Winner, Gemini Award
At the Hotel (episode "The Perfect Couple")
Best Performance by an Actor in a Guest Role in a Dramatic Series
Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television
Most recently, I saw him as the nasty rapist-guy in Blindness...
and even nastier in Entourage...
Go out and rent some of his movies, you won't be disappointed...
I am so scamming most of these details from Wiki and elsewhere.
Miss Machiko, also known as まいっちんぐマチコ先生 (Maicching Machiko-Sensei...roughly translating into English as The Shame of Teacher Machiko) is a manga series written by Takeshi Ebihara. It was serialized in Japan in Shōnen Challenge from May 1980 through February 1982. The individual chapters were collected and published in eight tankōbon volumes by Gakken. The series revolves around マチコ先生 or Machiko-Sensei, who wears a revealing red mini-skirt, and her regularly finding herself in accidental sexual situations. Machiko is very popular with her students, especially the boys, who take delight in lifting up her skirts and devising traps to catch her in various stages of undress. Rather than get angry, Machiko responds by laughing it off and uttering her trademark phrase,
"まいっちんぐ / Maicchingu!" (roughly meaning "Shame"). Machiko is generally a very kind and patient woman who cares about her students and does her best to help them with their problems.
The manga was created by Takeshi Ebihara, and consists of 8 volumes that were published between 1980 and 1985 in Japan, and serialized in the Gakken magazine Shōnen Challenge. As with the TV anime, the manga series was known for its overt sexual humor. The series was adapted into a 95 episode anime series by Studio Pierrot that aired in Japan on TV Tokyo from October 8, 1981 to October 6, 1983. It was also adapted into four live-action OVAs, and two full-length live-action films.
I've seen the cartoon once or twice in the wee hours on one of the retro-anime channels and I was taken aback by the naughtiness of it all! For example...
The anime series appears on TV Asahi's survey of Japan's 100 favorite animated television series. It was also a frequent target of the Japanese PTA, who campaigned against such raunchy content in an alleged "children's show". I can't for the life of me understand why they'd be concerned!
I'm not sure what a live action OVA is (my guess is TV sitcom-style show) and I haven't viewed it but I have seen both of the movies. Though the prude/rude quotient doesn't really extend much beyond a Carry On movie, there is a paucity of naughty bits shown. Here are the two actresses who have portrayed her, 名波はるか or Haruka Nanami.
and 川村ゆきえ or Sayaka Isoyama. Sorry I can't find her version of the movie, so here's another bit from the above.
Here's an entire animated episode for you, judge for yourself whether it is harmless anime or not.
No, I'm not promoting onanism, it's the Dog Days of Summer and the best way to beat the meat (sorry heat, not meat) is to satisfy yourself by chowing down on some phallic Anguilliformes. Here in Japan, it is known as うなぎ (unagi) and is sold everywhere today. Since Japanese summers are hot and humid, many people suffer from 夏バテ (natsubate = summer fatigue). 土用の丑の日 (Doyo no Ushi no Hi) is a day in late July dedicated to eating eel. The day falls on July 26th this year. The custom began in the 18th century. It is believed that eating nutritious eel helps to increase stamina.
When making an eel your meal, you will find eels sold at every supermarket. Long advertisement flags are often around to promote sales. Here are some photos of eels on display outside of the Daiei today.
Now, I didn't have this for lunch, by the time I realized what I was missing, I had already eaten at a new Pizza/Burger joint outside the Disney Store called Pizza Bros. (022-222-4566) For 550￥, I had a big burger, fries and a drink. It's impossible to miss, there's a giant Weiner outside!
During lunch, I caught up on some Ghost Stories, since summer is the time for spooks in this country. My favourite was about a purple kimono called murisaki furisode which apparantly drove its wearers crazy and ultimately caused the Great Fire of the Long-Sleeved Robe in Tokyo in 1655! You can read the story itself online in Ghostly Japan by Lafcadio Hearn. I find making yourself quiver with fear is a way to cool down...that's why it's called shivering people. The next tome I need to track down is the Yokai Guide. Lots of good goblins there!
If you hear the following chant while you are purchasing a Purple Kimono, I'd suggest shopping elsewhere!
