Not Again!! Once again I try to pull a dream into reality...

Sorry for the lack of updates in the last few weeks readers-- I've been busy. Recently while contemplating my own selfish and sometimes foolish reason for being in Japan, I remembered that I am here to first and foremost have a set of experiences that I wouldn't otherwise be able to, or at the most have a hard time experiencing back in my own country for various reasons. For a long long looooooong time I often wondered why it was so hard for me to work in my chosen field, mass communications... I went to school to study it twice even--just in case I missed something the first time... But alas-- it seems whenever I land a job in the fifth estate, I end up getting laid off, pushed into another department, or my contract simply doesn't get renewed. I guess it's me-- I'm a creative type to be sure, but definitely NOT a corporate suit. Hell, I hate wearing neckties to church (the few times a year you actually catch me in a church--that's a whole 'nother conversation...) Basically what I'm saying is, I work hard for what I believe in, and the nanosecond that I feel my hard work isn't being appreciated, or worse, being taken for granted ,or even worse still, being taken advantage of-- I start acting really bitchy and let my feelings be heard, seen and felt. So it's no surprise that I'm not really trying to work in some faceless corporation's PR unit... I just don't fit in.

Ok so back to me being in Japan. Of course I came back here 9 months ago to just ESCAPE my boring-ass, monotonous, monotone, any-other-boring-sounding-adjective-goes-here life. Check the back issues of the blog from last year to see what I mean-- just look on the right side in 2008 and you'll see what I mean. Anyway I came here I guess to recapture some of my good vibes... and see if I could make my one chance to do something seemingly impossible (for me anyway) possible... To be a success somehow doing something I love, in the place that I love. No secret, I love Japan... even with all it's idiosyncrasies, irritations, inconviences, and other words that start with "i", I still gots love for this place. But I want more. I'm selfish that way. In the same manner I like to blog, I want EVERYONE to feel the same feeling at least for 5 seconds, that I do... Yep, I know, I am a tad narcissistic. There, I said it, happy now? So with these self-serving reasons in mind, I've banded together with 4 other like-minded folks here in Nagoya and created a new magazine-- RAN Magazine.


So what exactly is this rag we've slapped together? Well its kind of a conglomeration of all the foreign voices here in this city-- If you live in Nagoya and you're not Japanese, and have been here long enough for the shine to wear thin, then I don't have to explain... But to the others:


We want to expose you to things that exist, even if
they aren't so P.C.. We're not trying to be politically
correct, we're trying to be useful and informative,
even entertaining. Life isn't perfect, neither are we. Not
everything is funny or cute, but some things are. We hope
we can show you some of both. And, we want you to let
us know what you like, what you think, how you feel and
what's on your mind.
We hope RAN will be a truly multicultural piece of work.
We hope it will be a "bulletin board" of ideas, events,
and opinions, expressions and thoughts from a wide
variety of people. The racial boundaries of yesterday are
dissolving before our eyes, but traditions die hard.
RAN hopes to shed light in dark places. We want
to connect people in order to build a society of people
looking forward with hope and optimism—
based on what we've learned, and are still learning—a true
community of open-minded people.
We're into music, food, sports, fashion, politics, humor,
culture, spirituality, relationships, shopping, travel, language,
adventure, friendship, community, and more. We're not
into hate, but if you are a hater, send us your feelings and
comments. We'll talk about them.
RAN is about healing and progress. Let the dead bury
the dead. We're into the future...
It's about the society we're building, not the one that's
falling apart. But we've got to learn about what we've done
wrong to be able to do it better. Society is at stake. It's our
"family" outside of our homes. Everything is connected.

So I invite everyone that is a part of my world-- whether you're in my machi or back in the states, or wherever in the world you've happen to be-- I invite you to follow me on this journey here with this new magazine. As editor-at-large, I am responsible for making sure all the contributors and collaborators are doing their tasks accordingly and also from a technical standpoint, make sure the grammar, written style, and continuity is in check-- I also tend to write 2-3 articles per issue too... I am also in charge of the online presence, so check out www.ranmagazine.com in the next week or so-- we release the magazine in print form bi-monthly, but we want to build an online community, so as articles get done, they'll have their own discussion forums tagged to them--in this manner I hope we can tie our communities together. Also while I am on this subject, I want to make it clear that it's also my intention to make a Japanese companion site in the near future too--It's not fair for the English readers to have the ability to flame our pants off, without the Japanese readers not being able to take part!

Sorry for being long-winded this time ya'll-- but I hope you understand why I've been incommunicado lately.... Love and Peace as always!


BTW-- StreetSide Media is STILL going strong-- I'm using the name as a freelancer for now with websites and multimedia here--stay tuned for some new developments with that, and yeah RAN is a part of the family... www.streetsidemedia.com
Foreword p2 June18
www.streetsidemedia.com | www.ranmagazine.com

Reason 329 Why I Love Japan...

There are times when I feel sad to be 8000 miles away from home, my family and things that make sense.... When I feel blue, I try to focus on the things that make Japan such a special place for me... Hot-Japanese-Rocker-Chicks-In-Schoolgirl-Uniforms-Rocking-Out-In-The-Rain...

This truly is the Promised Land. God Bless Japan.

(This is Scandal - Shoujo S [少女S] BTW-- from the anime Bleach.)

i am not my hair. i am me.

i am not my hair. i am me., originally uploaded by StarrWulfe.

8 years of dredlocks gone in 5 minutes. this is what is left. see that guy? he hasn‘t changed, just his hair. he still has the same thoughts, goals, aspirations, fears, habits, and love. i am not my hair.

Nagoyans can‘t ride the subway properly...

One thing i've noticed in my 8 months being in Nagoya-- these people don't seem to know proper subway riding etiquitte...

1. When moving thru the turnstyles, have your fare out *before* you get to the faregate--and have it properly counted, accounted for, etc. I knocked some poor kid down one time because he just stood there looking or his ticket while i was running to the gate.

2. Make room on the platform, stairs, train, etc, for people coming the opposite way. Why do people here think they are the only ones needing to use the train? If you just got off your train, congradulations-- you made it... But i'm still trying to get where i'm going, so MOVE the hell outta the way!

3. When boarding the train, it's common knowledge that there usually are more people than just you trying to get on. So please get on the train and move toward the center of the car away from the damn door! How many times do i have to shove someone out the way jst to find that there's plenty of standee room, but there's 25 people blocking the door.

4. When its your turn to get off the train, make your way to the door in the time before arriving at your station. Meaning, dont try to push past me at your stop because you just noticed where we were! This also means that when i'm doing this, please let me get to the damn door--i wanna get off!

Sorry for the rant y'all, but a combination of all these made me 15 minutes late this a.m.-- why is it Tokyoites and Osakans get this but Nagoya folks seem clueless at times...

Got off at the wrong station, but...

...when the wrong station has scenery like this, I don't mind so much. This is Unuma-Juku (鵜沼宿) in gifu prefecture just a 30 minute express train ride north of where i am in nagoya. It doesnt take long to get into the countryside in this part of japan...

Cram school head grew pot on roof

Some guy who operates a juku here in Nagoya got high on his own supply... Are they hiring?!

NAGOYA--A cram school head was arrested after police discovered cannabis plants growing on the rooftop of his school in Kita-Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture.

Kazuomi Fujiwara, 37, who taught English and social studies, admitted growing six cannabis plants inside a plastic wardrobe on the rooftop of the Nodajuku chain's Nishiharu school, police said.

Fujiwara was quoted by police as saying he chose the spot because it was sunny and hidden from view. The juku has about 130 students.

He began smoking pot in high school and had grown cannabis for his personal use at the school since last summer, police said.(IHT/Asahi: June 10,2009)

Read the full story from Asahi Shinbun here.

"Blame It On The Economy - Barack Obama"

my dad sent this one in to me-- had to share it with y'all... I know it's meant to be funny and all, but damn, I wanna play this in my mp3 player on the way to work tomorrow and wile out to it.... Maybe get my boys to bump this in the clubs here in Nagoya...

Mr S gets his super song on!

Because Mr. S had the coolest song when I was 4 years old. I'm surprised there isn't a Lil' Wayne/Manny Fresh remix of this somewhere.

Apple unveils Snow Leopard and I'm so confused!

Uh oh... And I *am* in the market for a new laptop too... First the bombshell of the new cheap 13" macbook pro, then the new iPhone 3Gs drops, and now this. Do I see some apple pie in my future? I just put windows 7 on my current laptop and it runs better than it ever did with vista-- and its only 2 years old!! I should get at least 5 years out of a laptop, right? However just the sheer act of being able to get stuff done on a mac is really enticing me. As a videographer, I usually edit in Avid, but more and more shops also have Final Cut- and I am certified on that as well. Not to mention I personally edit in Adobe Premiere, Flash, Soundstage, etc and of course there's a mac version too... What should I do?

 

 

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Apple unveils Snow Leopard with all its guts and glory

via Boy Genius Report by Marc Flores on 6/8/09

Always mindful of its competition, Apple comes right out of the gate saying that Windows 7 is just Microsoft's tool to get them out of a hole — that it's nothing more than just a new version of Vista. Ouch. Pot shots aside, Snow Leopard is on today's menu and it doesn't look to disappoint. For starters, Exchange support can now be found in Mail, iCal and Address Book. The indispensable Finder is still the same, but with slight tweaks for speed and more seamless navigation. Expose is now built right into the dock to help keep you organized and all your windows can be viewed through that single icon on the dock making viewing and navigation a little simpler than before. Application installations are also 45% faster than before — not too shabby for those of us with little to no patience. Snow Leopard will also feature handwriting recognition for the trackpad, which is pretty intense. Hit the jump for more.

Safari 4 is getting a lot of attention is this new OS X build, and Apple claims it's now 7.8x faster than IE8. The major change comes along with 64-bit JavaScript performance which is 50 percent faster than before. It's also crash resistant! Apple says that crashes are caused mainly by plugins, but now if a plugin should crash, all your windows remain in tact; all you have to do is refresh the page and all is saved. One of the biggest updates to Safari is history search: If you click on the lower right corner, your entire history is shown as a cover flow of web pages instead of just a boring list. On the Quicktime front, along with a new logo it's getting an aesthetic upgrade along with a new technology called HTTP streaming.

So how much to upgrade from Leopard? $29 once it becomes available in September. Awesome. There will also a family pack available for $49.

 

 

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