Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Bizarre ending to the Tokyo-Hakone relay marathon!

<br/><a href="http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/wrong-time-to-take-wrong-turn-in-marathon-race/207j266p?q=Marathon&rel=msn&from=en-us_msnhp&form=msnrll&gt1=42007&fg=sharenoembed" target="_new"title="Wrong Time To Take Wrong Turn In Marathon Race">Video: Wrong Time To Take Wrong Turn In Marathon Race</a>

That poor guy! It looks as though he was focused a bit too much on the pace car, and the announcers could not believe what they were seeing. That's totally something I would do. Fortunately, his 10th place finish was enough to qualify his university team for next year's relay.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

"I am a Realist:" Shonen Knife from 1982's "Minna Tanoshiku"



I'm not sure who made this video (it was posted by "J4P4N"), but it's pretty nifty paired with this early piece from Shonen Knife.

Shonen Knife to start 2011!



With this as the first song you listen to, how can 2011 fail to be the best year you ever had? Hey ho, let's go! Let's go to LA!

Now you don't have to go to Tokyo to experience a Tokyo train platform...



This is Ebisu Station. A nicely shot video, very steady and clear. Yep, this is what it's like. That jaunty music is "The Third Man Theme," which was used in an Ebisu Beer commercial years ago and has remained a durable outdoor cue for various places around Japan. I first heard it in the small shopping arcade just off Hirokoji-dori in Toyohashi, Aichi. Despite having seen the movie several times, I completely failed to recognize this theme until just today! That's either a contextual thing or else I'm an idiot. Or both.

At any rate, watching this video makes me homesick for Japan.