Does anyone in Japan have a 7. Fire Mario Pepsi Twist bottlecap they’re willing to trade/sell? I have duplicates of most of the Diets, if you’re interested. Come on, Fire Mario! Daddy needs a full set of 30.

Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet resting.

Remember last year when I told you to go and listen to The Arcade Fire? And you were, like, “why is Andrew pimping this fruity Canadian art rock outfit?” And now it’s 2005, and The Arcade Fire is, like, your favorite band ever!

Well, I’m telling you now that you need to go and listen to Bloc Party’s Silent Alarm. Right now! Be the envy of all your friends with your impeccable musical taste! Be weeks (if not months!) ahead of the mainstream independent musical curve!

I am not telling you to get Stars’ Set Yourself On Fire because you all are clearly smart enough to be listening to that already and nobody’s gonna need to get their kneecaps busted. Right?

How are you? I am fine.

It looks like it’s April next week.

If anyone can tell me where the first three months of 2005 went, I’d be much obliged.

Thanks!

- Andrew

Nobody is allowed to use the word “poker” on my weblog ever again. Saying “poker” will now send your comment into a super black hole with no notification whatsoever. “Poker” isn’t on the blacklist, it’s on the deathlist.

I would like to thank the Internet for ruining the possibility of ever enjoying poker ever again. I now think that anybody who likes getting together with some buddies on the weekend and chatting over a low stakes game is likely to be a no-good dirty spamming pederast.

What will the Internet ruin next!

The Girl Will Scar You is done!

In the end, this mix CD isn’t nearly as dire as the name and packaging might suggest. I’m going to hold off on saying what I feel the tone and theme are myself – I’d rather hear what listeners think, first. The disc’s focus shifted quite a bit during construction, but I’m happy with the final product. So…

Front Cover
Back Cover
MP3s (the MP3 link will be valid for a week or two, but please grab them ASAP!)

Feedback, as always, is welcomed and encouraged.

I was going to write an entry with my thoughts on “new game journalism,” but the lovely lads at UK Resistance saved me the trouble.

John just asked me what DS games I owned, and I honestly couldn’t remember at all. Looking through my game drawer revealed I still own Feel the Magic, though I haven’t played it since three days after launch.

This basically sums up my feelings on the Nintendo DS.

My PS2/USB adapter’s “driver” shipped on an unlabeled 3″ CD-R in a Ziplock baggie. It’s pretty cool. I feel like I’m about to play Akalabeth X.

A few months ago, the Maiyahi flash swept through Japanese circles like nerdy wildfire. Japanese message forums like 2ch often create flashes with Japanese “approximations” of foreign language songs; a Tatu-flash with dancing eggplants was quite popular about two years ago. The Maiyahi flash was particularly popular, however, spawning a a number of parodies and redux. This high-quality repeat adds full-color animation and a lingustically accurate coda. The flashes lose something if you can’t read Japanese, of course, but are still worth viewing.

I was in Shibuya this afternoon with Joe, at the world’s busiest intersection (you probably know it; it’s the one with the two huge television), when I spotted a billboard truck driving around with 2ch characters on the side. “Huh!” I said. “That truck has 2ch characters on it!” As it drove away, I noted the text read “Noma! Noma! Yay!” (“Drink! Drink! Yay!”), the “misheard” chorus of the Maiyahi song. “What the hell?!” I said. “That truck has … Maiyahi on it?” “What’s Maiyahi?” asked Joe. I started giving him the above explanation, when suddenly the original Maiyahi flash began playing on the Super 109 television, right there at the busiest intersection in the world.

In a decision strange even by “anything goes” Japanese polymorphic content promotion, Romanian techno artist O-ZONE has chosen to launch a Japanese career based on the popularity of a bootleg flash animation. If it works, more power to them.

In other news, I picked up an incredible 3.5″ bay device for $20 that adds an PS2 controller adapter port and two front-mounted USB ports — perfect for Warning: Forever, a free shmup with the greatest boss-to-level ratio of any game ever.

I also saw an ad in the subway for a new novel; its tagline was, “MY BOSS WAS A FOREIGNER!” in the sort of font size and breathless prose normally reserved for Bat Boy sightings. (In its defense, the novel is the supposedly semi-true account of how a foreigner came to Japan and worked his way up from the lowest levels to president of the company, earning the respect of his peers along the way – sort of Horatio Alger for the 21st century. But the strapline for the ad was so sensational!)

I have a column due tomorrow and I don’t want to write it.

Blah blah blah.

Apologies for the LiveJournal-caliber whinging.

In Akihabara yesterday, I found myself next to two teenage boys in the RPG section of a used game store. One of them asked, “Hanjuku dou?” (“How’s Hanjuku Hero?”) and the other said with a sneer, “Hanjuku saiyaku.” (“Hanjuku Hero is a disaster.”)

HEAR THAT, SQUARE? SAI-YAKU.

Please make real games again k tnx.