That’s right, Harold And Kumar 2!

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When I was in Okinawa, there was a time where I was really down and all I did was watch movies. Harold And Kumar go to White Castle was the only movie that every made me homesick; there’s just something I love about getting some friends together and driving to go do something. Nothing important to do, the journey itself is the trip.

This movie however has nothing to do with any road trip, but it still hits close to home. Now it’s an airplane trip, including trouble with airport security. I don’t think I’ll get homesick by watching this movie though, if anything it will keep me from going home because of the airplane.

There Will Be Blood

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I’ll write something about it in a while.

Die Fälscher

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Again, I’ll write something about it when I get home from school.

Been super busy at school lately; group projects in Japan are a huge hassle because only 1 in 5, sometimes 1 in 10 people are actually capable of doing anything. The bigger the group, the worse the ratio gets meaning that at a huge company like Mitsubishi there’s probably only 5 people that are actually worth anything (hence the troubles of late for Mitsubishi and every Japanese company from cars, to electronics, even food). But now’s not the time for that discussion.

I have oodles of work that I need to be doing today, but the weather was great, and with winter finally coming I escaped to Kawagoe hoping to get some pictures of the colors. Sadly global warming is ruining my party and even though it’s the mid-way point of November the colors still haven’t fully turned. Never the less, I think I got some good photos. Read the rest of this entry »

Got this friendly email from the Apple iTunes Store:

Dear Darin,

As you may have heard, the Writers Guild of America, the union representing TV and movie writers, has gone on strike. Most TV shows won’t be immediately affected. However, some shows produced daily, such as ‘The Colbert Report’ and ‘The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,’ have begun airing re-runs. The iTunes Store will not be re-delivering these episodes. Instead, you will receive the remaining episodes from your Multi-pass once new episodes begin airing again.

We will send you an email alert as soon as you have a new episode available for download.

Thank you for being an iTunes Store customer.

Sincerely,
Josh
iTunes Store Customer Support

I actually did know about this before I got the mail though since Stewart talked about it on the last episode before the strike. Comedy Central put all the previous episodes online supported by ads. They rightfully see the web as a new market and a way to increase their income. HOWEVER, they’re not planing on giving any more money to the writers because ‘they’re not sure if it’s making them any money’ (or something to that effect). But that shouldn’t an issue needing discussion. One, the writers (presumably) aren’t contracted for writing for web media, they’re contracted for the TV show. Two, of course Comedy Central sees money in web media, that’s why they’re doing it. Three, even if their attempted at the web media market fails, they still have to pay their employees for working on it. If someone builds a car, and you operate it incorrectly and crash it into a tree, you still got the exact car you asked for delivered and have to pay for that car.

Anyways I just hope this gets worked out right away, because The Daily Show was probably the best source of American news commentary I can get my hands on, and I really need it to relax right now with the imbeciles I’m being forced to work with at school.

Went to the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show last Sunday. Opening day was Saturday, but it also coincided with a typhoon, which meant that Sunday was like a do-over for opening day.

It was packed and I struggled to get the pictures I did. Check ‘em all out here on my photo collection.

Huge fine for anti-gay US church [BBC]

A church whose members cheered a soldier’s death as “punishment” for US tolerance of homosexuality has been told to pay $10.9m (£5.2m) in damages.

The Westboro Baptist Church was taken to court by the father of Lance Cpl Matthew Snyder, a marine who died serving in Iraq in March 2006.
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Last year they caused outrage when they attended the funeral of Matthew Snyder with signs reading “Thank God for dead soldiers” and “You’re going to hell”.

On Wednesday, the jury ordered the church and three of its leaders to pay $2.9m in compensatory damages, and an additional $8m for invasion of privacy and for causing emotional distress.
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Defence attorney Jonathan Katz’s argument that the $2.9m in compensatory damages already far exceeded the defendants’ net worth and would be enough to “bankrupt them and financially destroy them” was ignored.

The church, which is unaffiliated with any major denomination, is headed by Fred Phelps. Most of its 70-odd members belong to his extended family.

Mr. Jonathan Katz, I think that was the point.

Sure, one gets free speech, but they’re not allowed to harass someone. We are allowed to exercise our rights within the boundaries of depriving others of their rights.

Fortunately, this ‘church’ is not a real Church, but a family cult.