I’ve been following the soap opera of all of those tech blogs think they know what Steve Jobs will produce next for his tablet device. However my gut feeling is that science fiction is always the best inspiration for Jobs, and in his case my gut tells me that his inner hippy will bring him back to the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Jobs stole the 3.5″ disk from Star Trek so Kubrick seems to be even better source material. So my prediction is that the tablet will function like the flat-screen tv sets that are seen in the Discovery. In addition to video and graphic displays for monitoring the vital signs of our world I also bet that we’ll see iPhone functionality with potential video conferencing: Read more…
This 1991 advert for rice balls features J-pop singer Arisa Mizuki (観月ありさ) who was just making her singing debut at the time this commercial was shown. Arisa had been modeling as a child since the age of four, but her big break came with the TV drama Mou dare mo Aisanai which was followed by her first single record Densetsu no Shoujo. In addition during this time she also provided vocals for the Sailor Moon song Kaze Mo, Sora Mo, Kitto.
This Solid Alliance’s SushiDisk USB is perfect for fanboys who are both Japanophiles and techno geeks. Each bit of sushi holds up to two gigs of memory and comes available as Ikura (Salmon Roe), Uni (Urchin), Kappa Maki (Cucumber), Salmon, Kanpyo Maki (dried gourd), Tekka Maki (raw tuna): Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 30, 2009 in Comic Books
The United States Postal Service has announced their stamps for 2010 and I’m pleased to see that they’re honoring Bill Mauldin, who is perhaps the one cartoonist above all that I associate with World War II. What’s cool about the stamp is that while it shows his famous characters Willie and Joe, the stamp really features Bill (which is a nice honor). Also featured this year is an Archie Comics stamp: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 30, 2009 in Star Trek
The folks at Yokosuka Dry Docks have created a radio controlled version of the Enterprise that can go underwater. The funny thing is seeing this reminded a great deal of the old series Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea which much to my surprise is now available on Hulu!Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 30, 2009 in Japanese TV
I just came across this amazingly cute clip of Mari Yaguchi from a Japanese TV show appearance she did back in October: This video shows her adventures taking care of a baby lion! Yaguchi is a current member of the Hello! Project and was leader of Morning Musume back in 2005.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 29, 2009 in Animation
Not so long ago a friend was asking me why animation in China was never as strong as Japan: A simple answer would be that because of Mao’s Communism from 1949 until 1976 that it was very hard for creative artists to express themselves in China, and especially even more so during the cultural revolution in the 60s. However it should be noted that there is a growing industry there today, in fact most of the hard work done to create Japanese anime is outsourced to China. Read more…
Most kitty paraphernalia is always pink, but this cool Hello Kitty MP3 Player Premium comes in black and gold which makes her quite sharp looking. This musical cat will hold up to 4 gigs of your mp3 and wma files and her battery life will last for about ten hours: Read more…
This latest episode of Weekly Toro Station (週刊トロ・ステーション) takes a look at the Lucky Star Net Idol Meister game that’s coming out in January. I love how both cats are dressed as characters from the series in their sailor girl outfits.
