Catching up with us... again
Well lots has been going on lately. Firstly, the big train crash close to us here in Amagasaki. 107 dead, hundreds more injured. Looks like the driver was mostly to blame for going way too fast. His employers at JR West have also been taking a lot of heat for being to strict with drivers that make mistakes such as being late. After the police raided the JR offices and took their files they discovered that a lot of drivers had committed suicide after being being forced to endure months of 're-education training' for committing the sin of getting behind schedule. Luckily we and everyone we know here is fine. Lots of other people can't say the same though.
My mum's birthday was on the 24th (happy belated birthday mum) and while I had planned to send her a gift I ended up getting caught up in other things and not doing it. So I promise to send my mum a nice combination birthday/mother day's gift soon.
As I said in my last post I went to see my first ever live Pride show in Osaka. While it was exciting to be there I was still somewhat let down. First of all many of the fights weren't very good and I even got sleepy at a few points. Secondly, even after shelling out a lot of yen for a good 'ringside' seat I couldn't see much. I was in fact about 45 rows away from the ring so there were a lot of heads in front of me. When the fighters were standing I could see what was going on but as soon as they hit the ground I (and everyone else there) swiveled our heads to watch the action on one of the big monitors. If you've ever seen a MMA match you'll know that most of the fights end up on the ground so I spent most of my time watching the monitor, seeing the same thing I could have seen at home for a very much smaller fee, or even free for the edited version. However the atmosphere was very lively and I met and chatted to quite a few famous people. Was it all worth 30 000 yen? I'm not sure, but I think I'll be content to just watch it on TV next time.
A crowd gathering at the Osaka Dome.
Colin Oyama, head trainer of Team Oyama and Pride fighter, Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson.
Inside the arena before the show starts. There were over 40000 people in attendace for the show. That's a lot of moolah!
Former Pancrase star, head trainer at AMC Pankration in Seattle, and current Pride judge Matt Hume. He also trains Josh Barnett and Bob Sapp.
The Ring and the Grand Prix championship belt.
Chute Box star, Murilo 'Ninja' Ruas
I met Pride Bushido fighter Soa Palalei just sitting in the regular seats. Don't all these guys look like they could just crush me?
The Pride Girls. Hey is that one smiling at me?? Nice to know I still got it.
The view from my seat of Randleman vs Nakamura.
The guy with the arms (somewhat reminiscent of my own I should say) is the New York Bad Ass, Phil Baroni, who just signed to fight in a future Pride show. I yelled out, for lack of anything better to say, "Hey Phil Baroni!" He threw me a red wristband. Aren't I cool now!
The wristband in question.
A few days later we were paid a visit by Seigo, Keiko and little Yuka. I don't get to see them often because I'm busy on weekends so it was nice of them to drop by. I made up a batch of vegetarian, Mexican tacos that is fast becoming my new specialty dish. All agreed they were mucho bueno!
Why bother with the hassle of climbing into a chair when the ground is right there?
Yuka's Spiderman action pose.
Today my friend Owen had his big break on Japanese TV. About a week ago we went to Shukugawa together for some o-hanami (flower watching) and beer drinking when Owen was quickly interviewed for a local Osaka variety show. It was for a segment called "How much money do you have in your wallet?" It was broadcast on TV today. Owen is out of town and can't watch it so I'm making a DVD of it for him. Here are some screen grabs of Owen in action:
The caption reads - Exchange Student (24 years old), and a quote from Owen, "Japan's cherry blossoms are beautiful."
"The How Much Money Do You Have in Your Wallet Game"
The contents of Owen's wallet = 2503 yen. About $30 CDN. In the cash-centric society of Japan this is quite a small amount. The goal of the game is for celebrities to pick people from a chart and try to be the first to get to 100 000 yen ($1000)without going over. The celebrity who picked Owen went over the limit on his next choice by a few hundred yen. If Owen had been just a little bit poorer he would have won. Oh well, that's showbiz.
My mum's birthday was on the 24th (happy belated birthday mum) and while I had planned to send her a gift I ended up getting caught up in other things and not doing it. So I promise to send my mum a nice combination birthday/mother day's gift soon.
As I said in my last post I went to see my first ever live Pride show in Osaka. While it was exciting to be there I was still somewhat let down. First of all many of the fights weren't very good and I even got sleepy at a few points. Secondly, even after shelling out a lot of yen for a good 'ringside' seat I couldn't see much. I was in fact about 45 rows away from the ring so there were a lot of heads in front of me. When the fighters were standing I could see what was going on but as soon as they hit the ground I (and everyone else there) swiveled our heads to watch the action on one of the big monitors. If you've ever seen a MMA match you'll know that most of the fights end up on the ground so I spent most of my time watching the monitor, seeing the same thing I could have seen at home for a very much smaller fee, or even free for the edited version. However the atmosphere was very lively and I met and chatted to quite a few famous people. Was it all worth 30 000 yen? I'm not sure, but I think I'll be content to just watch it on TV next time.
A crowd gathering at the Osaka Dome.
Colin Oyama, head trainer of Team Oyama and Pride fighter, Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson.
Inside the arena before the show starts. There were over 40000 people in attendace for the show. That's a lot of moolah!
Former Pancrase star, head trainer at AMC Pankration in Seattle, and current Pride judge Matt Hume. He also trains Josh Barnett and Bob Sapp.
The Ring and the Grand Prix championship belt.
Chute Box star, Murilo 'Ninja' Ruas
I met Pride Bushido fighter Soa Palalei just sitting in the regular seats. Don't all these guys look like they could just crush me?
The Pride Girls. Hey is that one smiling at me?? Nice to know I still got it.
The view from my seat of Randleman vs Nakamura.
The guy with the arms (somewhat reminiscent of my own I should say) is the New York Bad Ass, Phil Baroni, who just signed to fight in a future Pride show. I yelled out, for lack of anything better to say, "Hey Phil Baroni!" He threw me a red wristband. Aren't I cool now!
The wristband in question. A few days later we were paid a visit by Seigo, Keiko and little Yuka. I don't get to see them often because I'm busy on weekends so it was nice of them to drop by. I made up a batch of vegetarian, Mexican tacos that is fast becoming my new specialty dish. All agreed they were mucho bueno!
Why bother with the hassle of climbing into a chair when the ground is right there?
Yuka's Spiderman action pose.Today my friend Owen had his big break on Japanese TV. About a week ago we went to Shukugawa together for some o-hanami (flower watching) and beer drinking when Owen was quickly interviewed for a local Osaka variety show. It was for a segment called "How much money do you have in your wallet?" It was broadcast on TV today. Owen is out of town and can't watch it so I'm making a DVD of it for him. Here are some screen grabs of Owen in action:
The caption reads - Exchange Student (24 years old), and a quote from Owen, "Japan's cherry blossoms are beautiful."
"The How Much Money Do You Have in Your Wallet Game"
The contents of Owen's wallet = 2503 yen. About $30 CDN. In the cash-centric society of Japan this is quite a small amount. The goal of the game is for celebrities to pick people from a chart and try to be the first to get to 100 000 yen ($1000)without going over. The celebrity who picked Owen went over the limit on his next choice by a few hundred yen. If Owen had been just a little bit poorer he would have won. Oh well, that's showbiz.
posted by Jason at 8:51 AM
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