Tee Hee 5

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

What can I say? I was so looking forward to this movie. Indiana Jones back in the saddle, battling diabolical rivals, swinging through the air with his trusty fedora on, keeping the world safe from the forces of Darkness. But I was so disappointed. You would think I would have learnt something from the Star Wars prequels debacle. A classic, beloved trilogy, a gap of more than a decade, the presence of George Lucas near a script. I really should have seen what was clearly a recipe for disaster.

What were they thinking? What was I thinking? Harrison Ford is only a year younger than my Dad (sorry Dad). I just reconcile that with Indy leaping into a truck full of Russian Commandos and beating the living daylights out of them! Sure he looked a bit older and he made a few quips about his age and all that but in this case I just was not willing to suspend my disbelief of his unbelievable strength, stamina and agility. While all 3 previous movies had outrageous action scenes and stunts, this time I could only groan when the heroes plunged down a huge waterfall in an amphibious jeep, only to land within feet of each other, with barely a bruise on them. There were some cool scenes (the bike chase through Princeton for example) and some good lines here and there but it just didn’t cut it. It was better as a sequel than than Star Wars 1,2 and 3 were as prequels but that is not saying much , is it? I would even go as far as to say that the original Mummy was a better sequel to the original movies than Crystal Skull although Brendan Fraser is no Harrison Ford.

A few weeks after watching the movie and still with a bitter taste in my mouth I wondered if it was actually just me and not the movie. Perhaps my movie tastes have matured. I don’t like Slasher movies much anymore, had the same happened with the action adventure genre? Working on this premise I got out Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade with my weekly instalments of 4400, Bob the Builder and Ultraman. Was I right, had I “grown up” as a film fan? No fear, the Last Crusade was still amazing. Ford and Connery were still a great pairing, the Nazi’s were still as villainous as ever and the logic centres of my brain quietly joined the rest of the grey matter on the sofa, not even raising a wee sigh when Indy made his leap of faith over the abyss to secure the grail or when the German fighter plane crashed into the tunnel, racing past our hero in flames. Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull just didn’t cut it. ‘Nuff said.

Classic All Blacks Part 2

This past May 31st, Kanako, Johie and I headed up to Tokyo to watch the second annual(?) Classic All Blacks vs Japan exhibition match.

However it was not quite the feast of running rugby it was last year as the weather refused to co-operate. Poor Kanako, attending her first ever Pro rugby match, as well as Joshie and myself, suffered through rain soaked match huddled under disposable raincoats and umbrellas as King Carlos and the lads did their best to excite the crowd. But The King can only do so much when it is bucketing down and the match will have to go down as a pretty disappointing one.

As for the result, the Classics won but only just. I’m not sure what I would have done had they been beaten. Kanako would never have let me forget it. Then again, I could always bring up the scoreline from Japan and New Zealand’s one and only proper test from all those years ago. Yes, that one!

Still, all in all, it was quite an adventure, Kanako got to see her beloved King Carlos in action, Joshie got to ride the brand new N700 Class Shinkansen bullet train and Dad got to go to eat a BBQ Bacon Double Cheeseburger at BK before the match.

(Pix at flickr.com)

Tee Hee 4

Joshie in 2008

Prince Joshie has had a pretty good 2008 so far. He continues to grow and prosper, turning 4 on St. Paddy’s day (pix here). Among the many highlights of his year so far have been the aforementioned trip to New Zealand, the start of his second year at Kindergarten (Youchien), Spring Sports Day and a Kindy field trip to Denpark (A Denmark themed amusement park/botanical gardens in the heart of heavily industrialized Anjou-shi, possibly the last place anyone on earth would associate with Denmark).

Joshie’s kindergarten Sports day (more pix) had all the traditional kiddie games one would expect from such an event, such as, a papier-mache Demon guiding relay, a melon-shaped bun grabbing race, Stalin-esque mass gymnastics and last but not least, a race with giant carp suspended on hooks. Sounds like a bundle of laughs, huh? He enjoyed it anyway. His field trip to “Denmark” wasn’t that bad either even though the concept sounds bizarre. The park was actually rather pretty (paid for by the guilty factory owners as a sop to the community) and Joshie had a blast. His highlight was the Train powered by recycled cooking oil, not that he knew or cared (even more pix).

The highlight of his highness’ calendar so far this year would have to be meeting Ultraman and Ultraman Mebius. “Ultra who?” I hear you ask. Good question! Ultraman and his numerous allies and protégés is the oldest and most famous of Japan’s myriad live action/rubber suit super heroes. Conceived just after Godzilla first hit screens, Ultraman is the shared ancestor of all such similar shoes of which there are dozens of variations, the most ‘famous’ being “The Mighty Morphing Power Rangers”. Does anybody out there remember them? Other famous Heroes include, the Masked Rider, Go-On-gers and Rescue Force. Ultraman’s legacy is also very evident in a lot of Kids manga and anime. Click for Pix

After all the excitement of the first half of the year Prince Joshua Patrick has decided to take it easy for a while. So this summer vacation he’ll spend some time at home, chillin’ out with Mum and Dad, catching up on the adventures of Ultraman, Bob the Builder and Thomas.

Tee Hee 3

NASA probe beams back conclusive proof of water on Mars.

Good News

As I mentioned below, Kanako wan't able to make it down to New Zealand this time round. Amongst other reasons is that she is expecting again! Bundle of Joy No. 2 is due right in the middle of August (the hottest time of year). Ultrasouns and 4D scans would seem to indicate that this time around Joshie will be getting a little sister who we decided about 7 years ago would be called Jasmine Marika Koishi-Pryor. And don't worry I won't take sooooo long in posting photos of the little lady when she decides to join us.