I actually DO have lots of things to write about, like a concern over my son's latest obsession with social networking (online AND in real life) or my daugther's near fatal asthma attack (which is now well under control, thanks god), but I got the strongest urge to update my blog for the first time in five months after I saw this video!





I sent the link to Tracy, and it seems this diarrhea dance (?) is spreading like a viral infection among her friends!

Because I am Japanese, people would think I should understand the concept of combining physical exercise and language exercise, but I think I am as clueless as you are. (At least, that is not the way I learned English. lol)

Oh, and this "Take anything you want" exercise video is amusing too!

This weekend will be Thanksgiving weekend in Canada. It will be my father-in-law's birthday as well. Since my husband is from a huge Chinese family, we will be celebrating his birthday with all the other members of his family like most Chinese families do. (That means we will be occupying two largest round tables or more at a local Chinese restaurant! Did I mention our kids have about 15 cousins on their father's side alone?)

I might try cooking Turkey for the first time in five years this Sunday, but my previous experience was not so much fun, and I don't really like Turkey anyway. So, it's quite possible that we pass this year's Thanksgiving without Turkeys... again. And I'm already feeling a bit like a failure as a good mom...

The reason I am posting this blog is that I just wanted to share this website called Engrish.com. It's a great site if you need a laugh. Yes, it's "Engrish." They post photos of English phrases that are wrongly spelled or with wrong grammar, taken in non-English speaking countries, mostly in Asia. "L" and "R" confusion is very common in Japan, and you shouldn't be surprised to see signs like "Spling Sale." I once visited a blog site which had a little button for kudo, and the button said "web crap"! (Of course, she meant "web clap")

I have been living in Canada for 20 years now, and I still find it hard to pronounce a name like "Kirylin"! Yes, you there, my friend! It is really killing me... or should I say kirring me? lol 

At 4KidsTV site, we can now vote for the opening theme of the new Yu-Gi-Oh series "Yu-Gi-Oh: 5D's". I cannot say I like any of the songs listed particularly, but I found the title "We Ride To Survive" amusing. As you probably know, duelists in the new series are also motorbike riders.

At Comic-Con in San Diego last month, it was announced that Yusei Fudo, the main character of the new Yu-Gi-Oh series "Yu-Gi-Oh: 5D's," will be played by Greg Abbey. Greg Abbey (who is also known by the name Frank Frankson or John Campbell) is the voice of Tristan in the original series. As Yusei's rival Jack Atlas will be played by Ted Lewis (who did Bakura), it might take a while for the fans of the original series to get used to the new casting.

Here are the videos from its premiere at Comic-Con.

Episode 1, Part 1


Episode 1, Part 2



The voice of villain (Ushio) in this episode is Dan Green, if you haven't noticed (which is very hard to do!).

LittleKuriboh (the creator of Yu-Gi-Oh The Abridged Series) was at the Comic-Con (read his report on the 5D's panel) and it seems he enjoyed his semi-celebrity status. Although he did not mention this on his blog, I read everywhere else that LittleKuriboh got Greg Abbey to say a Tristan's line from the Abridged Series ("My voice gives me super strength"). Obviously the actor was pretty much puzzled by the request, but did it anyway much to the delight of the abridged fans. That must have been so funny!

I know that Dan Green was once asked by a fan to say a line from the Abridged Series (I saw a video clip on YouTube). So what are we waiting for, my fellow Eric Stuart's fans? We really need to work out a plan to ask Eric to say this line, "Screw the rules! I have money"!!!

I went to buy some Japanese books at Kinokuniya Bookstore in Little Tokyo in downtown Los Angeles yesterday, and I was surprised to see that half of the shelves are occupied by manga. Then I went to one of the sushi restaurants in the Japanese Village Plaza for dinner. I was quite impressed by the price (much cheaper than in Toronto) and the variety of sushi menu. "Crunch Roll" is similar to California roll, but the rolls are covered by tempura crumbs so the whole thing looks like a giant shrimp tempura. I was so amused by the unusual sushi names that I even took some pictures of the menu, but later I was told that we have the same things (Crunch Roll, Caterpillar Roll, Rainbow Roll, etc.) back home in Toronto, too. I guess I need to be more updated.

We have been staying at our relative's house in Los Angeles for the last ten days except for the two days when we went to San Diego. Major outings were the trips to Disneyland, Sea World and Legoland, and I think I had enough of Something-land for now. We are flyling back to Toronto tomorrow, and I cannot wait to get back to my messy (but comfortable) room and a little geeky life. Oh, and here is a proof that I was having Corona with lime (well actually a lemon) beside a swimming pool.

MySpace seems to be going through lots of changes lately, doesn't it? We are urged to update our status, but I cannot even see the text I type into that little box!

Ten more days and the school will be over! I used to post a blog here weekly, but it seems impossible these days. Sean enjoyed the first year at his art school. (This school starts from Grade 4) I am not sure how much his 'artistic skills' were developed during the year, but he loves the school, and that's the most important thing.. He also has tennis lessons with a very strict coach on weekends, and he got some great results at tournaments. I guess he is more of an athletic type than an aritstic type. He recently represented his school in a Track and Field event. He was the first in the 800 meter race at the sub-region level, then proceeded to the regional. He won again so he was able to attend the city final at the Vasity Stadium at the University of Toronto! (That's where John Lennon had a concert in 1969!) The video I attached below is the clip from the race. Sean is the boy in black. The annoying voice yelling in Japanese on the video is me. lol He won the bronze medal and I'm very VERY proud!






I often find it hard to keep a fine balance between his school work (the regular school and the Japanese school on Saturdays) and tennis. I sometimes feel his dad is pushing him too hard on his tennis. Sean likes it, but even I feel overwhelmed by the amount of things he has to do...

I have been meaning to post lots of things that are happening lately in my life and such, but I have not had time to post anything here. But today, I made a very ’unimportant’ discovery and I needed to post it!

The American ’Pharaoh’ of Yu-Gi-Oh GX is female, while the Japanese counterpart is male:

Top: Japanese
Bottom: American





The position of...um...balls...looks a bit odd though. But I am not very familiar with how male cats should look from behind any way, so I’d better ask my dear friend, a vet student B.E.W. Dragon.

Speaking of her, she’s now ready to sneak into New York City in Pecky (Viva Pinata) style, and I cannot wait for her report LITERALLY! Because tonight, the two top students from Duel Academy are going to play some great music along with others and rock the house!!



(By the way, I found that most of the other names on the above list are that of producers, music producers, etc. of 4Kids.)

(When I come to think of it, I don’t need to pick a vet student to ask about cats. Many of my friends here are cat lovers. And I think Eric said he has three cats at home....? Just picturing it makes me sneeze, though. I love cats, but sadly I am allergic to them.)

I really appreciate the link for Eric Stuart’s latest interview that B.E.W Draon has posted on the MySpace group Eric Stuart Band Music. It provides great insights into his work (mainly his music) and personalities. BUT, I literally FELL OFF THE CHAIR when I read the following lines:

"He (Kaiba) was cool, had great toys and what’s funny is so many girl fans wanted to marry him! I actually got a proposal from a fan in Canada. She was over 40. "

Am I too self-conscious or what? But I feel people are pointing fingers at me! I swear that’s NOT me, people! (although I am frantically searching my memories wondering if any of my previous over-enthusiastic messages I sent him was mistaken as a proposal...? Nah!) Well, I am pretty sure there are tons of crazy middle-aged women in Canada.

I did marry to Kaiba, though. Where is that thing...? Oh here it is:



Yep, I am married to Kaiba along with a few hundred spouses. LOL

I am pretty excited about the MySpace group "Eric Stuart Band Music" as many people have started to post in the forums! (Thank K.C. again for creating the group!) It's always interesting to read about other people's experience with Eric's music.

One of my MySpace friends wrote that she's always looking for something on internet to entertain herself because she does not have TV. So I am posting this Singaporean English dub of an Yu-Gi-Oh episode. Now this is more than entertaining!!



They use the uncut (mostly) video and the original music, but it is obvious that they try to imitate American actors. I kind of like Joey in this Singaporean dub, but, OMG, Poor Yami!! I don't even have proper vocabulary to describe this voice...

I did some research on the cast as well. Chuck Powers, the actor who plays Yami and Yugi also plays Bakura, Yami Bakura, Shadi, Grandpa, etc. And the most unbelieavable casting of all is that Kaiba and Joey are played by a same actor!!! I guess there is a serious voice actors shortage in Singapore...LOL

I have a favor to ask you on behalf of my son Sean. Please help him build his virtual city by simply clicking the following link. It grows with each click, but only one click from the same IP address is valid.

http://celestic.myminicity.com

Right now, there are about ten houses. I checked if anyone has built Domino City, and yup, there it is!  It seems like a growing city, and that is the place where Kaiba Corp is located, and Yugi and his friends live there! 

The new series which will follow Yu-Gi-Oh GX is called Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's. From what I hear, D stands for a dragon. So there will five dragons, I guess? I believe the apostrophe is really not necessary. Anyway, they say it is going to be Sentai style, which I think is like Power Rangers, with characters riding motorcycles. It will be starting in May in Japan, and it will be amusing to see how weird it can get this time.

I believe today is the last day of the three-week fundraiser on 'That Modern Rock Show'. Last week Ghosty came up with a strange idea of taking songs as his hostage. He decided that if no one was calling to pledge, he was going to sing. It might have been a depressing week for him with only a few calls, but for me (who listened to his show mainly for his talks), it was a really fun night, because I could get to hear him talk A LOT and SING! And he sang so well! I have to confess that I was a bit upset when someone called up and interrupted his singing. The show starts at 9:00 p.m ET on Saturdays. and you can listen online from anywhere in the world at http://www.wfdu.fm. Tune in and call up to help him so that he can continue this fun show!
Ghosty's MySpace: http://myspace.com/ghostyontheradio)

Wow, LittleKuriboh posted "Yu-Gi-Oh: The Other Abridged Movie." For those of you who don't know LittleKuriboh, he is a great parody creator who got suspended from YouTube and now has his own site.

http://www.yugiohtheabridgedseries.com/episodes/

The way he put English 'lyrics' over Japanese songs cracked me up!

This is based on an old half-an-hour movie released before the Duel Monsters Series. I have the original movie. They had different actors back then, and Kaiba looked darn gorgeous, although there was not much plot to talk about.