Next month is gonna be a crazy month with work and family visiting from Canada. So, I decided to completely overhaul my apartment and clean every nook and cranny. Don't want my mom seeing the squaller I live in on a usual basis. I even rearranged some furniture to make some extra room. Anyway, I was vacuuming my bathroom and accidentally brushed the head of the vacuum past the toilet paper and, man, it was quite the sight. Half the roll was down the tube in, like, half a second. It was magic. Call me Copperfield.

TAK

I'm finding I'm procrastinating a lot again lately. I had a good run with keeping on top of things and being organized with bills and peripheral maintenance stuff like that but I've been slippin'. I think the heat just made me generally lethargic and mono-tasking. For instance, my credit card expires next month and I have the new one here I have to activate but I just haven't gotten around to it. It's asking for a PIN number which I've forgotten so I'm just being lazy about calling and changing that friggin' number. I've had this card for about a month now! Been meaning to check out the local community center gym and get a workout but I've just sat on my ass about that, too. And the list goes on. I always fool myself into thinking I'll do it tomorrow. It's too easy! I seriously need to carpe diem my lifestyle a bit. Starting... tomorrow!!

TAK

The fireworks were pretty outstanding. As opposed to the last one I saw, there were no buildings or obstructions and traffic management was well organized. I also had a nice soft bed of grass to sit on. What more could I ask for? It was a nice way to top off the summer.

Also, when I think of summer I think of sitting around a camp fire and telling ghost stories. My dad is a pretty good storyteller and he used to freak me, my brother and sister out all the time. Right before bed. What a nice guy. Luckily, now I can just rely on youtube for my horror fix and I've picked out one for you guys below. It's from a Japanese series called 怪談新耳袋　or Tales of Terror from Tokyo and has had a long successful run on TV and rental DVD here. It's in Japanese and subtitled in Chinese but follow along and hopefully you'll understand.

It starts with 2 friends bumping into each other. They haven't talked since they graduated junior high a few months ago. Miki is pretty gloomy and asks Yumi if she could come over and stay a night or two at her place. She's been seeing a ghost in her room and wants to know if it's real or something psychological. Yumi agrees and has dinner and meets Miki's parents. Everything seems normal and Yumi wonders if her friend was just lonely wanted some company. That is, until bedtime...

Enjoy



TAK

Stoked for fireworks tonight! Probably my last chance to see some this summer. I hope the weather holds up.

A public service announcement: District 9 is pretty awesome. I was really taken by this film and it reminds me of the awe and wonder I felt when watching Children of Men for the first time. It's hard to believe it only cost $30 mill to make since it looked better than most big budget blockbusters to come out this season. It really is fantastic. It's not a perfect movie mind you. I think the general consensus is that it's good enough to over-shadow and forget the flaws though, which is pretty much how I felt. I would sum up the film as "seamless". In every way. From the effects to the themes and characters being portrayed; never once did I doubt the realism being shown. Wholeheartedly recommended.

TAK

Got bit by a mosquito right between the eyes today. The mosquitos here are like stealth bombers, man. You can't hear them and they're deadly! I miss dumb Canadian ones that announce their arrival with their piercing buzz. At least they're giving you a chance to fight back. Very courteous.

Been eating too much lately so I'm back to managing my diet. I used to really look after my carb intake over the last coupla years but fell off the wagon a few months ago for some unknown reason. Probably started with the summer and all the drinking that goes along with just hanging out. It's difficult to break that chain of ramen, sushi and beef bowls once you're caught running in that delicious wheel of J-comfort food.

And finally, I have more artwork for sale! I just sent a package to my dealer Leonard with pages from the following:

Spider-man Loves Mary Jane #15 - (my last issue on the title)
Avengers Fairy Tales #3 - (the Avengers in Wonderland)
X-men: Manifest Destiny #4 "Work it out" - (Nightcrawler-centric short story)
Secret Invasion: Runaways/Young Avengers #1-3 - (Skrull mayhem!)
And also pages from an Amadeus Cho short I did with Hulk scribe Greg Pak

If you're interested please e-mail Leonard here.

TAK

Stayed up all night to watch Usain Bolt win the 100m title. MAN, that was crazy!!! 9.58!?? He was flyin'!! That breaks down to covering 10 meters in under a second. Like, holy shit!! I have a feeling no one will touch his record for a looong time. I witnessed history!

In other slightly depressing news, Grave of the Fireflies was on tv Friday night. They always play it to commemorate the end of the war here. Anyway, it's a film I suggest watching once but never twice. I had to quickly turn the channel or else I woulda started balling. Just hearing Setsuko's voice makes me choke up. And that ending montage?? Holy fuuuuck... Youtube "Grave of the Fireflies - final sequence" and arm a box of tissues. I refuse to embed it here.

Oh, and back to happier news!! I've been asked to draw a one shot for none other than Brian Bendis! Pretty stoked! Yay, me!!

TAK

It's obon season and practically everyone is on vacation. Everyone except me! Bah! Actually, it's already starting to feel like fall for some reason and I feel like I've missed out on anything summery this year. Didn't go to the beach or out to the country for a breather. I still need to see some decent fireworks before I accept defeat, tho. I've got plans to get utterly smashed tomorrow so I'm aiming to replace this summer with one night of mayhem. We'll see how it goes. Anyway, I hope you're having a better time than me!

TAK

I'm not a big fan of SMAP (one of the biggest pop bands in Japan), although I like Kusanagi (second from left) since I love his late night show Pussuma and the fact that he got drunk, naked and billigerent a coupla months ago too but this new Softbank commercial is pretty rad. Just sayin'.



TAK

Another earthquake this morning! Okay, this is getting kinda rediculous. I recall my mom freaking out about me moving here cuz of the possiblity of a "big one" crushing Tokyo, which I scoffed at, but something tells me she isn't as paranoid and crazy as I'd like to give her credit for. So, now she's been downgraded to only slightly crazy.

Anyway, have to prepare for a meeting tomorrow. I'll try and keep the posts regular.

TAK

Had an earthquake hit tonight! Woohoo!! Although, it was pretty big and kinda scary. The TV told me it was about a 4.0 on the Richtor scale after it was all over. When I have to brace my monitor from flopping over it's time to slightly panic. As a matter of fact, nature is kicking-ass and taking no prisoners at the moment. With the typhoon in Taiwan and these flash rainstorms pounding Tokyo and parts of Southern Japan, what are we puny humans to do?

Work is going okay. Still inching ever closer to that big dream of mine. It's still gonna take a little time it seems but I'm still on track! Honest! I'm juggling a bunch of things all in varying degrees of seeing light so stay tuned.

Oh, I watched the horror movie Orphan the other day. I was expecting to be disappointed since most horror movies are (statistically speaking) baaaad but I was pleasantly surprised with this one. The dad in the movie was in denial the entire time and was annoying but the twist along with the little thrills and scares were pretty nice. The house they lived in where most of the film took place was freaking awesome, btw. Geez. I wanna live there. Recommended!

I'm itchin' for some fireworks. I went to the big Sumida River festival a few weeks ago and was sorely disappointed. It's not like we got there late or anything but we had to pack up and constantly move due to all the fuckin' buildings and people crappin' our view. We settled on sitting on an unfinished foundation of a house with an apartment standing and blocking about half our view. Yay. SO, yeah. Tamagawa fireworks! 22nd! Stoked!!

TAK