your friendly neighborhood...

Thanks to my wonderful girlfriend, I got to go see the Japan premiere of Spider-Man 2 last night, a full two weeks before its normal release here. I wasn't sure what to expect going in, but now that I've seen it, I'm happy to say it was every bit as enjoyable as the first movie, if not moreso. The original will always have a place in my heart because of the story it told (Spidey's origins), but the sequel had better effects, better fights, more humor and a particularly kickass ending that already has me itching for the sequel. In short, I was thoroughly satisfied. (Sadly, she had to work the door during the event so she couldn't watch it, which means I'll be going back to see it again when it hits theaters for sure.)

BTW, they gave out a killer Spider-Man mask as a freebie to everyone who attended the premiere. Fun fact: wearing this thing in public in Tokyo will get you a LOT of attention, as I learned last night when I got several photo requests from total strangers (two people even asked to shake my hand) after only five minutes of putting the mask on. Who would've guessed that throwing on a Spider-Man mask would attract such beautiful women?

I guess being a superhero really does have its perks, huh?

typhoon lagoon

You can't really tell in this picture, but yesterday it was raining sideways for a good majority of the day, thanks to a nasty typhoon that swept through the Tokyo area. It's not unusual to see a lot of rain here this time of year (June is Tokyo's rainy season, after all), but it does seem a little early for a typhoon. In any case, it made for some beautiful post-storm weather last night and today, so no complaints here!

The Sega arcade in the background is kinda fitting, isn't it? Good ol' Sega hasn't seen much sunlight lately, what with the Sammy takeover and all...

classic GBA SP gallery

On Tuesday, the "Classic NES" Game Boy Advance SP arrived at my home, marking the third (and hopefully final?) limited edition "classic-style" GBA SP to come into my possession. Of course, the first is still the rarest and the best (only around 3,000 exist in the entire world!), but the other two are just as unique and cool. It's a shame the US classic series games come in such horribly ugly packaging (not to mention the fact that they have cheap-ass black-and-white manuals and ordinary-looking cartridges), but at least the hardware itself is nice.

Behold, a brief gallery of the three SPs side-by-side:

Now comes the tough part: choosing which one to use this summer! Which one do you guys like best?

NOTE: The above entry was originally posted on Tokyopia.com -- another site of mine that I run with a bunch of game industry friends in Japan. Please check it out if you haven't already!

to the 5 boroughs

To The 5 Boroughs -- the new Beastie Boys album -- came out today in Japan, almost two weeks before its planned US release date. They had a little stand with an MC set up outside Shibuya Tsutaya blaring the new music and trying to convince people to stop in and buy a copy. Of course, I picked it up without a second thought. :)

After one full listen, I guess you could say I'm "marginally satisfied." It doesn't seem to be on the same level of quality as Hello Nasty, and I could do without some of the political bitching in some of the lyrics, but overall it's not bad. Hello Nasty was more creative and experimental, plus it was about 20 minutes longer (22 tracks/67 mins vs. 15 tracks/42 mins). So far, it seems like Ch-Check It Out (the previously-released single) might be the best song on the disc. Other favs so far include Right Right Now Now, Oh Word? and That's It That's All. It usually takes a while for new music to grow on me, so maybe I should give it a few weeks before I decide if it's worth the 2,548 yen I spent on it.

The packaging, at least, totally rocks. Really nice fold-out case with the lyrics written out over a long, hand-drawn image of the New York City skyline. Be sure to read the lyrics closely, as the editor's notes sprinkled throughout are pretty hilarious. :) The Japanese version comes with an extra booklet (translated lyrics, plus lyrics for the Japan-only bonus track), and Tsutaya was giving out an additional premium book that I assume is only available for those who either pre-ordered or bought the disc right away.

Sadly, TT5B is a Copy Control CD, at least here in Japan. Fortunately it's really easy to get around, but it's still a shame that so many companies out here do this. What about all of us who listen to our music on iPods or similar devices?

BTW, I'm out of the loop. Whatever happened to Grand Royal?