Giant Robot Store and GR2 News – Tagged "News"– Page 476 – GiantRobotStore

alexandra wallace · internet · News · pearl harbor · reddit · soccer · twitter · ucla · women's world cup · World Cup · world cup soccer · Jul 17, 2011

World Cup and Twitter

Saying that history repeats itself is hardly a cliche. It’s an unpredictable trend. The same aphorism doubly applies to the internet. We all remembered what happened back in March after the Tohoku Earthquake. There was a great wave of sympathy directed towards Japan’s plight accompanied with a swell of hate. For whatever reason, people thought that a natural disaster was karmic retribution for World War II and deemed it socially acceptable to voice those thoughts online. As result, a UCLA political science major and a fourteen year old witnessed the internets collective moral fury firsthand. Such also seems to be the case for the Women’s World Cup. The Women’s team tied 2-2 on July 17th, 2011, but dominated with penalty kicks by 3-1 and proved victorious against USA. In light of this, “Pearl Harbor” and “Jap” is currently trending on Twitter as countlessly bitter American fans take to the World Wide Web. Granted, most of the current tweets are from those expressing outrage over such a trend, but the same thing also occurred in March. However, its doubtful that the same internet vigilantism will occur. It’s one thing to respond rancorously to the suffering of thousands and another to be a sour sport over a soccer game.

FIFA · japan · News · tohoku · USA · World Cup · Jul 15, 2011

It’s the U.S. and Japan in the FIFA Ladies’ Final, But the Sentiment is With Japan

Well, it’s official: The United States will play Japan this Sunday for the title in the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup. For the U.S., which last won the women’s title in 1999, getting to the final match took a tough but decisive victory over the French ladies’ team. Meanwhile, Japan beat Sweden in a come-from-behind 3-1 victory. Ironically, Sweden had beaten the U.S. earlier in the tournament, winning a match in group play by two to one. For the championship game, objective observers say the teams are not quite evenly matched. The U.S. has size and experience on the world stage superior to their Japanese counterparts. However, Japan is currently the world’s sentimental favorite, largely due to the March 11th earthquake and tsunami disaster in Tohoku and the nuclear meltdown in Fukushima. At the link, you’ll even read quotes from U.S. ladies’ team members Hope Solo and Rachel Buehler giving Japan a lot of love and encouragement for what the country has been through the last four months. Will sentiment and ganbare gain victory over grit and experience? At this point no one can say. But it will sure be a thrill finding out this Sunday. (CNN World Sports – USA vs.Japan in FIFA)

News · Reviews Cinema · Jul 15, 2011

Chimp and Machete Video

These Apes Will Rise videos continue to be interesting. The idea of the marketing with videos like these aren’t new, but at the same time, they give people an eerie feeling. Some of you have hi range BS detectors, but overall, seeing a chimp wielding a machete and citing Idi Amin, priceless. It’s part of the marketing for Rise of the Planet of the Apes which is coming up soon. It’s already a slam dunk blockbuster film. The bets are on. If you’ve seen the trailer, you know that the main character is actually an ape named Caesar. Will Caesar utter a single word at the end? It’s an interesting debate. Meanwhile, James Franco is popular, but you’re not hearing as much about him as you’d think. Last last week they released a video of a chimp and a machine gun. It has 8 million views. [youtube]d-0vbvy2ip4[/youtube] Meanwhile, do check out this iPhone, iPad, Apple app. I’m already hearing a lot of rumblings about this film and it’s fun to be part of it. I’m not saying this app will change your life, but if you’re a fan of the franchise, then why not, definitely check this out. Here’s a link to the app, and you can take a look at this at home from this link. If you can’t play the game, no worries, it’s basically a Simon type game. But it’s not that easy, supposedly Apes beat humans in these short term memory tests of seeing numbers for a second and then typing in their sequence according to a Japanese experiment.

baseball · kenichi zenimura · News · Jul 14, 2011

Kenichi Zenimura – Baseball Legend Book

Baseball Pioneer Book Published. We swear the Babe is about seven feet tall. This book chronicles the beginnings of Japanese American baseball. Does a lot happen in Arizona? This book was commissioned by numerous organizations and hopefully will one day be a good documentary. Feature film? That’s dangerous. Which non-Asian will get the Zenimura role? “In anticipation of the Arizona centennial in 2012, the new Zenimura biography has been named an official Arizona Centennial Legacy Project by the Arizona Historical Advisory Commission (AHAC).” Congrats to the Babe of Asian America. We wish we could have interviewed you. (Rafu – Kenichi Zenimura)

madonna inn · monterey bay aquarium · MW · News · santa cruz · santa cruz beach boardwalk · Jul 14, 2011

Road Trip to Santa Cruz, Monterey, and the Pacific Coast

Dad by the I-5 in Buttonwillow

When I was young and unattached, it didn’t take much to get me to visit the Bay Area. Punk rock shows at Gilman, film festivals at the AMC, zine and comic conventions, friends and burrito joints all over the place–Oakland, Berkeley, and San Francisco were frequent destinations. Of course, that’s no longer the case. So when it was announced that my cousin would be throwing a first birthday party for his daughter I arranged a family vacation to the Bay Area, but this time on the coast. Above, my dad outside a pupuseria in Buttonwillow on the drive up. It took forever to get served but the food wasn’t bad and Mexican Coke is always awesome.

Mack's first birthday bash

We stayed in a Santa Cruz guest house big enough to fit my parents, siblings, and all of our families. It was perfect for the girls to run around and play between excursions–equidistant to Monterey and Los Altos. The latter is where the celebration took place. Mack’s parents grew up in Hawaii, so there was a ton of local food (including poke), a shave ice stand (quite good), and hula dancing (above). It also happened to be their tenth wedding anniversary. Congrats, Scott and Angie!