Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
[youtube]SGGYBbVxmmw[/youtube] Goh Nakamura is a singer / songwriter hailing out of Saratoga, California. Most know him as a “folk-ish” musician, but little know his past as a shredding guitar player. He attended the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston straight from high school and learned with some of the best in the country. Goh Nakamura on guitar. The idea for this short film came from knowing that Goh can play intense solos, but most of you will never see him perform them. The video was shot at Hakone Gardens, the first and oldest Asian and Japanese Estate in the West, and not far from Goh Nakamura’s residence.
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Takashi Miike to Direct Film Based on Nintendo DS game – Phoenix Wright Miike’s next film following his 13 Assassins and Ninja Kids… This man keeps busy, and it’s striking that anyone will make a film based on a DS game. That’s how strong DS is in Japan. “In a typical “Ace Attorney” game, you’d hunt for clues in various locations and talk to persons of interest who might info on a case. Then, like a “Law & Order” episode, the action shifts to a courtroom where you put witnesses on the stand and whip out evidence that shatters their alibis.” (IFC - Miike Phoenix Wright) After the Quake: Sake Returns! Takahiro Hirai says, “I thought the fermentation had gone too far and we’d have to discard everything. I had almost lost hope,” he says. “But it turned out to be full of life, with an excellent strong, thick flavor, although very different from our usual style.” It turns out that although the many sake houses damaged from the quake are re-finding their stride. The rice used isn’t from the quake zone, but are from Western Japan. Perhaps there’s a few relaxing times ahead. (Time – Sake is back) China slows down Rail Expansion The story might not be that exciting, sans this one passage: “A corruption scandal ousted China’s speed-loving railway minister Liu Zhijun, amid reports he kept multiple mistresses nationwide, and concerns over safety and cost persuaded his replacement to lower top operating speeds from 217 to 186 mph.” Guess what he wanted the high speed railways for? (USA Today – Bootie Train) 40 Ways The Chinese Economy Is Beating The Living Daylights Out Of The US There’s probably more than 40, but this scroll through list is a good quick way to catch up on how strong China is at the moment. “Since 2005, the U.S. has spent $1.1 trillion in Chinese products and services, but China has only spent $272 billion on American goods and services” (Business Insider – 40 Ways China Leads) Old School Asian American Actor – James Hong “You know the face. but you may not know that actor James Hong, who voices Panda’s papa, grew up in Minneapolis “They couldn’t find a role for me in high school because they said they didn’t know what to do with a yellow face. And even at the U of M, they’d say, ‘What would we do with a Chinese man in our plays?’ ” James Hong is one of those actors who has contributed to the growth of Asian Americans in Hollywood, but in the end, he gets just a pat on the back, if even that. (Twincities – James Hong)
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I don’t get out much, but when I do, it counts. On Saturday night, Asobi Seksu came back to town. You might recall the interview I did a while back… After catching the band at a larger venue like The Troubadour, I was excited to see them at a dive such as The Satellite (ex-Spaceland). On one hand, the vibe was a lot less formal and way more casual, which I prefer. On the other, the sound totally sucked when the first song kicked in! I’m no audiophile and usually don’t even notice stuff like that, but a bitchin’ song like Trails absolutely requires the soaring vocals to balance out the grinding guitars. Fortunately, the mix got worked out sooner than later, and the band ripped through another mind-bending set of their ultra heavy, super dreamy psychedelic rock. They seemed to throw in some more really old stuff during this visit, which was very cool. Next up was Prince, who was finishing up his “21 Night Stand” of Los Angeles, and this was actually the third show of his visit that I attended. There are only a handful of cases in which I binged on music like this. After being blown away by the Repeater tour when I was in college, every time Fugazi played multiple nights in L.A. I’d attend them all because they’d tweak songs in each performance, creating massively different sets. In total contrast, The Ramones would play the same songs the same way every time, but they did it perfectly and I wouldn’t miss a show of theirs for three years or so after high school. And when the reunited Descendents played a string of shows at the Whisky, I had to catch three of the nights because I didn’t know if I’d ever see them again. Prince… Well, this will require a separate post. Let’s just say no one has mastered or mixed funk, R&B, soul, jazz, and psychedelic rock like the Purple Yoda. And like The Ramones, he has created his own style of music. Like The Descendents, he has spawned, inspired, and even produced an entire scene of related bands. And like Fugazi, he plays each concert differently. Also like Fugazi, he clamped down on ticket prices during this stint… Twice I got killer seats for only 25 bucks including service charges! The three-day, three-show weekend ended in Westwood. When I went to college, I used to skateboard to Rhino Records all the time. I bought a ton of vinyl there, and saw a ton of cool musicians and bands there, too. Once I introduced myself to Mike Watt and then totally fanned out while he was perusing at the wall of used cassettes. Then he asked me to follow him to his van, where he handed me a fIREHOSE 7″ single and signed it for me. They also had free in-stores often, and it’s the first place where I saw Peg-Boy as well as The Hard-Ons. (Of course you rock out to...
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Beer Can Pouring Mastery “By attaching the device to a can of beer, one can achieve the perfect balance of beer and head when pouring into a glass.” Okay, no big, life-changing news in this story really. But there is a “cool” factor here which we thought you’d enjoy. The Japanese are renowned for their desire to achieve perfection in even the smallest things, and the simple act of pouring some cold brew from a can appears to be no exception. The Takara Tomy company is responsible for this one. After watching the video at the link you’ll probably agree with us that this is a perfect idea. (Japan Probe – Good Beer Head) It’s a “Hangover” For Ang Lee’s Son “A large portion of the business has less to do with your talents and more about your resourcefulness and willingness to adapt.” His father has directed some of the finest films of the past twenty years, including “The Wedding Banquet”, “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and “Brokeback Mountain”. So you might think Mason Lee would naturally try to leverage the respect and success his dad Ang has earned in Hollywood. Not so. In fact, Mr. Lee is a humble NYU acting student who had to audition for his key role in “The Hangover, Part II” just like anyone else. (Wall Street Journal New York Culture– Mason Lee) There is also a brief video interview with Lee and other Asian-American “Hangover 2” cast members on Channel APA. (Channel APA – “Hangover 2” Asian-American Cast) The Miraculous Lone Pine Tree Brings Hope “Only one tree, estimated to be 270 to 280 years old, survived the tsunami. It has been a great emotional support to residents.” If you’ve seen any of the videos of the black, all-consuming waters of the tsunami that struck the Japanese coast after the March 11th earthquake, you will agree it is amazing anything survived. But one pine tree out of a beach-front forest of 70,000? To guess that the odds of this are extraordinarily high would probably be an understatement. Yet it happened in Morioka, Iwate Prefecture, where botanical scientists have carefully taken branches from the survivor tree and grafted them onto other pines with the hope of recreating the forest that once stood. If all goes well, and there is no guarantee of that, the seedlings resulting from the grafted material should be ready for planting in three years. (Detroit Free Press – Lone Pine Tree) Kim Jong Il Repeats Himself in China. A LOT. “The sameness of Kim Jong Il’s toasts when he visits China is striking.” There really is no humor in what Kim Jong Il’s dictatorship has done to the people and resources of North Korea. It’s just wrong. However, there is a lot of humor to be found in the ways the strange man with the huge glasses presents himself to the world outside North Korea. In China, for example, he has a habit of basically saying the same thing every time he makes...
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That’s Jeni Yang, Giant Robot Drawing Club guest who actually made cookies for the event. GR Drawing Club opened at 6pm and continued late into the night. We’ll be announcing the next GRXDC event soon, and everyone of any age is welcome. We hosted children through adults. The idea is to just sit and draw without pressure and in a comfortable environment. We played music – this time, mostly 60s and 70s rock, yes, bring a record, and we’ll play it. We expected a tiny group but ended up setting up three tables! Great job, everyone. Cam Floyd and Niv Bavarsky just showed up! [nggallery id=17]
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