A few years ago I had the opportunity to teach English in Japan through the JET Programme, and recently one of my friends from the program asked me to make a video for the JET participants returning home this summer. I was asked to address the following points in my video:
"Basically start by saying where you were in Akita and for how long, and then talk about the following questions:
1) How was the reverse culture shock when you moved back home? Did you feel any, and how did you deal with it? 2) What are you doing now, where are you living? 3) How did your JET experience help you professionally? 4) Do you have any regrets about not doing something on the JET Programme? 5) Do you have any message for the JETs leaving this year?"
These are the verses I wrote in response, entitled "JET Coaster":
hey everybody my name's JournalRhythm no I mean Eyjilla no I mean AJ these days I answer to the names of these three folks it's no joke what I spoke you we goin' for broke I had an overdose of flow and opened up to music paired it up with the daily news and infused it cruised in on the JET Programme and used it to build another library of words to choose imbuing myself with bicultural influence got no regrets. here's my summary and 2 cents:
ジェットコースターみたいにups and downs you feel kinda like a hero yet a sidekick somehow この乗り物は確か楽しい けど乗っているうちにwatch out for your calling
日本語flow now
現在住んでる場所はイリノイ州 帰国してもショックはある サービスは比較的に最低 たとえばマックの注文受ける相手 雰囲気だけでいらつくぐらい 何度もsigh「このバイト要らない」 と言ってるみたいに笑顔もない 「日本よかったな」と思わざるを得ない こんな時。that ain't no joke, see. that's my video... you can proceed.
I rarely shop at GameStop, but sometimes I forget why that is and wander in, false hopes high, only to be quickly reminded of how much they hate games and the people who play them. I did that at the mall this weekend, and almost bought a "new" game until I was informed by the employee that the sticker-covered case with no disc inside that I picked up off the shelf was the one I was about to take home. I put the game back and decided to write a song to remind myself why I should never set foot in there again.
I'm pissed right now, right I- I feel sick If you know this store would you please sing along?
Man I hate Gamestop They make me broke when they should be bankrupt Everytime I leave there I feel like I hate people and games both Sells "new" games post-opening Ugly stickers on everything Sold a game for free, bought it back for 10, feel used myself, then I do it again.
I wanna take the "stop" back out of "games" Put those same games back into their cases Give employees more than 5-cent raises Wipe smug smiles off managers' faces
Make a rule saying that reserved is reserved meaning not "accidentally" sold to people on the curb. Not bogus with the pre-order bonus meaning not pre-picked over by staff who don't know us.
Keep new games sealed I might pay more; you don't shelve cases like a video store. There's three classes of game: new, used, rental: Renting games to staff? You must be mental.
Man I hate Gamestop They make me broke when they should be bankrupt Everytime I leave there I feel like I hate people and games both Sells "new" games post-opening Ugly stickers on everything Sold a game for free, bought it back for 10, feel used myself, then I do it again.
Man I hate Gamestop I hate those stickers, edge cards, fake gamers. Man I hate Gamestop
Sad thing is the method actually works: a store ripping people off managed by jerks. That's how you make a multi-million dollar profit: Make people think they got no other option.
But trading used games is so damn easy: type in a google search "gametz" Input the game's you'll trade and the one's you want and you can trade most 1-to-1
Wanna buy a new game that hasn't been scratched on? Try Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy, or Amazon A company offending every element of what they sell? Forget the bottom line: go straight to hell.
Man I hate Gamestop They make me broke when they should be bankrupt Everytime I leave there I feel like I hate people and games both Sells "new" games post-opening Ugly stickers on everything Sold a game for free, bought it back for 10, feel used myself, then I do it again.
Man I hate Gamestop I hate those stickers, edge cards, fake gamers. Man I hate Gamestop
Now, if everybody would please put their finger as high as they can, as high as they can, and repeat after me.
No more business: No more profit. No more business: No more profit.
Suck this! Suck this! Suck this! Suck this!
No more business: No more profit. No more business: No more profit.
GameStop games not. GameStop games not.
Man I hate GameStop. I hate it! Aiight everybody, we gotta put the smack down a little bit.
Man I hate Gamestop They make me broke when they should be bankrupt Everytime I leave there I feel like I hate people and games both Sells "new" games post-opening Ugly stickers on everything Sold a game for free, bought it back for 10 Feel used myself, won't do it again.
Frequent visitors of this blog may have noticed a few changes to the posts recently, and I'm here to let you know exactly what's changed and what it means. First, the most obvious update is the addition of embedded video to each post. This was at the request of perhaps my most dedicated listener, so I was happy to grant his request. This should make it easier to find everything in one place rather than making people check my blog as well as my youtube account if they enjoy both the audio and video portions.
Second, numbers have been appended to many of the mp3 files. Some people have noted that my voice is sometimes difficult to hear over the music, so when I attempt to rebalance the track volumes for a given song, I record the version number of the newest mix in the Comments field of the ID3 tag and append that number (minus the periods) to the end of the file for easy reference.
Those interested in listening to the songs in higher quality will be pleased to know that as of today, I've re-EQ'd almost all of the songs that were released this year, uniformly applying a new vocal filter customized to my voice for improved volume and clarity. The only songs that don't have updates are the Kusanagi Video Mix (because I saved over it when I made the Blog Mix) and the Swine Flu song (because it already had the new vocal filter applied). I will most likely not update them further, so there's no need to wait for a newer version to appear.
As for the 2008 tracks, they will have to remain as they are, because I lost all of the project files in a hard drive failure last year (thanks to a Western Digital MyBrick).
If you're not sure if you have the most up-to-date mp3, here's a guide:
1) mp3's with no version number are assumed to be v1.0 2) 1.2.1 is newer than 1.2, which is newer than 1.1.1, which is newer than 1.1
If you're not sure just how much better the new versions sound, play the embedded audio back-to-back against the embedded videos (which use the original v1.0 songs). If you can't tell the difference, either don't worry about it or try listening with headphones.
It's easy to think the apocalypse might be right around the corner when mass media gives you a daily count of people who've contracted a disease. This time they've picked a strain of flu virus that causes *gasp* the same symptoms as every other strain, including the possibility of death. So feel free to worry about something you've forgotten to worry about every year.
These days there's more articles about it in the news than people who have actually contracted swine flu and the more that you hear it the more you gon' fear it i've had enough of that so the air i'm clearin'
more people gonna die driving in their cars but that don't make news like new flus or SARS let me break you down just a few statistics amidst the paranoia you might have missed it
35,000 deaths occur every flu season we weren't concerned last year, what's the reason? SARS "epidemic" killed 774 out of the largest population in the world
i'm not saying that you shouldn't be worried but worry on the news gets bigger in a hurry surely a daily update on the state of any malaise will have you thinking crazy things in a hazy maze of amazingly vague information doomsday's days away but strangely patient
Feel like got it from all those promotin' it: It's been a few days and I'm already over it.
(mp3をダウンしたい人、ダウンにスクロールして一番下にあります） Kusanagi Tsuyoshi, a well-respected member of the longtime pop sensation SMAP, tarnished his wholesome image Thursday morning when he was found drunk and naked in a Tokyo park, singing Korean songs and being belligerent. Companies and government agencies using his image in their campaigns immediately pulled their advertisements and nullified their contracts with the star. Kusanagi is expected to make a public apology and reflect on his actions.
On the morning of the 23rd in a park in Akasaka yelling "Shingo! and rolling around, a drunk was making a scene. What's more, he was completely naked.
No way, is that Tsuyoshi-kun? He's flailing his limbs around. "What's wrong with being naked?" he protests as he is made into a drunk burrito with a sheet and loaded into a police car. His commercials were subsequently pulled and his agency deeply apologized for his actions.
Although it was a crime of little malice Japanese media seems to say "Scandal? Alright!" It would be strange if they didn't overreact.
Actually, it seems like a great promotion for digital television: "Let's watch ridiculous news in high definition!" (the government removed him from their "converting to digital" campaign)
ni juu san nichi no asa Akasaka no kouen de "shingou" tte sakende dengurikaeshi wo shite ite aru yopparai ga sawaide ita sara ni zenshin suppadaka
masaka kono hito Tsuyoshi-kun? teashi wo batatsukasete iru "hadaka dattara nani ga warui" to ii nagara shiito de deisuiburiitou ni natte patokaa ni noserarete kare no CM no chuushi aitsugu Jyaniizu jimusho fukaku wabiru
akushitusei no hikui hanzai nanoni "skyandaru? banzai!" to ii sou na nihon no masukomi hannou shisugi shinakerya okashii
gyaku ni chideji no kouhou ni narisou motto kirei ni tondemonai nyuusu miyou!
Both the Blog Mix and Video Mix mp3s can be downloaded below: ダウンロードしたい方は下の二つのバージョンから選んで下さい： Blog Mix13.mp3 Video Mix.mp3
A new study documenting the eating habits of more than 62,000 participants over 9 years has revealed a strong connection between eating charred meat and pancreatic cancer. Kristin Anderson, an associate professor at the University of Minnesota, which led the study, suggests various ways to prepare meat other than frying or grilling that may lower the risk of developing this highly deadly disease.
Do you like your barbecued meat well-done? Well if you do your pancreas may well done for son according to a University of Minnesota study you might be better off eating red meat bloody
because charred black meat contains heterocyclic amines it's got carcinogens is what that means of over 62,000 healthy people documented over nine years there was a high percentage in people who often ate things like well-done steak of gettin' pancreatic cancer depending on their intake
there's a few precautions you might wanna take just in case like having your meat stewed or baked or put it in the microwave before you grill or just cut off the burnt part before you eat your fill
there's a lot fewer options once you get sick cause pancreatic cancer will kill you quick even if the study lacks a definitive answer lowering your risk is the best cure for cancer
According to a recent study by Harris Interactive, 8.5 percent of kids surveyed showed signs of being "addicted" to video games, playing them to a degree that adversely affected their closest relationships, their schoolwork, or their health. I'm the kind of person who almost by reflex scoffs at people who purport that video games lead to violent behavior, etc., but I must admit that if nothing else, games can be addictive. Sometimes it takes a lot of self control to put them down, and I'm glad I was finally able to. I still play them of course, but only after my "work" is done.
These are the lyrics: if you're not familiar with the way this works what I do is bring you news that you might have already heard the only difference is i do it all in my own way and it goes a little something like this, you could say i'm
bringing the news "breaking" a story i sing and i rap if you don't like it: sorry.
as you can probably tell i like video games I write about 'em once a week or so it seems I never really talk about 'em as a problem but they can be that if you play 'em too often
a nationwide survey by Harris Interactive found many kids aren't very that 'cause of gaming habits almost 9 percent are having trouble at school with friends and family, some with health problems too
being addicted to games could be the cause or result and don't think it doesn't happen to adults because that was me back in January when I played 'em all day every day exclusively
played a little bit less in February when I made a new friend and had someone to see did a little soul searchin' in March realized it was due time to make a new start
now I make music I'm no game-a-holic I changed games like my name was Greg Paulus even if I got a low gamerscore yo I feel ten times better than I did before
I gotta feeling why I needed 'em like sushi to rice they made me feel nice like I won... when I failed at life and maybe I still do but I ain't gon' quit living my life by my own imagination
bringing the news "breaking" a story i sing and i rap if you don't like it: sorry.
i'd like to thank everybody out there on twitter 'cause with your cooperation this is so much bigger
Ashton Kutcher surpassed a million followers on microblog site Twitter this morning, achieving victory in his battle with CNN to be the first to surpass that milestone. Kutcher joined The Oprah Show today via Skype to talk about his race with CNN.
Ashton Kutcher Friday morning butchered CNN in a competition to reach one million followers on Twitter it's getting bigger every day and Ashton said "We showed the world that this here is the new wave" made a guest appearance today on the Oprah show via Skype communication he's in the technological know and then Oprah tried her best to join in the sensation sending a text warning Kutcher of middle-age saying that "ASHTON IS NEXT" that's probably not what she meant at all but it kinda makes sense and in the end she got 130,000 followers "go girlfriend!" Now all that remains is a case of ding-dong-dutch to Mister Turner and to tell Larry King that "I told you such" i guess the moral of the story is I'd get more views writing about Ashton Kutcher rather than about news
Four baby non-venomous pythons escaped in the cargo area of a Qantas Airlines passenger flight today. There were no FBI agents involved, no terrified passengers, and no Samuel L. Jackson, proving that, perhaps fortunately so, real life just isn't as exciting as in the movies. On the other hand, FBI agents did investigate the case of a Hawaii-bound flight from LA on which a passenger who had been drinking urinated on a 66-year-old woman. He was convicted of assault and sentenced to 3 weeks in jail.
nothing says "real life is too mundane" like an uneventful case of snakes on a plane four non-venomous half foot-long pythons escape on the passenger plane they were riding on
they decide to play in the cargo bay while the other 8 snakes said "hey, we'll just stay right here in our foam box. no need to get lost and fumigated before the next flight takes off"
and that's what happened when they counted 'em afterwards couldn't find a one so they gassed the bastards the plane's back in operation few concerns were raised and that species wasn't even endangered
neither were the passengers in that case but on a real Hawaiian flight this dude whipped out his own snake went up to a woman who was sixty-six musta thought she looked like a good place to piss
he had been drinking but that's a poor story if you can stand up you can recognize a lavatory FBI held an investigation he got 3 weeks behind bars for urination
feds take real cases don't mess with snakes they should make a movie called "Drunks Pissin' In Faces"
In attempting to cover Lindsay Lohan's eHarmony spoof video, I eventually get drawn in by her charm. I guess self-deprecation really IS sexy! (see this post for reference)
to Samantha Ronson I send my condolences Lindsay Lohan is looking for romance is this for real? I think not. Here's why: her promo was featured on the site "Funny Or Die"
and I admit: I had to laugh a little bit that why she's not dead right now. i get it. that's a pretty cool concept except if i ever made a video there I'd be put to death
anyway let's get back on track Lohan's eHarmony ad lists tons of fun facts like how 9 out of every 10 celeb sites up need her material to keep from going bankrupt
not only does she support the economy she got more money in the bank than me! doesn't even care if I'm a he or a she I could change anytime if she liked my personality
I like passin' out in an Escalade and I'll drive you when you're drunk like everyday even if it's a PCH car chase we can walk along the beach right after the court case
we can crash a party, a car, or your career and then look around afterwards for your underwear yo this rap started out as just a summary but now it looks like some kinda desperate plea
I guess her video was a real success and I know I called her "cracked out" last week, yes, but I kinda take it back after seeing her ad you know she's just crazy cool not crazy bad
After a string of incidents involving cyber-bullying, Korea enacted a Cyber Defamation Law on April 1st that compels all sites with over 100,000 unique visitors a day to implement registration requiring Koreans' real names to be verified with a national ID number. Google, taking a stand for anonymity, has refused to modify YouTube Korea's registration process, choosing instead to simply prevent Koreans from uploading or commenting on YouTube. However, they were thoughtful enough to post instructions on their YouTube Korea page about how to circumvent Korean law by changing user preference settings to another country.
Google apparently considers itself above the law in the foreign countries it provides service to, actually encouraging their citizens to sidestep their own laws. Ironically, this outright refusal to honor the laws that other countries deem important is in Google's "commitment to openness" and "bias in favor of freedom of expression". In the end, Google's expression of opinion is the only one that seems to matter.
In the song I outline some events that led to the passage of the Cyber Defamation Law and examine the insensitivity of Google's decision.
yo we all know people like talking smack online but in Korea they got bullies on crack "Oppa" is a word they use for big brother but instead of the government it's every other sucker
if you even neglect to clean up your dog's poo someone'll take your picture post it on the net and find you asking around for your name and address where you go to school and wherever you go next
they'll make you so well-known you'll have to drop out pack up all your things, move into a new house you think I'm making this up? it happened in '05 the victim was lucky she didn't turn to suicide
but for an actress like Choi Jin Sil if everyone was trashing you then how would you feel? and a month before that it was Ahn Jae Hwan both movie celebrities now both of 'em gone
pushed to the limit by people on the internet you can't makes arrests when no one's innocent but you pass a law on Cyber Defamation requiring online ID registration
and that's what happened but Google ain't having it saving anonymity by straight up cancelling every Korean's ability to contribute videos and comments on NotYouTooTube
then they made a post on their very own website "everything's fine guys, everybody just lie, alright? change your preferences to a nation that's not yours. just like you were forced to before in other wars."
YouTube imposes ideas on Korea at the same time saying "don't post yours, either!" that's some hypocritical political bull and after 8 years of Bush I'm full
go ahead tell your friends join a petition YT won't feature me so who's gon' listen?
Not many of us have high expectations for video games based on movies, but Ben Kuchera at Ars Technica has new high hopes for the X-Men Origins: Wolverine game after being pleasantly surprised by a cinematic and gameplay demo.
not yet on the big screen but a million have already seen X-Men Origins: Wolverine yo who else could make your face into a shish kebab and make a FOX movie critic lose his job?
yo you got new faces like Gambit and Deadpool and hype that's bigger than a damn Sentinel but even if it makes like a billion bucks a game about a movie usually sucks
while some may claim this thing's more of the same insanely tame shame of a game, yo "it's not so lame" wrote a hopeful bloke from Ars Technica it's no joke you know I expected a
PG-13 deeply insulting boring-ass Wolverine but "this dude's mean" putting his claws clean through the walls impaling a dude's skull he falls camera shows it all
you can do just like you wanna when you're pissed off slice a dude's arm, arm comes off if you get hurt don't worry you'll heal just sit back, watch it, tell your kids "that's not real"
ESRB's got beef with gore the game's rated M for "Men": you know we're not mature
A South Park episode aired yesterday has Kanye West reflecting on his ego as he posted to his blog today admitting "I need to just get past myself". While it may be undeniable that he has high self esteem, he points out that it helped him during times when no one believed in him. Using self esteem selectively might just be what Kanye needs to avoid a future South Park appearance.
there's a cartoon South Park it's ornery and last night it laid the smack down on Kanye funny thing is it actually made him twitch and he'll prolly think about it next time he eats fishsticks
wrote about it in a blog post today how's he's trying not to be a douchebag per se pointed out the difference between rap and real life and how people like Little Wayne are so nice
even though he wrote in cruise control for cool and misspelled "used to" yo he ain't no fool talking 'bout how he used his self esteem when no one ever thought that he could reach his dream
yo that's the kinda thing to which I can relate when not even my mom has said "your rhymes are great" so even if you don't remind us you're the best you know we still love you, Mr. West
A new song entitled "My Flow So Tight" by DJ crew Jump Smokers, renamed from Smoke Jumpers due to a name conflict, calling for Chris Brown to "get his ass kicked" has gotten a sudden wave of attention as it received radio airplay last week.
I'm about to tell 'bout a brand new song that some might say is messed up and wrong it was cut by a group of Chi-town DJs who just like me reference the news these days
talking 'bout Chris Brown sayin' he should be beat down and how his whole career pretty much ended now and when the radio stations found out they played it on the airwaves and people wil'ed out
the group was called the Smoke Jumpers until a same-name group from Texas said "chill" so Jump Smokers became their new name I don't know what either means so it's all the same
their song is called "My Flow Is So Tight" and it's getting more plays than that movie Twilight it's got a phat beat that's mo bettah than this one and it'll make 'ya sweat like a court decision
GM and Segway demonstrated today a new two-wheeled urban vehicle prototype called the PUMA that may change the way people commute around town. They also assert that they have the GPS technology to have the vehicles drive themselves. While I can see the promise of the latter idea, I have my doubts about the vehicle itself.
there's a new concept in the automotive business it's 2 seated, 2 wheeled, and too ambitious General Motors fearing their time is over is desperate to meet their innovation quota
partnered with Segway trying to make headway came up with something just a little more deadly works like the other one except that you sit and ride around praying that you don't get hit
relies on balance just to keep you off your face like sitting in a two-legged chair to save space and for that "benefit" they'll add cost into it making it affordable to only an idiot
even if it is a solution to a problem that don't mean it won't cause more on top of 'em how you gettin' to work if there's ice or it snows you gonna be cold when there's no doors to close
your groceries will have sit on your knees and you're lucky if the wind just stays at a breeze hope you don't need to make a real quick stop cause like the idea itself: you gonn' flop
i know they're trying to be different and make a big deal but there's already a better idea: more wheels I'm not just trying to bite it. I'd also highlight an already bright idea: GPS autopilot
so GM I say "Go for it!" cause this manual drivin' I'm over it i'd rather be napping not drunk drive crashin' just ask Google Maps you can make it happen
On Sunday North Korea fired a rocket that sailed over Japan, apparently fizzling out and landing in the ocean. China and Russia maintain that there is no need for alarm as the launch was of a satellite, not a ballistic missile. However, the technology tested in the launch may have been for long-range ballistics purposes, and US President Barack Obama called for action to be taken against this breach of the 2006 UN Security Council Resolution.
if you don't know about the Six-Party conversation let me take a minute to give you an education basically it's like a game of 3 on 3 and the half court line's the in middle of Korea
on the South's side is the US and Japan who both understand nuclear weapons first-hand on the North's team is China and Russia they're like the center and power forward brothers
back in '06 the UN blew the whistle and decided any shot was cool except missiles Pyongyang tends to forget what was said and recently threw a missile right over Japan's head
and Japan called a timeout to avoid fighting Obama came in and said "rules must be binding" China and Russia said "you might be right but that wasn't a missile, that was just a satellite"
NK needs to play safe just to stay in the game cause for playing they get paid with food staples and aid they just lucky to even be treated as equals and not have America taking their free throws...
According to a survey administered by www.PS3pricecompare.co.uk, approximately 1 in 3 British men stated they would rather play video games than sleep with their partner. In this song, I explore some of the factors involved in this difficult choice.
to kill that last demon and watch your girl leavin'? or ditch heavy guns for some heavy breathin'? to rock the headboard or leave her sleepin'? to lock the door or unlock achievements?
that is the question to which no less than 32% of British men tested said "i'm so over bed, i'll play games instead" "i left foreplay for Left 4 Dead"
many girls out there surprised by the answer might think of video games as love cancer but you can't be sure i bet there's guys galore who would take a cheap whore over Superman 64
yeah, but if both choices tight we could play 10 minutes at most or all night it's a tough choice when it comes to us boys but ima set it straight ima give us a voice just ask any guy and they'll tell you the same it depends on the girl; it depends on the game
if my girlfriend had sexy legs and wore fishnets beggin me "come to bed" but then there's Chun Li from Street Fighter III, better yet SF4 it's more 3D in times like this it could go either way that's when I'd create a third option: cosplay
would I play Prince of Persia for PS3 or Paris Hilton? Neither. They're both too easy! Britney Spears whispering "Come here!" or playing Silent Hill? Either way I'm scared! rollin' over Lindsay Lohan or a katamari? neither one, they both cracked out, sorry.
but if I had a girl like Julia Stiles straight up, I'd walk away from any game if it'd make her smile again, it depends on the men's interest in women the game's not the villian that's just the beginning
