Osaka Ben

きたきた！「軍鶏」のつづきの話、２０と２１はとうとう発売した！出版社が変わったらしい。え？主人公（リョウ）は弱くなって来た？嘘やろう？ふざけんな！そういえば、PS２の新しいソフト「喧嘩番長」もでてた。ずっと前からこういうゲームを作ればいいなぁと思っていた。ヤンキーの話だよ！伝説の番長になるため、喧嘩売ったり、ヤンキーっぽい活動するゲームや。俺のメッチャ好きなヤンキーレディースの「スケバン刑事」っぽい話もあるみたい。楽しみ！（もちろん、宿題をやってからネ）

そして、「よし林」（小林よしのり）の新しいゴーマンイズムSpecial:沖縄論！俺の大好きな沖縄の事について議論がのっています。よし林の戦争論、SAPIOを読んでから大ファンになった。なぜ、俺みたいな変態外人には日本の問題は興味深いか？まさか、世界初右翼亜米利加人か？！おすすめよ。

もちろん、バランスのため、「浦安鉄筋家族」も読んでいる！知っている？外人でもこういうギャグ漫画は絶対理解できるよ。

ん？なんだよ、その目．．．

After a long manga hiatus, I knew it would take something big to get me back in the saddle again… the continuation of “Shamo” was just that. After a year-long break and a publisher change, Shamo is kicking ass again in volumes 20 and 21… or more like getting his ass handed to him. Yep, the plot thickens! For those of you too impatient for an unlikely English release, I’m sure someone’ll post a translation to usenet sometime.

Next up is “Okinawa-talk” a breakdown by famous right-winger Yoshinori Kobayashi - better known by some for his older kid’s manga “Obocchama kun.” I was first introduced to Kobayashi’s work via Sensou-ron (War-talk) and his regular contributions to SAPIO magazine. Definitely a recommendation. Not for your Japanese liberal or your American… anybody.

Of course, manga too needs balance. That’s why there’s “Urayasutekkin Kazoku.” All the poop, snot, and fart jokes you can take - Japanese style.

Speaking of Japanese style, I got a copy of “Kenka Banchou” for the PS2. Japanese 70’s/80’s style high school biker gangs battle for turf! Elvis style pompodors and oversized sailor fuku abound!… that and everyone’s favorite pastime in Japan - VIOLENCE!

What, what are you looking at me like that for? コラ！

今週、新しいイラストレータソフトは手に入った。そして、新作品が出来た！ チョップのギャラリーで見て下さい。

So Adobe’s CS2 suite found it’s way onto my harddrive so I decided to take the new Illustrator for a spin.
You can see the results in the Chop Gallery.

My mini review is:
More features (Bitmap to vector conversion tool built in! HAHA, die Streamline!)
Bug fixes (you can open multiple files from the open dialog, how novel!)
More bugs added (installation arbitrarily pauses/quits, hotkey changes, etc. etc.)
Annoying changes
Bloat Bloat Bloat (Startup time seems to have doubled)

My summary is:
You get what you pay for.

とうとうiPodゲッティングタイム！！ずっとまえから欲しかったiPodが手に入った。CMと同じように踊ろう！半年ぐらいの給料がかかった。とりあえず、朝御飯はおにぎりでいこう！

トン、iかんぺ〜！

Ton finally bullied me into following my impulse to buy an iPod. Thankfully, a year’s worth of errands to buy ink, paper, and film added up to a LOT of points at Camera ナニワ. I plan to live off riceballs for a year to “pay off” the other half of this infernal device. Time to dance like a retarded shadow in the Apple commercials! Money has bought me happiness once again.

…

Look forward to my next entry with a picture of the same toy with a busted screen.

最近、チョップにはステンシルフィーバーだ！小鶴、ウイリアムはステンシルをうまく出来たので俺も久しぶりに作ってみようと思った。写真をみてみぃ、うちの階段でやったよ！パワーパフガールスの骸骨版！いける？(小鶴のはシーバス、ウイリアムのは髑髏。)クリアーファイル、デザインナイフがあれば、いろんな遊びが出来るよ！．．．悪いけど、社長にばれないでネ

Finally did a stencil I’d been sitting on for the last year or so. Kozuru and William, in a fit of creativity, did such a nice job on theirs I couldn’t resist getting caught up in the fun for an afternoon. Koz’s is the Seabass, mine is the skully Powerpuff girl, and William’s is the Skull… just do me a favor and don’t tell the boss that I practiced on our staircase.