https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xL5SuwL2t_I
My friend Carol was the only other person I knew who watched “Majin, Monster of Terror” on Creature Features. We were both dedicated fans of Creature Features, a late-night weekend show hosted by Bob Wilkins.
A. I am happy that there is a new Godzilla movie, although I am a bit peeved about the ongoing use of his image in so many crass television and print advertisement.
On a bullet train ride from Shinagawa (Tokyo) to Hakata, I sat next to an older Japanese woman who had been sniffling during most of the trip. She had a mask around her mouth, and would politely bow whenever she had to cough or make a louder sniffle.
Two years ago, my mother gave me half of all the jewelry she owned. Among the items I received was a beautiful string of pearls, a set of illegally made and rare tortoise shell earrings, a round coral ring that was purchased in Hawaii and a older, large sapphire ring that she claimed was a gift to me from its original owner, a lady whom I will refer to as Ms. N.
When the Golden State Warriors were still the San Francisco Warriors, they used to play at the Civic Center Auditorium. Their offices were on Golden Gate Avenue and Van Ness, a tiny building with a large sized “San Francisco Warrior” sign over the plate glass entrance.
(St. Francis Xavier church, home of my first confession)
Father Guetzloe ushered five of us into his tiny little room where his gowns and sacred chalice were kept. We lined up and waited our turn, although I did not know what we were doing. Perhaps there was instruction that I missed, which was entirely possible since I spent many days in first grade just concentrating on the blinds that covered our giant classroom windows.
(short hair fused with long hairpiece, during the one year we were asked to wear our hair long)
I once had long, thick, straight and beautiful hair until I was 9, when both my grandmother and mother decided that I would survive a humid Japanese summer better with a short cut. We went to the beauty salon, where my hair was tied back and chopped off with one swift stroke of shears.
While I was a prolific letter writer during my teenage years, my choices of pen pals were not always wise. Of course, it took a while to dispense of my one prison pen pal, but I finally managed to confine my correspondence to one nice German girl who sent me wonderful photos of her home in Bavaria and from vacations to Spain.
Oriental Hollywood, or WOW…”47 Ronin” really sucks!
Published by Anna Pirhana on May 14, 2014I have always loved the story of the 47 Ronin, or Chushingura. We were told of it somewhere in our Japanese school lives, a classic heroes tale in which a vassal of loyal warriors to one particular Lord sought to avenge his wrongful death. It is a story of honor triumphing over corruption, also highlighting a team spirit that is so important to Japanese culture.