I have written a number of posts about interesting people. Most of whose stories are related to Japan in some way.
Maybe you haven’t seen many of them…so I decided to put links to all of them on a new page that I titled “Who’s Who?“.
Please check them out and leave comments to let me know what you think.
If Evel Knievel hadn’t died four years ago, today would be his 73rd birthday.
Coincidentally, Evel Knievel spent the last few years of his life in Clearwater, Florida...the same town that I grew up in!
Do you know who Evel Knievel was? Maybe only Americans recognize that name…and maybe only Americans who are at least my age.
When I was a child in America during the 1970′s, Evel Knievel was one of my idols. He was a daredevil stunt motorcycle jumper who often jumped rows of cars and trucks with his Harley-Davidson motorcycle on live television. He also attempted jumps over the Caesars Palace fountains, lions, rattlesnakes, tanks of sharks, and the Grand Canyon!
Evel Knievel jumping the Caesars Palace fountains.
He crashed many times and he’s listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for having sustained the most broken bones in his lifetime.
When I was a kid I had an Evel Knievel lunchbox and motorcycle rider toy.
Did you know who Evel Knievel was? Did you watch his jumps on TV?
Evel Knievel 1938 October 17 – 2007 November 30, R.I.P.
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Also, today is the 21st anniversary of the day I came to Japan. I came here on 1990 October 17.
I can’t believe it’s already been twenty-one years…I’ve lived in Japan longer now than I lived in America!
Japan has changed a lot since I first came here.
McDonalds opened their first shop in Japan in 1971…forty years ago.
Japan was one of the earliest overseas (ie: outside the U.S.) markets that McDonalds opened in.
To celebrate McDonalds 40周年 (40th anniversary) in Japan, they will be offering a few different special campaigns at different times.
The first campaign is a free hamburger.
From 5:00 PM Saturday, 2011 September 24th – Sunday, September 25th, if you order any Value Meal set at a McDonalds in Japan, you will receive a free hamburger with your order.
They haven’t announced yet what the following campaigns will be.
Have you ever watched the documentary about the fast-food industry in general and McDonalds in particular titled “Super Size Me“?
That movie introduces you to a man named Don Gorske who claims to have eaten at least one, but usually two, Big Mac sandwiches from McDonalds every single day of his life with the exception of only eight days since May 1972!
On 2004 July 19 Don Gorske ate his 20,000th Big Mac and he was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records for having eaten more of the burgers than anyone else in the world.
Don Gorske tried his first Big Mac on 1972 May 17 and he liked it so much he ate eight more the same day…and on 2011 May 17 (the day before yesterday), exactly thirty nine years after eating those first nine, he was recognized with a special ceremony at his local McDonalds for having eaten his 25,000th Big Mac.
Unsurprisingly, Mr. Gorske said he loves Big Macs and intends to continue eating them daily.
Sometimes quotes from songs and movies become so well-known and often used that eventually many people don’t even know that the expression came from a pop song or movie.
For example, have you ever heard this quote:
Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.
Do you know where that simple but inspiring quote is from?
It’s a line in the song “Beautiful Boy” by John Lennon that was written for his son Sean Lennon.
John Lennon's "Double Fantasy" album (which includes the song "Beautiful Boy")
Here are some of the most often quoted lines from movies that I could think of off the top of my head (in no particular order):
I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse!
-Marlon Brando (from “The Godfather“)
(I have a feeling) we’re not in Kansas anymore
-Judy Garland (from “The Wizard Of Oz“)
Go ahead, make my day!
-Clint Eastwood (from “Sudden Impact“)
What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.
-Strother Martin (from “Cool Hand Luke“)
Take your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape!
-Charlton Heston (from “Planet Of The Apes“)
Have you seen any of these movies? Surely you’ve heard those quotes before. Did you know they were from those movies?
What other famous movie quotes can you think of?
First of all, as I mentioned in this comment, the “2011 Tokyo International Marathon” was held today.
30,000 people from Japan and other countries ran the 42.195 KM (over 26 miles) course through the streets of Tokyo.
For the past five years now, the Tokyo Marathon has been an annual event held at the end of February.
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Anyways, my friend has just informed me that the American rock band KISS will be coming to Japan this April to play seven shows around Japan to support their “Sonic Boom” album.
(I did an interview with the artist who designed this album cover, by the way.)
The dates of the shows that KISS are scheduled to play in Japan are:
2011 April 13 – Nagoya, Japan at the Aichi Prefecture Gymnasium
2011 April 14 – Yokohama, Japan at the Pacifico Yokohama
2011 April 17 – Saitama, Japan at the Saitama Super Arena
2011 April 18 – Kobe, Japan at the World Hall
2011 April 20 – Tokyo, Japan at the Nippon Budokan
2011 April 21 – Tokyo, Japan at the Nippon Budokan
2011 April 23 – Sapporo, Japan at the Makomanai Indoor Stadium
Tickets for the shows in the Tokyo area (which are Yokohama, Saitama and Tokyo) will go on sale on 2011 March 12th.
I have seen KISS play in Japan in both Yokohama and Tokyo before. In Yokohama, I saw them at the “Yokohama Arena” (not the “Pacifico”, where they’ll being playing this time). In Tokyo, I saw them at both the “Tokyo Dome” and the “Nippon Budokan”.
An interesting thing about this tour is that KISS will play a show in Sapporo, Japan. KISS has played many shows in Japan since their first time here in the 1970′s and they’ve never played northern Japan before. I’m sure that KISS fans in Hokkaido are happy to hear that there will finally be a KISS concert in their area!
The name of the 「日本武道館」 (Nippon Budokan) in Tokyo means “Japan Martial-arts Hall”.
Traditionalists don’t really like the idea of musicians playing pop music in this “sacred” hall. The first pop band to play there were The Beatles when they first came to Japan. The traditionalists protested their concerts. But The Beatles drew huge crowds to the Budokan…and they held the record for the most consecutive sell-out shows there. They played four sold-out shows in a row at the Budokan.
But KISS beat The Beatles‘s record when they played five sold-out shows at the Budokan on their first Japan tour in the late ’70s.
Since then it’s become quite normal for musicians to perform at the Nippon Budokan. Even with the bigger and newer “Tokyo Dome” not far from the Budokan, upcoming Japanese pop stars still consider it a sign of success to play at the Nippon Budokan…not unlike American musicians playing at the “Madison Square Garden”.
The famous "Nippon Budokan"; Tokyo, Japan
Have you ever seen a KISS concert? If not, you’re missing out on the best live show by any band. Their shows are quite exciting…fire-breathing, blood, flying guitars, flying musicians, outrageous costumes, kabuki-style face paint.
To get an idea, watch this music promotion video for the single “Modern Day Delilah” from their most recent album “Sonic Boom”:
And, in a more good news for us KISS fans…the band has announced that a new KISS studio album of brand-new songs is due out later this year (2011)!
A number of newspapers in Japan had articles about the upcoming KISS tour here.
I bought today’s copy of 「夕刊フジ」 (“Yuukan-Fuji“) evening paper:
Here’s a close-up of the article about KISS:
The headline says: "Hell's group" KISS return for a Japan tour after four-and-a-half years!
McDonalds opened their first restaurant in Japan in 1971. So this year (2011) is their 40周年 (40th anniversary) in Japan. (That means I came to Japan before McDonalds 20周年 (20th anniversary) here! Hard to believe.)
The sign says "Makudonarudo (McDonalds) Hamburger"
For their 40th anniversary, McDonalds Japan is currently offering the “Big America 2” burgers that I mentioned in an earlier post.
They’re currently offering the third one (out of four)…the “Miami Burger“.
The “Miami Burger” looks good. I’ll probably try it.
The “Texas 2 Burger” and the “Idaho Burger” have already been on the menu…the “Texas 2” was quite good. I didn’t try the “Idaho Burger” though.
In addition to the “Big America 2” campaign, McDonalds Japan is also offering Chicken McNuggets for only ¥100 (about US$1.20) this week for their 40th anniversary.
And if you use your cell-phone to access the McDonalds Japan cell-phone coupons page (only in Japanese), you can get bothChicken McNuggets and a medium-size drink (I prefer hot coffee…which has free refills, by the way) for only ¥200 (about US$2.40).
Next week, instead of McNuggets, the “Filet-o-fish” will be discounted to ¥100.
The breakfast menu is also having specials for McDonalds anniversary.
From now until the end of March, a different breakfast sandwich and drink set will only cost ¥200 for two-weeks each.
Currently, the “Salad Marinade Muffin” and drink is only ¥200. Then the “McHotdog“, “Egg McMuffin” and “Filet-o-fish” will be discounted one-at-a-time for two weeks each.
If I eat fast-food, I usually choose McDonalds because of their ¥100 – ¥200 menu items, cell-phone coupons, and “bottomless” coffee.
If I want to spend more than a few hundred yen on lunch, I’ll go get “real” food.
In Japan, Pepsi-Cola often teams with the Japanese company Be@rbrick and give away cell-phone straps of bears modeled after famous characters with purchases of their “Pepsi-NEX Zero Cola”.
Well, Pepsi Japan has currently teamed up with Be@rbrick again.
For a limited time, they are giving away cell-phone straps of Be@rbrick bears in the image of Gundam with purchases of Pepsi NEX Zero Cola.
(Since the 30th anniversary of Gundam in 2009, there have been a number of Gundam tie-ins…such as the Gundam cell-phone.)
Another limited time only campaign that Pepsi Japan is currently offering is specially designed bottles of Pepsi NEX Cola with the “One Piece” manga characters on the label.
This is to help promote the new One Piece 3-D animated movie titled 「麦わらチェイス」 (“Sugiwara Chase”).
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