We Are Stars!

I’m sure you’ve heard the USA For Africa charity song from the ’80s that raised money for starving children in Africa called “We Are The Children”.

I know that song was popular but, honestly, I never liked it.

You may not be aware of a much better charity song for African children that was recorded 28 years ago today by some of the biggest names in 80s heavy metal.

On 1985 May 20th, members of Dio, Judas Priest, W.A.S.P., Twisted Sister, Dokken, Queensryche, Quiet Riot, Rough Cutt, Motley Crue, and more got together and called themselves Hear ‘N Aid to record the song “(We Are) Stars “!

“(We Are) Stars“, twenty-eight years old today, is the heavy metal answer to We Are The World.
And it’s much better!

Check it out:

Japan’s newest Pepsi flavor

Both Pepsi and Coca-Cola in Japan often sell their products in unique “Japan only” flavors (so does Kit-Kat in Japan).

I’ve written posts about:
Pepsi Azuki,
Pepsi Shiso
and a couple other flavors of Pepsi and Coke in Japan.

Well, Pepsi is an official sponsor of the “2010 Soccer World Cup” which will be hosted by South Africa this summer.
I’m not a big soccer fan. In fact, the first time I had even heard of the “World Cup” was when Japan co-hosted it with South Korea in 2002.

But in honor of the 2010 World Cup, on 2010 May 25, Pepsi will be selling a new product here in Japan called 「ペプシ・バオバブ」 (“Pepsi Baobab“).

「ペプシバオバブ」 ("Pepsi Baobab")

According to Wikipedia, the Baobab is an unusual looking tree (a picture of one is on the “Pepsi Baobab” label) native to Africa.
Supposedly, the fruit is extremely healthy.
I’ve never heard of it before and I have no idea how the fruit tastes…but maybe I’ll try this new Pepsi flavor once it goes on sale just out of curiosity.

The ad for 「ペプシバオバブ」 (“Pepsi Baobab”) has eight soccer players named ロシアのアルシャビン (“Arshavin” of Russia), ドイツのバラック (“Ballack” of Germany), スぺインのトーレス (“Torres” of Spain), コートジポワールのドログバ (“Drogba” of Côte d’Ivoire), ブラジルのカカー (“Kaka” of Brazil), フランスのアンリ (“Henry” of France), アルゼンチンのメッシ (“Mercier” of Argentina) and イングランドのランパード (“Lampard” of England).

Ad for 「ペプシバオバブ」 ("Pepsi Baobab")

Also, 「マウンテンデゥー」 (“Mountain Dew“) is owned by Pepsi and in Japan they’re currently selling their drink in cans decorated with characters from the 「メタルギアソリッドピースウォーカー」 (“Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker“) game series.

Ad for the "Mountain Dew" / "Metal Gear" limited edition cans

And, I have written posts about the cell-phone straps that often come with purchases of “Pepsi NEX” in Japan.
For example…
the Samurai straps,  the Snoopy straps,  and the Star Wars Be@rbricks.

(I have written posts about other Be@rbrick characters in Japan besides the Star Wars ones before:
the MOS Burger Be@rbricks,  and the KISS Be@rbrick).

Well, Pepsi NEX has teamed up with Be@rbrick again.
Now, with purchases of Pepsi NEX in Japan, they’re offering bear cell-phone straps in the likeness of famous characters from “Paramount Studios” movies.

Such as: 「ヒックとドラゴン」 (“How To Train Your Dragon”), 「シュレック」 (“Shrek”), 「マダガスカル」 (“Magadascar”), 「モンスターVSエイリアン」 (“Monsters vs Aliens”), 「トランスフォーマー」 (“Transformers”), “Top Gun”, 「サタデー・ナイト・フィーバー」 (“Saturday Night Fever”), 「フラッシュダンス」 (“Flashdance”), 「ビバリーヒルズ・コップ」　(“Beverly Hills Cop”), 「レッド・オクトーバーを追え!」 (“The Hunt For Red October”) and “The Godfather”.

Ad for "Pepsi NEX" / Paramount Japan Be@rbricks

World Baseball Classic ’09

Do you know what the World Baseball Classic is?

World Baseball Classic logo

It’s a new international baseball competition. Like soccer’s World Cup.

The World Baseball Classic 2009 started today.
This is only the second time that the World Baseball Classic occurred.
The World Baseball Classic 2006 was the first and only other time this competition took place so far.

Japan was the champion team of the World Baseball Classic 2006 games.

The first game of the World Baseball Classic 2009 was Japan vs China. This game took place this afternoon (Japan time) at the Tokyo Dome.

Japan beat China with a final score of 4-0.
The next game will be Korea vs Taipei, also at the Tokyo Dome. Japan will face the winning team of that game on March 7th (again at the Tokyo Dome).

At the Tokyo Dome

The Japan team has high hopes of winning the World Baseball Classic again.

The host cities for the World Baseball Classic ’09 are Tokyo, Japan; Mexico City, Mexico; Toronto, Canada; San Juan, Puerto Rico; San Diego, USA; Miami, USA; and Los Angeles, USA.

The countries that have teams competing are: Japan (with Ichiro Suzuki and Daisuke Matsuzaka on the team), South Korea, China, Taipei, Australia, Canada, USA, Mexico, Dominican Republic (with Alex Rodriguez on the team), Cuba, Italy, The Netherlands, Panama, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and South Africa.

The World Baseball Classic 2009 will go from today’s game that Japan won until the final in Los Angeles on March 23, 2009.

Do you like baseball?
Are you following the World Baseball Classic? Which team are you supporting?
Did you watch the Japan vs China game today? If so, did you watch it on TV…or were you at the Tokyo Dome?

By the way, if you wanna visit the official World Baseball Classic homepage…then, click here.