Hey peeps, DJ MK here.
There's nothing that makes me happier than a personal hero getting honored. Jackie Chan won an honorary Oscar at the Governor's Ball two weeks ago. The award was presented by his Rush Hour co-star Chris Tucker. If you haven't had a chance to see Jackie Chan's speech in full, you totally should!
Jackie Chan's win is really important in the film industry - both independent and corporate. Besides the notable name, there are three things that we have to acknowledge and hopefully more people will encourage this material in their movies, TV shows, and other media.
Hope the summer's not melting your face off! Unless you're in the southern hemisphere, in that case freezing. Or at the equator which in that case, enjoy the perfect weather!
I took a huge slowdown this summer. Usually I'm busy with something whether it's a volunteering project or work. But this year I decided to take a genuine vacation and it's been strange not having to write religiously or read a roster's worth of novels, or sweep through thousands of songs on my list for work (but I still do that for pleasure - habits die hard!). As a result I haven't been creating much content here or for myself and the most updating I've been doing has been on Twitter and the occasional Google+ post.
Today I'm playing D&D for the first time! Technically this should've been my second time round but due to unforseen circumstances, I ended up being a prisoner of an anti-magic colony. My DM's been having a lot of fun with this situation and it's been fun trying to come up with things I could do until game time. He also referred me to a great site called DnD-Spells so that I don't have to go flipping through my guidebook every time I want to chose a spell
Hello my fellow Magicians! Or in this case, my fellow Clerics and half-elves.
I'm an otaku and I'm really proud of being one. Thanks to this part of my living, I've been able to make good friends, enjoy interesting content, have fun adventures, and to do many things I wouldn't have dared (broadcasting and blogging to name a couple). This year, I've been thirsty to take my nerdom a step further. I admit though - I didn't think D&D was going to be the next deep dive.
Hello fellow magicians,
I love to find ways to expand my nerdom further and I decided to make a segment devoted to just that. Thus, I'm starting a new chapter called Level Up. My new article will be coming up soon, documenting the first journey I'll take. To give you all a hint, it involves a heavy amount of imagination and a set of dice.
Take a look at this baby and keep a lookout for it on future posts! They'll be archived later on in one of my pages I've recently installed. (one of my recent attempts to make the blog user-friendly - more detail on that later.) If you have any suggestions about my next frontier, send me a tweet or a comment with #LVup!
Anime and VG YouTubers have been getting hit hard lately by copyright and community strikes. It's been crazy trying to keep up with everything between work, my radio shows, school, and this blog (which I haven't updated in a while - I apologize). But after one of my favorite YouTubers got deleted, I couldn't stay silent any longer. I had to make this video - https://youtu.be/2kGkYW9I63w
Creativity is a big passion of mine and when a right to that creativity is infringed upon, it's hard for m to sit down and watch someone's hard work being destroyed. Things are not permanent in life and we must shift with the seasons to live life fully. But then there's unnatural destruction - the type that produces poison that can't be flushed out if left too long in its devices.
The Google Feedback method I suggested may be completely useless considering that the majority of the issues associated with YouTube have come from their algorithms. But if there's another avenue, it's better than doing absolutely nothing. I know YouTube is trying to protect itself from losing a lot of money from the very companies challenging these creators. But they need to realize right now that this has gone too far.
Continue sending the hashtags, discussing the issues, and posting the videos on this issue. Sooner or later, there has to be a beneficial result from all this.
Mahou Kunoichi's growing up so that means another overhaul. You ready for tomorrow?
Tune in at 11am EST on the Basement (WVUD 91.3 HD-2 FM) for some great nerd action.
'Til then, stay frosty. <3 DJ MK PS - awesome classic Toonami remaster and archival by YouTuber SlimD716.
Hard to believe this. I've been running this blog and my radio show for two years now. On top of that, today's my 1/2 birthday and it's the 50th Super Bowl. Tomorrow I'm starting off school with my first Japanese class of the year and it's the Chinese New Year.
Wow.
I don't know what else to say except thank you. Thank you for all the support you've given me the past 2 years and here's to another two more. :)
I may do a brief episode post-Super Bowl halftime or something. 'Til then, I'll be happily hunting for some half birthday cake or pizza.
I may be in my 20s but I'm never too old for a half birthday celebration. ;)
今日はみんなさん。お元気ですか？久しぶりですね？
In case you're wondering about the musical radio silence from last week's FM episode up until today, it's because I had to fix my laptop. Yes, self-repair is a growing trend and I'm embracing it. It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. While I still have no clue what I'm going to do after the FM stint's up, computer magic may be in the works for this young magician. This isn't my very first foray into building computers. My first build was a desktop with my 6th grade computer science teacher. (It's been 10 years since I've done that and I heard it still works like new. :) ) So I thought my laptop fix would not be too difficult since the principles were similar albeit smaller.
I was right but boy was I wrong on a few major levels.
Bet you all are recovering from this whirlwind that is the start of 2016. I certainly am. It's been hard trying to look through the news online considering all that's been happening this week. Even a friendly BuzzFeed quiz or an insightful Huffington Post article from a friend hasn't pushed me to take a complete plunge into the news sphere. As you probably heard from this morning's broadcast, the most I could handle surfing was Rogue One news (and that material was almost a year old!).
We lost a lot of great people this year, starting off the new year with Natalie Cole, then Monday morning over a Buzzfeed quiz to recover from the mess that was the Golden Globes I find out David Bowie passed away. Then at the Verge, reading up on Spike Lee's latest documentary and the Academy Award nominations, Alan Rickman passed away yesterday. At this point, I'm not surprised that many of us (myself included) are probably saving up for once-in-a-lifetime con experiences, re-examining life's priorities, and trying to make at least one thing concrete in our plans before we join them in the stars. And it can be very easy to feel all alone in that effort, especially as we're already in a marginalized group when it comes to fandom and how we express it.
My message to you all this week is not to give into the despair, obsession, or depression so easily but to see the light in the cracks and be bold enough to reach out when you need it. Believe it or not, there are loads of people who know what you're going through and want to help. If you need somebody to talk to, I'm here for you as well. Feel free to comment here, private message me via Twitter (@djmk4life), or whatever's comfortable for you. This is my job - to give special people like you and me a voice, to provide education for the new initiates, and cheer and entertainment to the familiar. Most importantly, to deliver comfort beyond the radio and internet waves to make the world a better place to live in. The impact may be small but it'll benefit the long run.
David Bowie and Alan Rickman will be missed greatly. They're the two most influential performers I'm glad to have experienced in my lifetime. David Bowie taught me that being yourself is the best way to live. Alan Rickman taught me how even the sharpest tool in the shed can be used for multiple purposes and tricks. I really wanted to meet Alan Rickman because he had a fascinating philosophy and a story to tell and I'm sad that I missed that shot. The final lesson these two have taught me as well as many others before them is that you can't depend on your original plans completely. Sometimes you have to fast-forward a few steps before you can backtrack to where you want to be in. So seize those moments of joy because those moments may never come the same way again.
Carpe diem.
<3 DJ MK
PS - MK on Mixlr will continue where we left off with the Bowie/Rickman Tribute. Keep a lookout on my Twitter or on here to catch the livestream. Plus my laptop's finally in commission so I can record episodes again! YES! :)
A girl can dream, right? And this one certainly has big ones.
I've always wanted to go to Japan since I was a little girl nuts about anime and martial arts. I'm happy that's one dream that's never gone away. If anything, it's gotten better over the years to bigger and more dramatic things. With dreams, the "if" is the first thing to overcome. The most important thing to remember is that there's no such thing as an "if" unless you're exploring possibilities in fiction (and even that's not solid!). The bigger challenge is the "when". I'm hoping to do this trip around my 25th birthday because one part of this vacation feels right to have it around then. Whether I'll have someone with me during the trip or not is still a mystery. But in the meantime, this is my dream itinerary, also keeping into consideration the visa travel period I currently have.
The side bar has a partial list of places I want to go to but this post will go into more detail about the activities and reasons.
Try Nikka Whisky in Hokkaido
This one's an obvious nerd-out for me. Ever since I started watching the asadora Massan, I've been learning about the whisky industry even if I don't necessarily drink it. But watching the show's been pushing me more and more to explore Hokkaido and see how close the climate is to Scotland's (I've been to Scotland but it's been 14 years <0_0> so my memory may be a bit spotty!). In addition, Rita Cowan-Taketsuru [dramawise - Ellie Kameyama acted by Charlotte Kate-Fox] is from the same area where my relatives live so maybe an international side-quest in Glasgow? ^_~
Go nerd out to Tokyo
An absolute requirement for any foreign otaku is to go nuts in Tokyo and sampling every ware possible. Activities include visiting Tokyo Disney Sea, playing tons of arcade games and riding the ferris wheel in Odaiba, doing the 1000円 challenge, buying loads of manga and gachapon figures, and making pilgrimages to Harajuku's Hachi statue and climbing to the top of Shibuya's 109 and Tokyo Tower respectably. Optional - blowing up my suitcase while doing all of these things.
Say 'おきに' in Osaka
おきに is another way of saying ありがとう while in Osaka. While I first got the context of this greeting more so in dramas (specifically the live action version of Grave of the Fireflies), I've seen a number of YouTube videos to figure out that it is a legitimate phrase. It can be used on its own or attached after ありがとう. Of course, I'm still learning so if you've worked with Kansai-ben, leave a comment below. :)
Sing the Zenko-ji song in Nagano
There's a song my martial arts teacher taught me about going to Zenko-ji temple. While he didn't specify where Zenko-ji is, educated guesses have led me to Nagano since it's the closest to his hometown. In terms of the song itself, I don't know if it's a widely-known folk song or my teacher composed it. It describes going to the temple with your friends under the moonlight. I found it really interesting so I felt the need to add this to my bucket list. That and I want to make a proper temple visit.
Enjoy jazz in Kobe*
Kobe has a really impressive jazz scene and has all kinds of styles. It's the city that gave birth to famous composers and bands like Yoko Kanno & The Seatbelts. If they didn't create the styles, chances are the city gave a lot of inspiration (ex. Soil and PIMP Sessions - founded in Tokyo but inspired by Yoko Kanno) or provided fruitful ground for cover bands to flourish. In addition, the story behind Kobe's recovery after the Great Hanshi-Awashi Earthquake and the support they provided during the Fukushima-Daiichi disaster is really inspiring. I love jazz and I love good stories. Don't believe me? Watch this video: Meguru Kisetsu by All That Jazz from the album Ghibli Jazz 2
*And for those who talk about the beef, yes, it is as delicious as people say. :)
There's also a really nice onsen/ryokan called Koya, which reopened in 2012.
Be a henro & complete the pilgrimage in Shikoku
This one's the central part of why I want to go to Japan besides the nerdy pilgrimage. I also want to experience the spiritual side by going through an extensive pilgrimage itinerary. On average, it takes 45 days to complete the pilgrimage (which basically takes up 1/3 of your visa time if you're a US visitor). The time can be cut in half with public transportation & biking but there's no solid account as to how long that would take. On top of that, most henro opt solely for walking when it can be just as genuine of an effort to use public transport to get to certain spots; one will be Dogo Onsen, the bathhouse that was one of the inspirations of Spirited Away. I'm planning to a mix of both during my first shot of the pilgrimage. (Yep - this is not my only trip to Shikoku I'm going to do!) Whether I'll have someone with me or go solo, that's up to fate really.
Because there's not a lot of documentation on walking and using public transport (since it's a pretty recent practice), this site has given a guess as to what that would be like. I've been referencing this site frequently. - http://www.shikokuhenrotrail.com/shikoku/walkingAndRiding.html
There's also an informative site comparing Shikoku to the famous El Camino pilgrimage - http://senguesthouse-matsuyama.com/blog/2013/08/24/camino-vs-ohenro-a-pilgrimage-throwdown-part-un/
Soak in the hot springs in Atami
Of course, what better way to relax and recover from an intense spiritual experience than to relax in one of the most popular resort towns ever? A fitting conclusion to an exciting first time through Japan. It may not take the entirety of 3 months, but it will certainly be a fun-filled and insightful adventure to boot.
Side quests -
Go to Japan during TGS and/or JumpFesta
Practice Aikido in Hombu Dojo and Iwakuni Iwama
Go to Comiket and D23 in Tokyo
Celebrate New Year's Eve and Day
Do the Kannon and Basho pilgrimages
Browse around gaming and anime spots (Shenmue, NANA, Studio Ghibli film locales, etc.)
Fly to Okinawa!
Bike up and down the steepest bridge in Japan
Carry a mikoshi during a matsuri (yes, women are starting to do this!)
If there's any other locales or activities I should try out, feel free to suggest things in the comments or tweet them to me @djmk4life. :) Thank you so much for reading this blog and here's to another year of excitement and content!
