Thirst, or “Bat” in Korean (hence the movie poster), is the latest creation of Park Chan Wook, director of another movie reviewed on these pages, Oldboy. In a sentence, it’s a stylish vampire movie featuring sex, blood and death. It’s also pretty funny, occasionally horrific, and very graphic. The star of the show is Kim Ok-vin, who plays the at-times humble at-times vicious Tae-joo wonderfully. I’m not a vampire movie fan, but I really liked it.

Also recommended is the other thing I spent today watching, Flight of the Conchords!

It’s almost Christmas, and then New Years, my first Christmas and New Years in the UK for four years. Last year was Seoul and Seoul, the year before Langkawi, Malaysia and Singapore, and the year before that Palawan and the White Beach, Philippines.

I miss tropical beaches! And desire plans for the future…especially with regard to future employment.

My Christmas will be taken up with essay writing- one on Meiji imperialism, the other on contemporary Japanese foreign policy. Interesting topics, but still intense work. The year is only 3 months done- 25% of my Masters is almost complete. What should I do after? How will I earn money for more travel around the world? Questions that need answers, in the next nine months.

Norihiro Akahoshi, a fan favourite, announced his retirement from Nippon Pro Yakyu yesterday. My favourite Hanshin player, he adorns this blog in the banner at the top, and will be remembered by me and all other Hanshin fans for his excellent steals, and fierce character. He will be more than missed- always an integral member of the lineup, his stealing and lead-off runs contributed to many victories over the years since he joined the Tigers in 2001. What more can be said? He stole one hell of a lot of bases, and always performed, achieving excellent ERA’s even as all around him was faltering, particularly in the 2008 season.

He will be missed. 赤星さん、お疲れ様でした！

In shock news, my favourite Hanshin player Norihiro Akahoshi has retired from professional baseball. This is due to his injury this season and the fact that the next could paralyse him. The news comes as a shock to all, players and fans alike.

You can see comments from Mayumi, Kanemoto, Johjima and other players here in Japanese- http://hanshintigers.jp/news/topics/info_1324.html

Or “Pop Trash” as its described by this Independent review. This is a deeply superficial show, full of glitz and gloss, blingy as Moscow, neon-besmattered as the buildings of central Tokyo, noisy as a hypermarket. The review means this as a bad thing, but I’m not so sure. Yes, it’s shallow, but its entertainingly shallow and raises interesting questions about commercialisation in art, and in one case of a sex video, an artists selling of her body “for the purpose” of art (or is it just shameful hype?) Also its pretty entertaining- my favourite parts were the Damien Hirst room (in all its dotty ridiculousness), complete with Golden Carf Submerged in Water, the Naked Lady Corridor (not the room “Adults only”, but the corridor where startled middle class ladies rushed their young children past medium-core arty images of women in various states of undress), and the final room- a gloriously Murakami-ed up extravaganza (not Haruki, this one) that allowed me and my friend to bask in Japan nostalgia with the Kirsten Dunst video filmed in Akiharabara on display. Anyway enough talk, here’s some pics:

Andy Warhol- too much for me, and certainly wasn’t the best part

The Brooke Sheilds controversy generated publicity, but the replacement picture was a minor part of the exhibition

Lots of sex

Golden Cow in Water, or “False Idol” (2008) by Damien Hirst- now that’s more like it

Dead Horse. Untitled (2009) by Maurizio Cattelan

Takashi Murakami

Kirsten Dunst – BABE!

The blog is dying a bit. I thought it might. Various things continue to occur in this wild fairground ride they call life. I’m moving into my own place in London- from east to north-west, at not little financial cost. This puts pressure on me to get a reasonable job next year, and I’ll probably be in London for at least another year after this, if not two.

There are certainly things I wish to blog about though- more on politics, film, society, Hanshin Tigers 2010, and my 12-month round the world trip, scheduled for 2012 perhaps? But at the moment my time is spent drinking, eating or reading and writing for the MA. It doesn’t exclude time for blogging, but it does take away the motivation a bit.

So the blog will never die. It will stumble on for years maybe. But the volume of content will decrease- for now. Roll on that 2012 travel tour of the world!

Not sure about the green background. Still, its nice to celebrate our 75th anniversary!

With academics, students, journalists, literati and occasional celebrities, the British Library is a varied and interesting place to do my reading. The main reason I’ve moved here, a few hundred metres from the SOAS library, is that it has big desks and really comfy chairs. Plus massive reading rooms with impressive titles like “Maps Room” and “Rare Books” room. Ultimately it hasn’t made reading about Japanese peasants any more interesting, but certainly a bit more tolerable.

My first essay on the Tokugawa state is almost done, and soon enough I’ll be moving onto contemporary Japanese foreign relations for my Politics module. In between I have a statistics assignment for Japanese, which thankfully I can base on the Hanshin Tigers!

Thats the most interesting news I have today, sorry.

Set during the firebombing of Kobe in World War II, Hotaru no haka tells the story of young Seita, and his younger sister Setsuko.

There’s something profound about this movie. It’s so tragic, yet so beautiful, and carries as intense and poignant a message about war as there is. The title is ambiguous- written in unusual characters, “fireflies” has many nuances, and interpretations.The beginning and ending frame the main story perfectly. Its really amazing.

Every so often you see a stunningly powerful movie, and this is one of them. Not to be missed.

Try this if you’re bored- BlogBooker can make your entire blog, including links and pictures, into a PDF file for free! Naisu. I’ve been looking through my new and shiny PDF, and realised how much less fun this blog is now- movie reviews and baseball have replaced photos and adventures. My time is taken up with study- writing and reading- I take far less photos than I want to, and I’m eager to the extreme to find my own place.

A carefree existence of boozing and relaxation have make way for a busy life of intense study. Put another way a life lacking in challenge has been replaced by one of intellectual stimulation. Still, the need for space, and money, is paramount in my thoughts these days. I want to travel, take photographs, have a nice place, and have money for treats. All of these things lead to the conclusion that its time to find a job, not for a year, but for the future. And this is what I’ll do.

But I want these things now! Mostly space…I need my own place.