FOCUS

HARD FACTS: WHAT IS UP WITH KIWI'S?

2009-04-26T13:44:00.012+09:00

First of all, this is NOT a racist rant against all NZ people, NOR is it an attack on their independence, egalitarian attitudes or manhood - just an observation of one who has come across a very real and reoccurring theme in the attitude and mentality of the average Kiwi (New Zealand) male and all I can say is WTF?

To this date, I have NOT met a single Kiwi male who wasn't:

Overly nice to me at first...
A 1ooo question man (which you had better answer correctly!)
Dissatisfied with my answers...
Flippy (Jekyll and Hyde)
Directly insulting in a variety of ways and finally...
Overtly aggressive and 1 step away from trying to kill you, themselves, or both!

Wikipedia explains part of the reason for this here:

The hard man: New Zealand men have often been stereotyped as strong, unemotional and prone to violence. For many years this was seen as a good thing... in recent decades the macho attitude has been criticised as dangerous both to men who embody it and those around them. It has been blamed for New Zealand's culture of heavy drinking and its high male suicide rate.

All I can say for sure is, I'm NOT looking forward to my next Kiwi male encounter, and I hope that I survive it with all my limbs (and areas of brain) intact!

TO RESEARCH THIS HARD FACT CLICK HERE NOW!

TO AGREE OR DISAGREE, HAVE YOUR SAY!

MRA WINS GRAND PRIZE AWARD!

2008-08-16T19:50:00.010+09:00

Some good news people...

We are now 'award winning filmmakers' - so watch out!

Watch the MRA TRAILER here

View some photos from THE MAKING OF MRA here.

The short film, Monster Removal Agency (MRA) which was my first ever main acting role (I played the lead, Paul), just won the Grand Prize Award at the 2008 Yubari International Student Film Festival.

We (the team) put a lot of effort and months of training into this action/ comedy film, and we are stoked to finally have some reward for our sweat - yipee! I was the lead actor and fight choreographer for the film, not to mention photographer and self-appointed publicist ;) We had a ball making this film and JR (John Lipartito) the director and Rob Moreno (DP and editor) did an amazing job of wrapping it all up and getting it out there - ONYA!

*Side note: If you are wondering what is happening with me and why this is my FIRST BLOG POST IN MORE THAN A YEAR, well check out my all in one website here: www.shfocus.info. To cut all my stories short, I am busy editing my first feature independent film: Night Walker, which I wrote, produced and directed.

Japanese information follows

夕張国際学生映画祭2008国際学生映画AWARD、グランプリは、ジョン・リパーテイト監督の「MRA The Monster Removal Agency」（アメリカ代表作品）、準グランプリは小栗はるひ監督の「少年少女」（夕張国際学生映画祭2008代表作品）、審査員特別賞は長崎愛監督の「家」（東京学生映画祭招待作品）に決定しました！また今回準グランプリを受賞された小栗はるひさんには、JCF（Japan Creators Fund）スカラシップ制度として、 300万円の製作資金で新作映画を製作・監督する権利を授与します。なお、新作映画は夕張をテーマとし、2008年春から夏にかけて夕張をロケ地として撮影を開始します。またこの映画は10月に開催が予定されているYUBARIWOOD FILM AWARD 2008にて特別上映される予定です。

Trojan Games

2007-06-16T15:31:00.001+09:00

FOR THE MAC GEEK IN ALL OF US...

2007-04-09T07:52:00.001+09:00

This is good for a laugh and some nice eye candy as well ;) Oh yeah by the way, if you get conflicting music sounds then thats bc i have an automatic song generator on this blog so scroll down the links and turn off the music player first!

SPEED UP SAFARI (TRY THESE GOODIES!)

2006-11-28T17:07:00.000+09:00

Try this guide first:

http://guides.macrumors.com/Speed_up_Safari

Have you done these other basics, as well?

1. Empty your cache & History settings via the Safari menu

2. Trash your Icons Folder:
HD>Users>Home>YourName>Library>Safari -->Icons
Restart Safari and a new folder will be automatically regenerated.
(This folder saves favicons of all the sites you visit. Needs cleaning periodically -- or you can change that file's preferences to "Read Only"
rather than "Read & Write." This will keep it from growing in size.)

3. Launch Font Book and check all fonts for duplicates. A duplicated font will have a bullet beside the font family and you can resolve duplicates by selecting the font and at the menu bar, go to Edit > Resolve Duplicates.
Do this for each font with a bullet next to it.

Question: Do you have internet apps SpeedDownload, iGetter, PithHelmet, Acid Search, Safari Enhancer ? Or Norton or Virex? Sometimes non-apple internet apps need updating or uninstalling.

IF THIS DOES NOT WORK THEN GO FOR THE COMPLETE SAFARI OVERHAUL HERE @
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107657

BAND OF THE WEEK!

2006-10-14T16:11:00.000+09:00

Time and time again Australia produces some of the BEST rock bands in the world and shows the world how to ROCK FOR REAL and this band is no exception to the rule - WE ROCK!

Jet, although not exactly new (their debut album came out in 2003), is a class example of ROCK MUSIC in the heart of the greatest ROCK BAND of all time - AC/DC (or us fans say, aka daka). These guys not only know how to ROCK but the lead singers voice has a vocal range that other ROCK SINGERS simply, don't!

These guys who hail from Melbourne, Australia are also well managed and their website is SUPER. Click on the picture of the website NOW and do yourself a BIG FAVOR.

Jet ROX!

4 TOO MANY!

2006-10-14T14:09:00.000+09:00

HowManyOfMe.com

There are:
4
people with my name
in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

Aparently there are only 4 Simon Hiltons in the whole UNITED STATES OF AMERICA but me thinks thats 4 too many!

CAN YOU READ THE NUMBER PLATE??

2006-10-03T15:44:00.000+09:00

BEST IF YOU TURN UP THE VOLUME, GET CLOSE TO THE SCREEN AND TRY TO READ THE NUMBER PLATE OF THE MOVING CAR...

NOW MAKE YOUR COMMENT...

A GIFT FOR CAT LOVERS!

2006-10-03T01:33:00.001+09:00

I wanna see the sequel... If the cats up for it?

NOW THIS IS GAS!

2006-10-03T01:25:00.002+09:00

I near shit myself laughing over this... Must see!

MY FIRST PODCAST...

2006-10-02T00:40:00.000+09:00

Subscribe Free for future posts Add this player to my Page

The Zen Forest

2006-09-09T22:01:00.001+09:00

Here is a little short film that Kaori and I wrote, directed and filmed in 1 day last christmas in Chichibu forest, Japan. If you would like to watch it FULL SCREEN just click on the movie and you will go to YouTube where you can do just that. For more fOCUS fLIX Productions visit fOCUSfLIX TV by clicking on the title of this blog post. The 'Night Walker' trailer will be released very soon in conjuction with the new official fOCUS fLIX Website so keep checking here and over at the Night Walker site @ http://nightwalker2005.blogspot.com

PIC OF THE WEEK!

2006-09-06T09:31:00.000+09:00

Sheepish
Originally uploaded by Danz in Tokyo.

I know, I know... Harajuku on a Sunday photos are cliche and are an ohhh so common snap of gaijin in Tokyo but this one is truly stunning! This photo was taken candid, with no zoom and whilst walking and has captured the innocence and cuteness of the Japanese teenager. Great contrast between foreground and background (new & old) and the colours add and overall richness to this surprisingly well framed snap. Love the expression and the focus of the eye.

Bound to become one of the best at SNAP TOKYO (my flickr group). To vote on this snap and see more great snaps of TOKYO visit:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/snaptokyo/pool/

Snap taken by Danz in Tokyo (member of SnapTokyo)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lost-moments/196045269/in/pool-snaptokyo/

THE QUICKTIME KILLER! (IMPORTANT UPDATE)

2006-08-15T13:02:00.000+09:00

For those of you still having this issue (as posted prior) where Safari just wont show quicktime images and only a ? mark then do this:

Go to library/ internet plugins & remove only this file: QuickTimePlugin.webplugin (as shown in the pic) to the desktop (be sure to save it in a new folder ie. Quicktime folder) and close safari. Then re-open and both Quicktime movies and content on websites should now display for you.

C'mon Apple, lift your game and stop leaving it up to guys like me to solve your issues... blah!

NEW SAFARI AND QUICKTIME (?)

2006-07-12T16:23:00.000+09:00

If, like me, you have been the new Safari 2 (i use 2.0.4) then you would have no doubt come across this little (?) annoying and frustrating irony! Quicktime won't play in Safari (they are both Apple applications...) so when you navigate to a website like this one (the focus blog) you will see Quick time ????? everywhere instead of the Quicktime visual (ie. movie etc...).

Well I am HAPPY to say that I have found a CURE for this niggling disease and it is as follows:

1. Go to your library folder and open (double click) the internet plugin folder
2. Next, find the two files named: "Quicktime Plugin.plugin" and "QuickTime Plugin.webplugin"
3. Drag the two files to your desktop (don't delete or trash yet!)
4. Quit and restart Safari (the Quicktime killer!)
5. Go back to the page where Safari killed the Quicktime file ??? (ie. the focus blog)
6. And wallah!!! There it is again... Quicktime in all its glory, back form the dead!

*Note: feel free to comment or thank me if advice this helped you and click on "Report bugs to Apple" and describe this annoyance in full colour so that others won't have to do this in the future!

Happy MacKing and let's Safari...

CHICK OF THE WEEK!

2006-07-01T13:57:00.000+09:00

Eriko Sato
Originally uploaded by Bikini Idolater.

Eriko Sato (the star of 'Cutie Honey' an anime girl power film) has to be my all time favourite Japanese Model. She has a rare, natural talent; A perfect body and a perfect face... you go gal!

If you want a closer look at what I mean then click on the top photo now!
Enjoy the wonders of nature...

MUSIC OF THE WEEK! "Both Sides Of The Gun"

2006-06-21T17:26:00.000+09:00

Having only ever been on one side of the gun (as yet, fingers crossed!) and not to often there either, the name of Ben Harper's new double album intrigued me, to say the least.

I was first introduced to this brilliant musician/ poet and or artist a number of years ago by a good friend of mine (thanx Scott) and have been constantly amazed by his raw talent and dedication to creating what i call 'real music' with energy and soul that is rare these days and makes him stand out from the crowd.

It is hard to compare Ben Harper to others but names like; Dylan, Marley, Cooder etc... spring to mind when you feel his awesome stage presence and versatility with instruments and sounds. Ben is truly a musical, lyrical and spiritual genius (& I don't use that word lightly).

Do yourself a favour and check out his website where you can listen to and experience the man himself along with his talented and faithful band 'The Innocent Criminals'.

'"In the United States, you are presumed innocent before being declared guilty but generally, if you are Black, you are not necessarily guilty but you are certainly an innocent criminal — you are suspect."

NEXT FOCUS BLOG

2006-06-06T10:28:00.000+09:00

THE FRISBEE...

COMING SOON!

A NEW MAC... ANYONE?

2006-06-04T18:11:00.000+09:00

Steve Jobs and the Mac team have moved on to greener pastures with a whole new range of Apple Computers that use the new Intel processors over the old Power PC (ie. G5 Power Macs & older PowerBooks). Why, is not the topic of this post but which? Which one should I buy? A new MacBook Pro (all the rage!), a much cheaper, simpler MacBook (similar to the beloved iBooks) or an Intel Core Duo iMac (powerful consumer based desktop)???

As most of you already know, I wrote and directed an indy film "Night Walker" right here in Tokyo through 2005 - 2006 and although mostly finished with the production phase I have yet to begin the post-production phase of editing the movie together. Through past experiences I have learnt that editing is challenging (to say the least), time consuming, expensive and requires various software know-how and a great machine that is powerful enough to pull it off.

Thankfully, Apple Computer have (for some time now) been delivering computers to the market that are powerful enough to do just this as well as providing the software (cheaply in some cases). I started out video editing in 2003 on a G3 (blue and white) iMac using iMovie and this I must say was a revolution of sorts to me as I never dreamed it possible! Some time after (Dec 2004) I bought a new iBook G4 (what I am writing on now) and again continued to use iMovie to edit and hone my skills.

However, now the time has come to get serious and move away from iMovie and enter the world of Final Cut Pro Studio (a great pro user 4 in 1 movie editing software from Apple). In order to do this however I needed to once again update and buy a new Mac and the new generation of Intel Macs came just at the right time for me. So, over the last month or so I have researched the new macs (pros and cons) throughout many forums, discussion boards, websites and user reviews. Below is what I have found and what has led me to make my final decision (a personal choice based on hours of research).

I have decided to purchase an 20 inch Intel Core Duo Imac customized with the following technical specs:

20 Inch Widscreen TFT active-matrix liquid crystal display
2 GHz Intel Core Duo processor
2 GB 667 DDR SDRAM (ram memory)
250 GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
ATI Radeon x1600/ 128MB VRAM (video/ graphics processor)

Why have I decided on an Intel iMac over the MacBook Pro (the rage)? Well, its quite simple really...

I customised my iMac to either match or surpass the MacBook Pro specs and power. I also saved over ¥150, 000 (about US $ 1,500) in the process.
I don't need another laptop (i have the Mac iBook G4 which is my baby!)
The screen is much larger and clearer and overall it is stunning to look at.
It has more hard drive space (over twice the amount of the MacBook Pro).
It runs cooler (very cool) due to the increased air circulation space.
The hard drive is more powerful (7200RPM versus 5400RPM)
It runs Final Cut Pro Studio with more speed and efficiency.
I spent 3 hours at the MAC store in Ginza putting the Intel iMac through various tests.
The Mac Geniuses and Specialists at the Mac store assured me that it runs FCP extremely well and is the better machine overall than the MacBook Pro.
And, it has excellent user ratings as opposed to the very poor ratings for the new MacBook Pros (read more about this below).

Coupled with this fine purchase I will get a big discount on Final Cut Studio (¥36,000 off!) for purchasing the new Intel iMac and my Editing Studio will become a reality and the real work of post-production will then begin...

For more info on the MacBook Pro (user complaints) and iMac (user praises) please visit the following links:

MacBook Pro
http://www.macintouch.com/readerreports/macbookpro/index.html#jun03
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=507992&tstart=0
Intel iMac
http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/Apple_iMac_Core_Duo_20_inch_2_0GHz/4852-3118_16-31661466.html?tag=uoreturn
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=204960

The above views are totally mine, independently researched and in no way associated with Apple, Steve Jobs or directed at you (if you are a recent MacBook convert).

I hope this blog article and information provided will help others to make a informed choice when looking at buying a new Mac too cause they aren't cheap and there seems to be some real LEMONS out there (even in Mac stores).

Good Luck and may the Mac gods be with you!

INTERNET EXPLORER TO THE TRASH?

2006-05-27T22:22:00.001+09:00

YES PLEASE!
Those of you who know me would all know that I switched from PC (Personal Crap) computers about 2 years ago when I bought my first Mac (an iBook G4) as a xmas present for myself and I have and will never, regret it! Until then I was ignorant of the computer world and brainwashed by Bill Gates and his mates (millions of them by now) to believe that every thing I touched had to be Microsoft.

Well, not any more! I have broke free from that mental slavery, monopoly and ignorance and basically become somewhat of a computer geek (Mac only) to the point that a large number of my waking hours (and indeed, my life) is dedicated to cyber-play. The numerous blogs and websites that I administer means that I have to look at a web browser constantly. Now if one checks the plethora of web browsers available they will soon see that there are so many that actually work (unlike IE) and work fast, secure and reliably.

INTERNET EXPLORER'S MARKET SHARE

Then, why on earth is IE so god damn popular, I hear you ask? Hmmm... well, ignorance is a powerful thing especially when it is backed up by money and a monopolising agent (MS). The millions who continue to support IE are responsible for its dominance and market share peaking at 96% in 2002 (now around 85%) but never fear because fortunately this damage can be reversable by the same people who are responsible for it (ironically).

Now if we dig a little deeper we find out that these important stats:
1. IE is boxed with all windows based computer responsible for its monopoly.
2. IE is so tighly intergrated with Windoze... zzz Woops sorry! Operating System that removing it can cause issues with your PC that may give you many more problems in the future (gee thanx a bunch Microsoft).
3. Much of the spam, spyware, adware, and computer viruses across the Internet is made possible by exploitable bugs and flaws in the security architecture of Internet Explorer.
4. Microsoft has also not responded as quickly as competitors in fixing security holes and making patches available. Not only are there more holes in Explorer, but holes remain unpatched for a longer time. Hello... Danger Mouse!
And last but not least;
5.IE, if used for browsing the net for some time, will also emit a powerful form of electromagnetic radiation coupled with hypnotising frequencies (that only bacteria can hear) which causes absolute insanity and the need to buy more MS products!!!

Okay, I made the last one up but I think you get the picture... IE is WRONG and the following story will prove it and is NOT made up.
For some time my blogs (blogger websites) have presented me with a frustrating pain in the ass that has caused me to try everything thing in my tool box to fix it! The problem was that my blogs were viewable as designed and intended (with their links on the right side) on a Mac but for some reason when viewed on a PC, were not. The links were pushed to the bottom of the screen, making the whole blog look SHIT! I edited the HTML many times but nothing solved the problem until just today, when I had an Idea: Maybe it wasn't the blog but the IE Web Browser that was responsible. Guess what? I was right IE is the only browser that seems to have trouble displaying my simple blogs (huh!).

So what can you do?
Well, its actually quite simple: STOP USING INTERNET EXPLORER NOW! And teach others to Say NO to IE also for the good of all concerned and our sanity!

For more info on this topic (if you don't trust a raving Mac geek) go to this online article:
http://redmondmag.com/features/article.asp?editorialsid=439

LET'S HELP THE JAPANESE POLICE TO STOP CRIME! (?)

2006-05-23T15:22:00.000+09:00

When we think of Japan a number of words come up that are usually in uniform agreeance amongst most, if not all, 'gaijin' (foreigners) and they are as follows: Strange, weird, busy, a land of contrast, exciting, pop, culture, manga, sex, cute, Japlish etc... The list goes on and on and it wouldn't be fair to say that some of them aren't generalisations or cliches. Having said that, CRIME is not one of the words that comes to mind in fact, the opposite is usually true. Japan is a SAFE country compared to western standards and most foreigners would agree on two things:

1. Tokyo although, one of the largest cities in the world and not entirely void of crime, is EXTREMELY SAFE (similar to entering a kindergarten dressed in a riot police uniform with a bunch of sweet candy)
2. The Japanese Police have easy jobs compared to other police forces around the world and tend to waste much of their time on the so called 'Suspicious Foreigners' and 'Bicycle Theives' that run rampant in Tokyo (?).

So, it was to my dismay that earlier today (in the middle of the day) I was approached by a uniform cop at the Kawaguchi Train Station (just outside the exit) and handed a pamphlett on, you guessed it, CRIME! (See actual pamphlett below).

This pamphlett describes the prevalence of 'Bag snatchers...' (ひたくり hitakuri) and warns you to '...be on the look out!!' (ご用心！！goyoujin) for these bike riding rascals who pray on women (95% of the time) with front bicycle baskets (80% of the time) and snatch their Louis Vuitton, Prada, Guchi or just plain, boring, old shopping bags (if they're really hungry) and ride off into the viscious gettos.

Back to the cop and our not so brief (unfortunately) exchange that followed. As I exited the station I remembered that I had to confirm the next lesson with one of my students so I stopped to send a quick email (on my mobile phone). No sooner had I flipped the vodafone top open when the uniform started making his way towards me with an uncomfortable urgency. The dialogue that followed went something like this (translated into english for convenience):

Cop: Hello, I'd like to give you this pamphlett (above).
Me: Really (already suspicious of his demeanor) what is it?
Cop: It explains the recent increase in bag snatching around this area!
Me: Why are you giving it to me then?
Cop: Because you have a bag (I was wearing a backpack).
Me: Ok thank you...
Cop: By the way, where do you live?
Me: Here actually.
Cop: Can I see your Gaijin Torokusho (Foreign 'Alien' Registration Card)?
Me: Why?
Cop: Its standard procedure!
Me: But I'm kinda busy right now... (taking out my Gaijin Card and handing it to him like the good samaritan that I be).
Cop: What is your job? (at this point the 20 questions begin).
Me: I'm an English teacher...
Cop: Oh, really (trying to sound impressed) and why then does your card say Akabane on it? (My previous address as I have just moved to a new apartment).
Me: I haven't yet changed the address (now becoming frustrated at the sudden interrogation).
Cop: Again, where exactly do you live...?
Me: Again, tell me officer, why the 20 questions?
Cop: Its just routine, you know?
Me: Well, I'm sorry but I don't really have time for this (some of us have to work, you know?).

Enter second cop from a distance.

2nd Cop: Is everything ok here?
Me: It kinda was but now I gotta go, ok?
2nd Cop: Where do you live?
Me: (fuck not again!) Over there, in that nice new mansion, where the good people live, you know right next to the station where people who are neither criminal nor suspicious, reside. (The last part was NOT explicitly stated but I tried to make it understood through more indirect means of which the Japanese are generally very good at themselves).
1st Cop: Which one?
Me: Look guys, sorry but your times up and I'm outta here, so catchya later, ok?
Cops: Go to the ward office and change you address, quickly, ok?
Me: Hai Hai (yes o' fuck'n kay!) bye bye.

Exit me with my backpack and temper on the boil... down the nearest escalator to freedom.

As I was walking home to do some overdue work and prepare for my next lesson (which just happened to be a test) I could'nt stop thinking about the episode that had just passed so when I got home to my safe (from bag snatching) enviroment I decided to do a little research and something about it and here is what I found out... (to find out more about your rights click on the title now to go an excellent site explaining what you should do when in this situation, yourself).

Basically, the police do have the right to ask for your indentification (Gaijin Card) as you do theirs but only if there is 'suspicion'. So basically they can only ask for your card if you look like a 'suspicious person' and/ or a doing something that is suspicious (this is the law!). A tricky cop might say that 'This applies only to Japanese people' but in fact he (or she) would be wrong again because the law states 'This applies to all individuals in Japan regardless of their nationality' (Keisatsu hou dai hyaku roku juu ni gou ni yorimasu to, wagakuni no kojin ni atehamarimasu. Kokuseki wa kankei arimasen).

So I ask you all this question: Was the above pamphlett there to inform me of criminal activity within my local area or, was it just an excuse (smokescreen) for the often bored and prejudice Japanese police to stop me and ask me 20 personal questions, regardless of whether I looked suspicious or not? I will let you be the judge on that and leave you with something to think about...

Who is truly comitting the crime on the people?

A 'people' definition = those who are of 'Japanese look' and even those who may be suspicious to look at.

We all have rights (legal and human) and even if we don't look like we should have... we should have! So do yourself a favour and check out this great website dedicated to helping you understand them and hopefully make you feel safer in this 'Crime filled' society! (?)

http://www.debito.org/

And here is a something you can print out, fold up, put in your Gaijin Card (plastic cover) and show to the Japanese Police next time you are rudely interrupted from your daily routine with 20 questions about your suspicious nature (?).
Cut and paste into your browser this link:

http://shfocus.blogspot.com/2006/05/japanese-law-on-spot-checks-printout_23.html

Power to the people...

THE JAPANESE LAW ON SPOT CHECKS (PRINTOUT)

2006-05-23T14:19:00.001+09:00

*HINT: CUT & PASTE, REDUCE SIZE OF FONT AND WIDTH, PRINT OUT & HIGHLIGHT THE JAPANESE TO PUT IN YOUR GAIJIN CARD. CARRY AT ALL TIMES TO SHOW THE POLICE WHEN YOU ARE UNFAIRLY STOPPED ('SPOT CHECKED').

**IF YOU CAN NOT VIEW THE JAPANESE CHARACTERS CORRECTLY CHANGE YOUR TEXT ENCODING TO UNICODE (UTF-8) AND THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE NO PROBLEMS.

THE JAPANESE LAW ON SPOT CHECKS
(GIVE TO THE POLICE WHEN STOPPED)

警察官職務執行法　第二条　警察官は、異常な挙動その他周囲の事情から合理的に判断して何らかの犯罪を犯し、若しくは犯そうとしていると疑うに足りる相当な理由のある者又は既に行われた犯罪について、若しくは犯罪が行われようとしていることについて知っていると認められる者を停止させて質問することができる。
In Romaji: Keisatsukan Shokumu Shikkou Hou, Dai Ni Jou Keisatsukan wa, ijou na kyodou sonota shuui no jijou kara gouriteki ni handan shite naniraka no hanzai o okashi, moshikuwa okasou to shiteiru to utagau ni tariru soutou na riyuu ga aru mono mata wa sudeni okonowareta hanzai ni tsuite, moshikuwa hanzai ga okonawareyou to shiteiru koto ni tsuite shitteiru to mitomerareru mono o teishi sasete shitsumon suru koto ga dekiru.
-------------
YOU: According to the KSS Law, only suspicious characters can be questioned. Excuse me, but specifically what am I doing that is so suspicious?
(In Romaji: Keisatsukan Shokumu Shikkou Hou ni yorimasu to, kyodou fushinsha dake ni shokumu shitsumon suru koto ga dekimasu. Sumimasen ga, gutaiteki ni donna fushin na koui o shiteimasu ka.
(In Japanese: 警察官職務執行法によりますと、挙動不審者だけに職務質問することができます。すみませんが、具体的にどんな不審な行為をしていますか。)
--------------
This might stop the cop in his tracks. If the policeman comes back with:

COP: This law applies to Japanese only.
YOU: No. According to the Police Law Number 162, it applies to all individuals in Japan.
In Romaji (ie, chigaimasu. Keisatsu hou dai hyaku roku juu ni gou ni yorimasu to, wagakuni no kojin ni atehamarimasu. Kokuseki wa kankei arimasen.
いえ、違います。警察法第百六十二号によりますと、我が国の「個人」にあてはまります。国籍は関係ありません。)
------------
One fine but important point. Can't he just drag you to the Kouban and preserve his secret identity? Actually, no. Unwarranted demands to come to the Kouban are illegal too. According to that fat law up back up there called the Keisatsukan Shokumu Shikkou Hou, Clause Two, I quote:
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
"It is possible to ask a particular person to accompany the [police] to a nearby police station, police branch [i.e. kouban], or any police administration area for questioning if it is determined that this place is unsuitable for questioning because it obstructs traffic or is disadvantageous to the questionee."
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
which means that the police have the right to ASK you. However, the next clause, Clause Three, says you have the right to REFUSE and they have no right to restrict your movements without a formal charge or arrest. I quote:
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
"Unless there is a regulation relating to criminal action, officials may not confine, bring back to any police administration area, or else coerce a person to reply to questions against his will."
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This is pretty straightforward and deserves to be known about. So if the policeman demands in public that you come with him to another area, like a separate room at Haneda Airport for questioning, refuse. Print up and pull out this law:
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警察官職務執行法　第二条　第二項　その場で前項の質問をすることが本人に対して不利であり、又は交通の妨害になると認められる場合においては、質問するため、その者に附近の警察署、派出所又は駐在所に同行することを求めることができる。警察官職務執行法　第二条　第三項　前二項に規定する者は、刑事訴訟に関する法律の規定によらない限り、身柄を拘束され、又はその意に反して警察署、派出所若しくは駐在所に連行され、若しくは答弁を強要されることはない。
In Romaji: Keisatsukan Shokumu Shikkou Hou, Dai Ni Jou, Dai Ni Kou, sono ba de zenkou no shitsumon o suru koto ga honnin ni taishite furi de ari, mata wa koutsuu no bougai ni naru to mitomerareru baai ni oite wa, shitsumon suru tame, sono mono ni fukin no keisatsusho, hashussho mata wa chuuzaisho ni doukou suru koto o motomeru koto ga dekiru. Keisatsukan Shokumu Shikkou Hou, Dai Ni Jou, Dai San Kou, zennikou ni kitei suru mono wa, keiji soshou ni kansuru houritsu no kitei ni yoranai kagiri, migara o kousoku sare, mata wa sono i ni hansite keisatsusho, hashusso moshiku wa chuuzaisho ni renkou sare, moshikuwa touben o kyouyou sareru koto wa nai.)

Note: Do this at your own risk but remember you are doing it for the greater good and if you have nothing to hide then you have nothing to answer for!

THE STOP SMOKING TRIAL!

2006-04-13T21:17:00.000+09:00

Well troops, here I am sitting on a hospital bed (with no sheets) on the 2nd to last day of 'The Stop Smoking Trial' which is a clinical trial to test a new drug that aims to stop the filthy habit? I'd like to say that I have offered my physical services all in the name of science and of course to kick the habit but the truth of the matter is in the fat check i'll will receive when I return on tuesday to reap the reward.

Don't get me wrong though, I'm all for the stop smoking thing and it's obvious health benefits but at the minute, the funds to edit my current film 'Night Walker' so I can move into post production next month, wins hands down! You see the cash that I get from whoring my body should be significant enough to pay some tax bills (?) and build an editing studio in our (Kaori & I) brand new mansion apartment, which let me just say is one of the best things that's happened to me since my move to Japan (7 years ago).

The apartment is a 2LDK with service room (so more like a 3LDK actually), has a size of 75 metres squared (huge by Tokyo standards) and overlooks the city and train lines in both directions (great view) on the 12th floor of a complex that is a mere 2mins from the train station. If it sounds like I'm bragging, I am, so there; who says crime doesn't pay? Hu hu hu, ha ha ha... wooooh yeh!
For more pics of the abode click on the snap below.

Here is the view overlooking the station complex from new apartment.

So now it's time to accumulate more urine have a bedtime smoke and watch a movie (Memoirs of a Geisha)... Yes, it's a tough life here in the 'clinic of truth'. Over and out...

FLIX OF THE MONTH!

2006-04-05T15:42:00.000+09:00

Being a relatively recent (since moving to Japan 7 years ago) film buff and even more recent indy film actor and director, I can offer my opinion for only what it is worth. So here goes nothing... Over the last month I have seen a lot of films which have ranged from totally amazing to absolutely mind-numbing (to say the least). It seems to me that films are often made to satisfy an increasingly educated and hard-to-please audience that ironically, need all the help they can get to figure out what the hell is going on and more so, the point of the story before their eyes.

This brings me to the first of my movie comparisons today; SAW 2 (Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman). After thoroughly enjoying the predecessor (SAW) and revelling in its horror and ingenuity (script and visuals) I held high hopes for the follow up and tried for a whole month to rent it (was always out) from my local vid shop. After finally getting my dirty little hands on the shiny disc and wacking it into my laptop which, by the way, is connected to my cheap ass idiot box, I commenced my journey into a dissatisfying, crumby excuse for a sequel that seemed to be devised, pre-produced and shot in a few lunch hours (actually 25 days but who's counting).

The tagline read: We Dare You Again... and after being subjected to the half-assed acting, bad lines and crappy casting which makes my little low-budget film (Night Walker) look like that's all we did for 3 months; I wonder if the three dots following the tagline have a deeper meaning (?). So I will attempt to translate or even better, decode the meaning of these three dots for you all:

Dot . 1= Time to watch a really scary film that rides on the success of the prior to the point where we really don't give a shit who, why or what you (the so called educated audience) thinks... so there!

Dot . 2= If we give you rusty metal, sharp objects and blood, blood, blood and you still don't like it then you must not have seen the 1st one we made... fools!

Dot . 2= Bring back the past, throw in some bad one liners like: "X marks the spot" and bring the whole brew to a simmering (Oh my god, I was really right!?) climax and there you have it... SAW 2.

Now hand over your cash and be ready for the next installment of absolute horror which we soooo needed to set up in order to give you what you desire: SAW 3!

Rating: **** 4/10

Where to now?

Oh yes, I almost forgot... the contrast; NOTHING (directed by Vincenzo Natali). Well, what can I say but thank GOD for Canadians (never thought I'd actually being saying that) but they saved my month and quite possibly the year as well, with a GEM of a film about NOTHING!

Looking at the cover in the shop I thought horror/ suspense/ thriller or something along the lines of the original CUBE that I really enjoyed back a few years from the same director. Not so, and from open to close, I found myself being born again and kacking myself like a crazy man on mushies and the rest of the time in between, wondering what the hell was happening to me and the hilarious nothingness I was surrounded by. The film jolted me from my mortal sense of viewing movies with a critical eye and re-establidhed what is good about the world of cinema... absolute, refreshing creativity to say the least.

By continuing on here, I may do the film and injustice so I will just say this: Thumbs up and do yourself a favour... you will not regret it! Best film of the year, so far.

Rating: ********* 9/10 (Genius)
"Bye-bye, Andrew's thing on the floor next to the thing with the thing in it!"

WANNA LEARN DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY?

2006-03-25T14:16:00.000+09:00

While cruising the net (looking for website tips actually) I came across a great little article on how to IMPROVE your digital photography. So if you wanna learn some good tricks to take awesome photos then click on the TITLE or this link:

http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2002/10/22/digi_photo_tips.html

SnapSi