1 Night 2 Days going to the darkside

As amibtious as their South Pole trip may have seemed, reports that I have read from a website that I frequent, suggests that they are planning to head North. North, as in North Korea. No details have surfaced about where they plan to go or what they plan to do but I wonder if these episodes will be as much fun as previous shows. A ceasefire has been in place since hostilies were quelled during the Korean civil war. Tense relationships between the two countries have been strained in the past few years with the North conducting missile tests. In an earlier jaunt to Mt Baekdu, they had to go around the North via China to get to their destination. Im sure there will be many restrictions on filming as this is a communist dictatorship. Governments like this have a strangle hold on what gets shown about itself inside its borders and tries to control what gets past its border.

It will be interesting to see how it all pans out

Credit:1n2dfansubs, allkpop

1 Night 2 Days staying put for now

I have just read an article about the shows plan to visit Antarctica. Due to the disaster that occurred in Chile, the trip will be postponed. Their itenarary would have taken the guys via Chile as a stopover to their final destination. Too much of Chile is in a state of disarray and the Korean government has put out travel warnings for travel to that area.

Not to sound crass, but this means there could be a possible showdown with the seven and me during my visit in a few weeks

Credit:1n2dfansubs, allkpop

www.JapanRail.com is gone

A short while back, I had posted some info about travelling while in Tokyo, Japan using the rail system run by Japan Rail, JR. Ove the last few weeks the site had been down temporarily. Now, the site has formally closed down. Many of the links I posted should still work. If not, you may want to check the info no posted on the site:

We are sorry to inform you that this web site is now permanently closed.We thank our many visitors for using our site over the past decadeand for their kind comments to us.

Our JR New York office is still open to assist you. Please contact us at:Phone: 212 332 8686 (Mon. - Fri. 10:00am to 4:00pm)Fax: 212 332 8690 • E-Mail: info@japanrail.com

For information on the web please visit the following Japan Railways sites in Japan,the link is to the English-language homepage:

JAPAN RAIL PASSwww.japanrailpass.netComplete info on purchasing and using the Japan Rail Pass.

JR HOKKAIDO : JAPAN’S NORTHERN ISLANDwww2.jrhokkaido.co.jp/global• Regional Hokkaido Rail Passes • Sample routes and maps •• Corporate info about JR Hokkaido.

JR EAST : TOKYO AND NORTHEAST HONSHUwww.jreast.co.jp/e • Regional JR East Passes • Suica & N’EX Ticket • Narita Express• • JR East schedules and maps • Corporate info about JR East •

JR CENTRAL : NAGOYA AND CENTRAL HONSHUenglish.jr-central.co.jp• Schedules for Tokaido Shinkansen: Tokyo - Nagoya - Kyoto - Osaka • • JR Central tour packages • Corporate info about JR Central •

JR WEST : OSAKA AND SOUTHWEST HONSHUwww.westjr.co.jp/english• Regional JR West Rail Passes • Access to Kansai Airport •• Corporate info about JR West •

JR KYUSHU : JAPAN’S SOUTHERN ISLANDwww.jrkyushu.co.jp/english• Regional JR Kyushu Passes • Schedules and maps •• Corporate info about JR Kyushu •

The Dawn Of The Video Game Era...baaa baaa baadum(beginning of the theme to 2001: A Space Odyysey)

http://www.atari.com/missilecommand/
This link goes to a free online version of Missile Command via Atari

As Missile Command hits 30 years old, it reminds me of the formative years of the video game industry. Just imagine how old I must be to remember this. I was but a wee, maybe not so wee, child when the first arcade games were hitting the landscape and arcades were popping up left and right. Centipede, Tempest, Space Invaders, Gorf, Galaxian, Missile Command, and Pac Man ruled these little dens of delinquents with their sound effects and music drowning out any chance of making speech audible. Competition was fierce as one arcade would offer 5 tokens for a dollar. The next arcade would offer 6 for a dollar. Sadly, many games nowadays can cost upwards of $3 to play just once. The craze hit fever pitch when pop music vaulted "Pac Man Fever" to the top of the charts. To further capitalize on the market, game consoles were being marketted so that you could play your favorite games at home. Albeit with much crappier graphics. Case in point, Atari 2600 Pac Man. In this iteration, Pac Man was a square and not his usual disc. Simplistic sound effects did not bring down the anticipation of this hitting store shelves however. Consoles were available from Vectrex, Fairchild, Coleco, and Mattel. Much later, the japanese consoles from Nintendo and Sega would soon dominate the market.



Fast forward to today, past the downturn and slump experienced in the video game industry, around the time of the Atari 5200. New generations of more powerful consoles with ever richer and more robust games slingshot the spoils past entertainment heavyweights such as movies. More immersive games are on the horizon with the advent of 3D televisions. Cant wait to see what happens

Earthquake Omens

A second major earthquake has hit Chile after the one that hit Haiti. Is this a sign of things to come? Living in California, earthquakes are always in the back of our minds. We've had our share of newsworthy shakers. There is always talk of people trying to find ways of foretelling when the next one will hit but nothing has come to fruition. I cant help but think of when and where the next land trauma will surface. I dont remember a time when 2 major quakes have hit in such quick succession.