Learning Japanese

I've spent the last year or so trying to learn German. I've not got far but feel like I've created a base to work on. I'm continuing to try to read German news stories to keep my knowledge as fresh as possible.

However... I've also flirted with learning Japanese over the years (I even took an extra class at school for it but it was cancelled after about three lessons...). Germany is within easy reach. I can get there quite comfortably and have been twice. Japan... that's a bigger mission. So I'm combining a distant hope of going to Japan with my new lifestyle and weight loss. And thus I'm back to learning Japanese again.

It's such a tough written language to master but the grammar is relatively easy. So far... so good.

Shin Godzilla!

After waiting for far too long I got my hands on Shin Godzilla, the Japanese Godzilla reboot.

It is a very strange movie in that it was both fantastic and rubbish at the same time. The effects were, being typically Godzilla, initially terrible. But as the movie progressed and Godzilla took his full form they became quite awesome (there's a scene when Godzilla is hit by several bomb ladened trains and it just as awesome as that sounds). And, as this was an attempt to show how the modern world would react to Godzilla's emergence, there's none of the cheap get-out "It's so dark you can't really see Godzilla" shots (looks at Legendary's Godzilla with gentle scorn). This is the Godzilla we needed. 

Storyline wise it is a bit of a let down. It's actually, basically, a political drama. Even allowing for the Japanese culture, the characters are very staid and dull. However... not only does it touch on the pain of nuclear catastrophe and harking back to Hiroshima and Nagasaki (in keeping with the original Godzilla) but also it has some pretty cutting remarks on the relationship of Japan to the rest of the world. 

I'm, coincidentally, reading Embracing Defeat which sort of suggests the "Allied" (US) occupation of Japan never ended. This movie plays to those themes and strikes a, to an outsiders ears, nationalist pose. Nationalism has a strong history in Japan and it is amazing to think that they've allowed themselves to be very much a client state of the US into the current era despite that, often worrying, nationalist streak. Anyway... it is very interesting to see those themes played out on the screen even if there's a tinge of concern. 

See... Godzilla isn't just a silly monster flick. Sadly, despite some promise in this movie under the brutally dull script, there is unlikely to be a sequel any time soon due to the agreement Toho has with Legendary who are bizarrely constructing their Monsterverse around their own version of Godzilla

Take away scene: seeing the wave Godzilla creates wash in to Tokyo carrying with it boats. A terrifying image in the way of the 2011 tsunami.

So What Geekery Is There To Get Excited About In 2018?

Pacific Rim Uprising

I thought Pacific Rim was... okay. But now we're heading into "franchise" territory so there's a lot riding on the sequel. No Charlie Hunnam this time though... he claims he was busy on King Arthur but I'm hoping he was working on the top secret Queer as Folk series 3... ;)


Deadpool 2

Deadpool is one of those Marvel characters I've managed to avoid for my entire Marvel fandom (that's over 20 years... ahem...) until his movie came out. The movie was... perfection. I headed back to the comics, caught up with the adventures of Deadpool and was totally smitten with him. I've got such high hopes for Deadpool 2... please be good. PLEASE.

The First Purge

Last year I finally watch the Purge movies. I'd seen stuff about them on and off and wrote them off as some sort of b-movie rubbish. Well I now own all three and LOVE them. That world is utterly bizzare but really intriguing as a concept. Now a prequel is on its way and I'm stoked! 

The Meg

I've been a fan of Steve Alten's Meg series for years... he's been talking about this movie for pretty much the same length of time in his monthly emails to fans. AND NOW IT IS FINALLY HERE!!! Soon. Ish. Ok, August. But still. GIANT SHARK. Mmm...

My Daily Terror

Jim very kindly picks me up from the railway station each evening. So when he's not here I have to brave the bus.

In the summer this is fine, the bus stop is only about 400m from home. But in the winter...

There are no pavements on our lane. No lights either. There's a bend halfway down so you can't be seen until a car is about 10m from you. Drivers assume no one will be walking here so go over the speed limit as they use our lane as a rat run.

So I do not look forward to my 10 minutes of hell each evening. When I hop on to the safety of our drive I breath a sigh of relief. Roll on British Summer Time!

Jim Is Away

Jim's in the USA and is away for two weeks. This means it is very quiet in our house. The dogs are depressed as their favourite daddy isn't about. Jeff is... well he's just as per normal. Typical.

Bored and lonely. Though my private office at work has had 3 extra people move in, leaving it... erm... not private. So totally the reverse there!

Monday Diet Check-In

Like Second Life I need to avoid repetition so thought I'd do a weekly Monday post on my progress. Let's start at the beginning...

Back in 2014 I went to the doctor with some symptoms that made them worry I might have a tumour. Now I'm mature enough to know that NO doctor of merit would ever say such a thing on a first consultation to anyone but I believed them. Whilst awaiting my consultation appointment and then the consultation results I was put on  a strict diet. Water only to drink. Salads featured a lot. I lost a tonne of weight and felt amazing (until I found out it was all for nothing and my symptoms had by then gone). At the same time I was trying to pay off my overdraft and succeeding. It was the last time I had both my weight and finances under control.

First there were fun reasons for both to get out of control again. I met Jim. We went on holidays. We enjoyed ourselves in London. My job came with the benefit of a boss who LOVED taking us all out for food and drinks at the nicest bars and restaurants. I was in heaven and I fell off the wagon.

Then came my second proper London job. It wasn't stressful. It was DISTRESSING. I went on the paleo diet whilst there and that really worked, I got back down to a good fitness level, had loads of compliments but the, and I can't say this bluntly enough, trauma I got from what happened in that role knocked me out. I comfort ate like never before. My relationship with chocolate became closer than my relationship with anyone ever.

And even after moving away, getting a job where I'm respected and relatively happy and living a good life with Jim I've never recovered from the events of 2009-2010 (there was stalking involved and not by me for once). I've let my weight get so out of control that it just isn't acceptable. I've toyed with dieting on and off but never stuck it out. I've never been more uncomfortable. I'm ALWAYS uncomfortable.

Now Jim and I's lives are entering a new stage. Marriage beckons in September. Our financial situation has begun to stabilise. And it is time for me to become the man I used to be and move on (9 long years later) from the stress that I no longer have.

So that's what I'm doing. I'm changing my life. Taking control. Not in a dramatic "This will all be fixed in one go way". Slowly. Building habits. Making choices and seeing how they pan out and changing them if I need too.

I started last Tuesday. My aim is not to weigh myself too often but to judge my successes based on how I feel. The diet isn't a faddy one but simply working with a calorie deficit and working on a macronutrient balance (yes there was maths, I loved it). I'm currently attempting to read everything I can from those difficult to find SANE voices in the fitness world (which appears to mostly be run by insane conspiracy theorists) .

So how has it gone?

1. I've not been hungry, despite an average daily calorie intake of 1408 (that's probably too low but hey, I'm tweaking this as I go!)
2. Today, stuffing my face with delicious, juicy chicken breast I was in heaven remembering how much I enjoyed the paleo diet (I'm not on paleo this time but, like an atheist who celebrates Christmas, I'm inspired by it)
3. My trousers this morning felt... looser. I might be imagining it but I also felt far more comfortable in my shirt too. I may be deluding myself but then again whenever I diet my first couple of weeks weightloss is generally epic.

So that's it. Las Vegas Wedding Diet is ON. I want to ENJOY myself so badly and with that goal in mind I think I can smash this.

This coming week... I'll be introducing exercise to my days. We'll see how it goes...

Second Life Sunday: Warrior

There's not enough top quality mesh body fantasy outfits on Second Life. The designers focus on making amazingly good jeans, t-shirts, jackets and shoes. But male fantasy gear for mesh bodies is left to, let's be honest, mostly terrible designers.

So I decided to treat myself to a new mesh body (JOMO, an old unsupported body and pretty rare on the grid but good quality) and accompanying excellent quality fantasy gear. Picture above is me on the JOMO sim (so even if unsupported the owner is still paying the land rents, plus there are like 100 quality free gifts to be had here, all piled up in a room).

This will serve me well next time I need a fantasy avatar for RP or for a "Best In Fantasy" competition.

Second Life... endless possibilities!

Jeff The Maine Coon

Since I last posted regularly Mr Gibbs has passed away and three new, previously mentioned briefly, pets have taken his place.

Chief among them, in his mind at least, is Jeff the Maine Coon. We got him in 2014 and he quickly took his place as the Head of the House.

 This picture was taken by our neighbour. In their garden. Jeff doesn't abide by old-fashioned concepts like "loyalty".

He rises at exactly 5.28am, which happens to be 2 minutes before my weekday alarm goes off (though he considers this a 7 day a week schedule regardless of my routine). He precedes to jump up on to my chest to patiently (patient = rubbing his face against mine whilst loudly purring) waits for my alarm to go off.

He then proceeds to race me and Bella downstairs (I let them win) where he expects immediate feeding. By the time I've showered he's meowing at the back door to head on out.

He spends his day wandering between our house and our neighbour's house. At both places he can find comfortable lodgings (he has his own sofa over the drive with the neighbours) and fine dining (the day I saw my catless neighbour carrying a bag full of cat food, I knew Jeff was two-timing us).

Upon my arrival home at 5.30pm he runs alongside Jim's car and begins rolling around on our patio excited to be allowed in for his evening meal. Then, knowing perfectly well he can't go out after that, he sits by the door to the patio in our front room and meows incessantly, ignoring all pleas and death threats that follow.

Finally he accompanies me to bed, along with the dogs, to be fed treats before he settles in for a sleep at the threshold to our room... until it all starts again the next day.

Basically... he's living the dream.

Mulder and Scully

Catatonia would end up becoming one of my top ten music acts. I was a HUGE X-Files fan in the 90s so anything even remotely related was always going to find a warm place in y heart.

This song is very closely linked in my mind to my paper round, cold February mornings and my first crush. I used to play it, often unsuccessfully, on my Sony CD Walkman as I cycled/raced around my paper route. It's got a dark, melancholic feel to it that really tied up well with my depressive teenage angst motif.

This and Road Rage really were part of the soundtrack to 1998 and 1999 for me. I'm pretty sure my much missed Auntie Melly was the one to buy me International Velvet so, again, it's important to me in a big way.

Whenever I need a comfort blanket, something dark but warm, to see me through a terrible day... this is that comfort blanket. When I listen to this I can almost feel the weight of my paper bag on my shoulder and smell the damp gardens of Lynwood. It's like a sort of time travel.

Diet Weirdness

As I've said already, this new diet I've calculated is pretty... harsh. So I'm rather shocked to discover that, three days in, I'm not feeling hunger pangs. I'm not restricting my evening meal, having whatever we'd normally have, which I suppose helps. 

When I get to the end of the month and my cash supply becomes limited (mainly due to buying unhealthy food options whilst at work) I tend to become ravenous, desperately dreaming of all the things I could be eating if only I'd budgeted better. 

Now? Nothing. 

Super odd, not that I'm complaining. 

Speaking of not complaining, and in the spirit of this years theme of nostalgia, here's a hot rugby player (Kayne Lawton... mmm...). That's what Jim refers to as a "Bouncy Castle"/

Some Of My Favourite Scenes From Gay Movies

Jeffrey 1995

Patrick Stewart stole the show in this AIDS era comedy with a heart. Full of memorable lines, but this was the best exchange in the whole movie between his character and his nice but dim partner Darius.

Darius: Who's Martha Stewart?  

Sterling: She writes picture books about gracious living. Martha says that nothing else matters if you can do a nice dried floral arrangement. I worship her.  

Darius: And, um, who's Ann Miller?  

Sterling: Leave this house. 

Trick 1999

Coco Peru's monologue in Trick is something to behold (she actually runs her own Youtube channel which is PURE DELIGHT. Watch it. Now). IT BURRRRNNNNNSSSS.



Beautiful Thing 1996

Another movie that has loads of quotable moments. Jim and I often quote endlessly from this movie especially:

Jamie: You know who Claude Monet is?  

Sandra: Jamie, don't make me out to be thick. 

Jamie: Who was he then? 

Sandra: He painted the Sixteenth Chapel.

But, obviously, there's nothing quite like it's closing scene...



The Love of Siam 2007

I mean... this is one of my most beloved movies. The soundtrack is just as awesome as the story itself. Just plain perfection.



Get Real 1998 

A proper coming of age film this one... and from the BEST YEAR EVER. Ahem.




Jongens 2014

Recently gay movies have become... hmm... a little soulless. Jongens is a rare and welcome exception.

Day One: A Jae Kay Reboot

Today the diet started. This isn't a lifestyle change attempt. If a lifestyle change is a bit like upgrading to a new house, what I'm doing is demolishing the old one to make room for it. I've done the maths, worked out the necessary calorie intake and we're off.

I won't share said calculations with you, Dear Constant Reader. That's not out of shame but because every single person ever born has a strong opinion on what is and what isn't "healthy" weight loss and I don't want to get into a debate.

It's all for a good cause, so I can get fighting fit to return to my vocation as holiday entertainment for tourists in San Francisco as displayed below (and obviously for the wedding... but that's less important...)

Of course, Dear Constant Reader, there have been diets before. The 2004 super-effective diet, the infamous Orange Diet, the Paleo lifestyle change and Diet Chef. I usually do well but never keep it up until I get to my target weight. So that's the aim... get to my target weight. That's all. So easy... here goes... 

Something To Look Forward To

So... in Jae News: Jim and I are planning on getting married in September. We're planning on doing this in Las Vegas then spending 3 days there before we travel down to Los Angeles (very briefly) and then up Highway 1 to San Francisco where we'll spend a few more days. 

This gives us something to look forward to. I'm already searching for the best things to do (best according to Jae, not according to actual good taste) and trying to rack my brains for all the things I was disappointed in missing when I was last in San Francisco (mainly things I discovered from listening to Sparkletack, a fantastic podcast that still ranks among my all time favourite podcasts). 

(Jae's previous San Francisco adventure: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5)

However it also gives me something to aim for... weight loss!!! If I don't seriously lose some weight I'm going to be very uncomfortable doing anything, especially flying. So tomorrow begins a new "diet" (not one of those faddy ones though). 

Hopefully that'll leave me looking a little more like the Second Jae!

Second Life Sunday: Men Only Monthly

Most of Second Life's economy is geared towards women. Events can often be just dresses, make-up and floral pattern furniture. There are a few men's events out there though. The Men's Dept usually has a few decent things. At Man Cave there will be one or two must haves among the stalls. But the event with the highest average of good stuff has to be Men Only Monthly.

This round is great, even if I'm currently favouring my Aesthetic avatar and there's nothing for those, and two items in particular caught my interest. Exalted's tank top and running shorts are super gay but also super hot. Bad Hair Day's latest hair is flipping awesome.

Here's a handy video walk through from the event.

2000AD Prog 1078

It's been 20 years today since I bought my first ever edition of 2000AD. It was good timing.

I'd grown up reading comics. First the Beano, Dandy and a variety of old-fashioned British fare (plus Disney comics... Mmm...). Then, easily led by my mates at school, I got into a lifelong love affair with Marvel comics. Especially those God damn muties.

That was all pretty lame though, I discovered, compared to the breezy, modern and slightly naughty tone of 2000AD.

My first prog was a good one, one of those "All new stories" progs that give new readers a way in. Obviously there was Judge Dredd but my main excitement came from Durham Red, a character I immediately loved with such unique (for me) art and a great story. I remembered it so well that I ended up picking it up as a graphic novel too.

Soon enough Wednesday was a day I looked forward to. My Uncle gave me all his old 2000ADs including Prog 1. Joyous times. And, whilst staying with another Uncle, I read some amazing Judge Dredd graphic novels (Judgement on Gotham... awesome!). So I was hooked, this great British comic anthology stole my heart.

So what was I doing this fateful moment that 2000AD became my new favourite thing? Well I was standing at the counter in Roger's little shop in my "village" (a Folkestone housing estate) doing my "Head Paperboy" routine of sorting the magazines. I laid eyes on 2000AD and was in love immediately. It rested at the back of my paper bag for my round until I could devour it quickly before school that day.

Back With The Wolf Pack

Logan

Finn

Second Christmas

This is NOT a Second Life post. Shocking I know. Over Christmas Jim and I both had really bad colds and missed out on seeing the family so... 

Jeff is heading to cat prison. 

Ayden and Bella are have an extended stay with Doggy Nanny. 

We're heading off to see the family. 

We'll head to Snodland, my de jure hometown, and see my Nan first. Last year she was diagnosed with Parkinson's and I'm a terrible grandson who never goes to see her, so thought I'd make at least some effort even though the "You need to go on a diet" stuff will drive me bonkers...

After that we'll head down to New Romney to see my Mum and co. for the weekend.

I'll try to fill up my blog with pre-written posts I've not yet written to keep to the one post a day rule. 

I'll try... 

You might just get naked men. 

But hopefully not, Saturday is our first 1998 post! 

See... Dinosaurs Can Be Sexy

Hmm... what could I post about I wondered? The gay guy obviously heading on a booty call who tried to dodge his train fare? Nah. Hmm... Ooo... upcoming movies I'm looking forward to! Jurassic World 2! Isn't that Chris Pratt sexy? Especially as Star Lord...

So that's how I ended up with this...

I Don't Want To Leave Twitter But...

I've been on Twitter since 2007. Not a pioneer but an early adopter (I think following on the tail of Dear Constant Reader Steve). When I first went on Twitter it was, for me, a mini-blogging platform with added conversational opportunities. I tweeted about high-minded things like Big Brother and Eurovision. There was a little group of people I interacted with and had quite a laugh. Hard to believe but I still think the vast majority of my tweets come from my first three years as conversation threads (not that they had such things for much of that time!) could go into the hundreds of entries.

Then the 2010 General Election happened. I started following Lib Dems. Then Tories. Even a few Labour folk. Politics gradually pushed out my non-political Tweeple until they disappeared entirely (realising the platform had changed and it was no longer for them). I want to blame the "normal folk" for "ruining Twitter" but I'm complicit and engaged in just as much annoying politicking as everyone else (including their dog).

For a time I thought this was a good thing. We organised. Same-sex marriage in this country came quicker thanks to Twitter. I've no doubt about that. It'd still have come, don't get me wrong, but the Twitterati got it moved up the agenda.

But ultimately... Twitter's popularity and the change to the way it is used has been to its detriment. Public shaming (as documented in the fantastic Jon Ronson book "So You've Been Publicly Shamed"), social justice warriors and the alt-right. These are terrible things. Things we shouldn't have allowed to rule Twitter.

I find myself actively disliking people. The people who insult each other. The people who think they are superior to other people. The people who think they are right. They are not.

I've been those people. I've done those things. I stopped going on Twitter for a while and felt tremendous but found my way back because... it works so well at helping me keep in touch with people, showing me stories of interesting things and randomly dropping pictures of hot men at regular intervals.

So I've said it before, and I'll say it again, but I'm going to be a better Tweeter. Focus on happy things. Be the silly, nonsense person who cares only about things that interests him and ignores the hate and arguments. Because if we don't do that, if we join in with the crazy people, we give them Twitter. The angry and the boring... they are taking over the internet. We need to fight back. We need to internet like we used to... 

I Love Rainy Days

They are just so goddamn dramatic. They have starts and finishes whereas sunny days just seem to go on forever. There's an atmosphere to rainy days that makes them far more enjoyable.

And there's nothing better than being inside in the warm watching the rain come down.

Hell, I'm a committed pedestrian. Get soaking wet on a weekly basis. And still... love rainy days.