Ok, if you haven't seen me tweeting like a mad fiend about the recently-announced otome Atelier game, then, well, I suppose you haven't missed out on much, unless you're living under a rock and didn't know that an Atelier otome game was recently announced. It's big news for me, at least, seeing as I'm a recently-convertedAtelier Rorona fan and long-time otome game enthusiast. Tthere are probably at least 2 other people in the world excited for this game besides me, I'm sure.
So far there hasn't been much news about Atelier Elkrone aside from the fact that it will somehow combine traditional otome game elements, allowing you to pursue the love interest of your choice, as well as some aspect of the alchemy gameplay from the Atelier games. How much alchemy will be involved has yet to be seen, and I'll admit I'm a little worried the most "Atelier" we're going to get in the game will be in the form of character designs and story elements, but who knows. Call me a cynic.
Speaking of which, I'm already seeing some Atelier Rorona in Mery, Atelier Elkrone's protagonist:
Atelier Elkrone's Mery
Atelier Rorona's Rorona
You may have bought a new hat, Rorona, but you can't fool me! I would've been fine if they had come out and said the game was going to be about Rorona again, but making an entirely new character that still manages to look almost exactly like Rorona seems a bit like a cop-out to me. In fact, I don't think I'll be able to think of Mery as anything but Rorona, actually! It's literally hard to tell them apart!
I did some snooping on the NISA forums (NISA is the company behind the localization of Atelier Rorona and Atelier Totori) and apparently Idea Factory, the company working on the Atelier side of things, has a reputation for recycling their own material? I'd love more information on this, but I can't say I've played a ton of Idea Factory games myself, so I can't really comment. Of course the art in AtelierRorona and Atelier Elkrone looks like it's done by the same artist, but that doesn't excuse them for being lazy! Well, if nothing else, this guy looks interesting enough:
Digging the steampunk goggles!
There's still a lot to be seen regarding Atelier Elkrone, but even if the protagonist looks exactly like Rorona, knowing me, I'll probably give it a shot.
So, this entry is going to be pretty much word-for-word from a news piece I posted recently over at Video Game Writers, but as much of my Japanese game coverage often does, it seems to have gotten lost in the pile. I think I have a few readers here who I think would appreciate my insight on the Beyond the Labyrinth trailer, which was just released yesterday. I've not only watched it but have also provided some translations for it, since it’s Japanese-only. It doesn’t seem like much, but I think an understanding of what’s being said actually gives you a lot to think about in terms of what the gameplay will actually be like. Feel free to watch the trailer and then read the translation! It makes more sense that way rather than the other way around:
Finally, some more news surfaces on tri-Ace and Konami’s intriguing 3DS game Beyond the Labyrinth in the form of a trailer. Unfortunately, the trailer doesn’t feature all that much except for some text and dialogue in Japanese, along with a few shots of the game’s mysterious female protagonist. Not much is said in the dialogue and text, but the “conversation” highly suggests that the girl in the game will actually be “interacting” with the player.
The trailer opens with a girl calling out “Is anyone there?” and is followed by text on the screen answering her call. She then says “Let’s go!”, leaving the “text” to wonder where they are going. The girl appears to, in fact, be talking with the “player,” rather than another character in the game, and even interacts with the 3DS system by talking directly at it and even shaking the screen at one point. Here’s some of what the other text in the trailer reads:
A magnificent world beneath the earth.
A mysterious girl in a labyrinth.
An adventure full of riddles.
But what could it all mean? We’ve been told previously that Beyond the Labyrinth is going to be a dungeon RPG, but so far there has been no hints regarding what the actual gameplay will be like, and whether there is a battle system. If we could hazard a guess, it more resembles an ICO-esque puzzle adventure, at least in terms of aesthetics. Perhaps the player will be guiding the female character much like Ico guided Yorda through the Castle in the Mist? Or are there remaining characters that are yet to be revealed? We should hear more at this year’s Tokyo Game Show in September.
Ok, well, I haven't translated *all* of it, because the beginning is mostly the girl going back and forth with the on-screen text saying "Is anyone there?" "Yes, I'm here." "Let's go!" "Where are we going?" "Come on!" "But where are we going?" ... Nothing too exciting. I think the main thing to take away from this trailer is that there is some kind of interaction between the girl in the game and you, rather than characters in the game (though there may be other in-game characters). I have to say, I'm intrigued!
And yes, I suppose that would be me using the royal "we" in that write-up...
* VERGÜENZA MUNDIAL * ¿Y EL ALCALDE? * ¿Y EL GOBERNADOR? * ¿ Y LA SEGURIDAD? ¿ Y EL RESCATE? ¿QUE SIGUE SEÑORES?
Un partido de futbol que se realizaba con normalidad en la cancha se vió repentinamente suspendido debido a más de 5 minutos de intensa balacera en los alrededores que obligó a la gente a tirarse al piso caliente, a bajar a la cancha y correr desesperadamente en busca de un refugio seguro junto con sus niños en brazos.
La polícia del lugar corría desesperada tratando de encontrar de dónde venían los disparos, la gente en la explanada se encontraba boca abajo, viendo al concreto, rezando y escuchando una refriega tupida donde se apreciaban disparos de AK-47, R-15, 9 mm y todos aquellos calibres que usted conozca.
Las tribunas se vaciaron, la refriega continuaba, balas perdidas pegaban en los vidrios, paredes y rejas del inmueble ante el asombro de comentaristas de radio y televisión, que al ver cómo corrían los jugadores a vestidores gritaban desesperados que "Que era lo que estaba pasando", algunos jugadores se brincaron a las gradas a buscar a sus propios familiares, para protegerlos y calmarlos mientras mucha gente sufría crisis de nervios, niños lloraban y señores intentaban hablar con familiares.
Mientras, los medios cortaban transmisiones dejando a la gente de la ciudad con el Dios en la boca, el radio, hacía lo mismo no sin antes ordenarle a su cronista de campo que subiera al palco, mientras éste decia desesperado "no puedo".
Las comunicaciones se cortaron, los celulares se bloquearon (algunos dicen que por saturación, otros que se usó el "Jamming Device" que no es otra cosa que bloquearlos para que los "malos" no puedan pedir refuerzos ¿a quién le creemos?)...
Así vivimos los laguneros, aunque nuestras autoridades se empeñen en decir Que "aquí se respira un aire de tranquilidad"
¿A poco no parece guión de película gringa?
¿A poco no parece un relato digno de una ciudad lejana, de medio oriente, tal vez?
¿A poco no parece un relato alarmista, extremista y digno de alguna mente maquiavélica?
NO SEÑORES, ESTO ES TORREÓN COAHUILA MÉXICO.
"La ciudad de los grandes esfuerzos" como la bautizó Emilio Fernando Alonso, hoy está sumida en el más triste abandono por parte de TODAS LAS AUTORIDADES empezando por la municipal y la estatal y finalizando con la federal.
Marcaba el minuto 40 cuando empezó el traca-traca de las metralletas, el futbol, HOY QUEDA DE LADO al ser testigos desde el estadio, casa o negocio de un hecho que INDIGNA a toda la gente NO SOLO DE TORREÓN, SINO DE TODO EL MUNDO.
Hoy, ya no se puede tapar con un dedo lo que se vive en La Laguna, gracias a la transmisión de ESPN este partido llegó a latitudes que antes no se tenía en mente llegar, y aunque la señal de TV Azteca fue patéticamente cortada, la señal de ESPN se mantuvo para INFORMAR ( la directiva principal de un MEDIO DE COMUNICACIÓN Y ENTRETENIMIENTO).
Minuto 2:08 "ya, ya, vámonos, vámonos, vienen para acá arriba" ¿Pues no que adentro no era nada?¿quién miente? ¿Por eso cortaron la transmisión?
La radio calló igualmente, ¿seguridad?, ¿bozal?, díganlo como quieran, se vieron mal, pues mucha gente intentaba saber que sucedia en el estadio al tener amigos y familiares dentro de él o en las cercanías.
Hoy el futbol queda de lado para mostrar la realidad que muchos no quieren que se vea, que en nuestra ciudad, EN NUESTRO ESTADO, NO HAY AUTORIDAD que proteja a los que los pusieron ahí.
Desgraciadamente para uno que vive aquí, no hay nada nuevo bajo el sol, las balaceras ahora, han formado parte de las pláticas de jarra que cada fin de semana uno tiene con sus amigos, sabemos que NO PASARÁ NADA, ya sabemos las cantaletas, la autoridad municipal y estatal, le echará la culpa a la federal, ésta dará la cara, pero sola no puede mientras las otras dos se esconden con tal de hacer ver mal a la ultima y con la firme intención de dañar lo más que se pueda ( y a costa DE LO QUE SEA) el trabajo de las fuerzas federales.
Han pedido Policía Federal, la tuvieron.
Han pedido Ejercito, lo tuvieron
Han pedido la Marina, la tuvieron
¿y ellos?
Nada, nomas señalando, viviendo fuera de la ciudad y mandándo desde allá. Bien dicen que cuando el barco se hunde, lo primero que huyen son las RATAS.
La preocupación en el rostro de esta bella dama... ¿podrá ella "hablar bien de Torreón"?
Que triste es reconocer que ahora no podemos hacer un resumen de futbol por culpa de estas acciones, pero más triste es saber que como bien dijeron en un diario extranjero, que Torreón se ha convertido en la ciudad del "Nunca antes", somos la comidilla mundial, y ni siquiera fué por traer inversiones ( palabra que no conocen nuestras "autoridades" locales y estatales )
Extraño la tranquilidad de mi Torreón, sus anchas calles llenas de vida los fines de semana sin temor a ser partícipe de hechos lamentables, y lo único que nos quedaba por presumir, hoy se mancha para dar paso al "nunca antes había sucedido algo así en esta ciudad".
Medios internacionales dieron la noticia, el tema fué "trend topic" en Twitter ( algo que yo desconozco, por no usarlo, creo que debo empezar) portales como The Guardian , El Pais y el Washington Post dieron cuenta de lo sucedido por mencionar algunos, esta ocasión Torreón fué tema mundial y no fué por su gobierno, lo fué por su des-gobierno.
¿Esto es "vivir mejor" Señor Presidente?
Piensa mal y acertarás.
¿Cómo tapar el sol con un dedo? no se apuren, tapandolo con otro, y este hecho viene a dejar a un lado otro igual de peor al conocer la deuda que todos y cada uno de los Coahuilenses pagará por culpa de otros, la no despreciable cantidad de 33 mil millones de pesos. Algo así como 20 mil pesos por habitante, sin contar los intereses que se están generando.
¿Para dónde hacerse?
¿dónde para este mundo, que me quiero bajar?
La inseguridad ya se había tardado en alcanzar este tipo de escenarios, ya lo logró y la respuesta de las autoridades DE LOS 3 NIVELES debe de verse YA. No por el hecho de haber sido contra el Santos ni mucho menos, sino que éste ACTO TERRORISTA ha sido la gota que derramó el vaso.
No dudo que éste hecho, se olvide tal vez dentro de un año, tal vez menos, pero al menos para los Laguneros, el 20 de agosto del 2011 al igual que otras fechas, queda marcado en la historia como una tarde NEGRA Y DESPRECIABLE.
Queremos vivir en paz, éste es un grito de RECLAMO para todos los niveles, nosotros como laguneros, seguiremos trabajando, ( no es costumbre ni indiferencia, SON HUEVOS CABRONES) tenemos la piel curtida por el sol que cae a plomo, y un espíritu que crea aún y contra la voluntad del GOBIERNO llámese MUNICIPAL Y ESTATAL que son de los principales culpables de que estemos metidos en el hoyo financiero, social y de seguridad.
SI VENCIMOS AL DESIERTO,
¿por qué no hacerlo contra unos cuantos?..
Yo no convoco a un boicot o alguna marcha, convoco a que volvamos a hacer surgir los valores que nos dieron IDENTIDAD, los valores que nuestros antepasados nos inculcaron a base de sangre sudor y lágrimas.
En el estadio se dieron muchas muestras de esos valores, la gente calmaba al desconocido, y el desconocido calmaba al que le seguía, se volvió a ver la ayuda que identificaba a esta región tan golpeada por todos.
Volvimos a estirar la mano para levantar al prójimo, para tranquilizarlo y hacerlo que siguiera su camino.
No pidan que olvidemos y que lo dejemos atras, RECUERDENLO porque tenemos que empezar a ejercitar la memoria esa que siempre le ha fallado a este país.
Autoridades: hagan lo que tengan que hacer o sea, SU TRABAJO, QUE PARA ESO LES PAGAN, dejen un momento de robar, ya han robado lo suficiente, desquiten un poco el jugoso sueldo que se embolsan sin hacer nada, CREO QUE YA ES HORA QUE SE GARANTICE nuestra seguridad, no queremos chivos expiatorios, pero tampoco queremos que archiven este hecho como los acontecidos en el 2010 también en esta ciudad.
Grupo Modelo: ya les pegaron a ustedes, y en este país, normalmente se escucha al que tiene dinero, HAGAN VALER SU VOZ, pongan ustedes a trabajar a las autoridades, pues es SU IMAGEN INTERNACIONAL la que quedó igual de dañada luego de las imagenes que se vieron por todo el mundo.
La vida continúa gracias a Dios, no hubo muertes en esta ocasión, y eso es algo destacable dentro de todo lo malo, esperemos que la proxima entrada a este blog, sea para hablar de futbol y no de estos hechos, parece ser que no solo en la Laguna hubo problemas, sino que también en Querétaro hubo enfrentamientos pero más dirigidos entre afición y policía, sin embargo, lo que acaparó las carteleras ( y las seguirá acaparando) es esta imagen que han dañado de NUESTRA LAGUNA.
Por un lado, por fin se dan cuenta de nuestra situación, y lo que todos nosotros sufrimos al salir a la calle todos los días.
Espero y creo en Dios de que todo esto termine, NO ES JUSTO LO QUE NOS ESTAN HACIENDO, ánimo laguneros, hay que levantar la cabeza y seguir teniendo nuestro orgullo, demostremos porque COMO LA LAGUNA, NINGUNA.
Somos brazo que lucha, y espíritu que crea.
Sale!
PD. Una rola que debe levantarnos en estos momentos. Que el espíritu lagunero GRITE, VIVA Y VUELVA.
Anyone that has ever been to Japan, and probably a few who haven't, will tell you that Japanese cell phones are pretty much as awesome as they come. They're always at the forerunner of the latest and greatest technology, with high-quality cameras and music downloading sites that made listening to music on your phone easy and fun even before the iPhone was released. Nowadays, "cell phone novels," or keitai shousetsu are increasingly popular, and boys love/otome (for girls) titles are coming out left and right (ok, I admit my knowledge of how popular cell phone novels are is a bit dated, but I'm pretty sure their popularity hasn't gone down in the past couple of years, anyway).
Well, famed BL game company Nitro + CHiRAL (why they keep the "i" lower case I'll never know) is capitalizing on Japan's mobile phone culture with its new cell phone site, called "CHiRAL MOBiLE." You can click the link to view the PC site, which details the various downloads the site will offer, but the whole thing won't be up and running until December 16th. Or you could just stick around here and I'll detail all the cool stuff us non-Japanese residents are missing out on, since it only works on Japanese phones!
First of all, Nitro + CHiRAL announced, along with this service, an entirely new cell phone novel called World's end Nightmare that will launch the same day as CHiRAL MOBiLE, with new chapters coming out every week on Tuesday and Thursday for an estimated total of 30 chapters. There isn't much about the novel's story available yet save the tagline "––A poor soul that has never known love. Let's give him one more chance––" and a very short, vague description stating that the protagonist, Itto, was supposed to have died, but reawakens in an unfamiliar world. Below are the characters that have been revealed so far, from left to right: Itto, Faceless, Siegfried, Kai, and Baron. The story will feature at least some boys love elements, to be sure.
Nitro + CHiRAL will also be releasing a mobile version of their popular game Togainu no Chi, as well as a visual novel version of a boys love CD drama titled Itsuwari no Alkanet.
But even these 3 new releases aren't what gets me really jealous of Japan today–it's all the downloadable goodies from Nitro + CHiRAL's three big boys love games that really make me wish I had a Japanese cell phone and lived in Japan. Check this out:
What you see before you is an array of "accessories" you can download at CHiRAL MOBiLE for Togainu no Chi and Lamento-BEYOND THE VOID-. The top left image is a wallpaper, while the top right is a menu screen, and then you have a text sending icon, signal bar, and battery display. So, if you're big on BL and live in Japan, you can have your entire phone decked out with your favorite game or series! I'm sure they have things like this for all sorts of other famous games and anime, as well.
The service does cost a monthly fee of about $3, but for the amount of free downloads you get with the subscription, including World's end Nightmare, I'd say it's a pretty good deal! Too bad cell phones in America and Australia don't offer awesome services like these...
For those of you interested in World's end Nightmare, I'd be more than happy to do translations of the character descriptions posted on the CHiRAL MOBiLE website... Just let me know if you'd like to see them and I'll dedicate a post to it! I won't bother doing the work unless there's someone out there who will actually read them (or if I get a burst of idle creativity, but don't count on it).
Sinceramente creo personalmente que el gol, hace a un lado todo el resultado de un partido que fué duro, ríspido, peleado y sufrido, allá en la Capital, la gran urbe que a muchos emboba.
Santos Laguna sufrió pero luego, tomó la batuta y casi se lleva la victoria si no es porque sus delanteros suplentes de plano no dan una y a veces se hacen bolas entre ellos y no se pasan la pelota cuando deberían.
C.A. Es una cancha que históricamente le pesa a los de la Comarca, sí puse C.A. (Caja de Arena), no tanto por el público, sino por los arbitrajes tendenciosos que siempre se dan para los equipos de la capital, los cuales protegen y solapan a jugadores MALA LECHE como el "famoso" Pikolín Palacios que parece que les pasa payola a los comunicadores (eso o se los pica) porque ¡ah cómo se la pulen! "Que si un gran jugador", "puro corazón", "merece el balón de oro" pues sí, pero todo eso solapado por una actitud CERDA Y MARRULLERA de un jugador que el único mérito que tiene es ser cantera ( y estar feo como su chingada madre), pero como ese jugador, miles...( no en lo feo, con ellos, se bañaron).
Ganándose una tibia amarilla, al lado, como nunca puede faltar en una
acción indebida, el mamoncito del Pikolin.
Si no teníamos con uno, ahora ¡hay dos! sí, al parecer si les echas agua, se reproducen como Gremlins, sin embargo pasan la etapa de ser "bonitos" y van directos a ser unos pinches feos marrulleros y aparte montoneros que no pueden dejar pasar ningún momento para burlarse del rival y golpear a diestra y siniestra sin que el árbitro les llame la atención.
Siempre he sabido que una burla es motivo de señalarlo, pero siendo PUMAS UN EQUIPO DE TELEVISA, no dicen absolutamente nada, y se callan ante la actitud de éste jugador sobrevalorado y cobarde que a las primeras, se defenderá ( como gato boca-arriba) si lo acusan luego de racismo.
Su actitud, siempre ser víctima, engaña solo a los Gatos del Pedregal, porque lo que es a nosotros, ya los traemos entre ceja y ceja, y no dudaré cuando vengan al Corona de ir a mentarles su madre mil y un veces (si es que me dejan gritar, ya ven que ahora "no debemos decir palabras altisonantes" en el Estadio del Señorito Irraragorri. aunque weyes que están atrás de la banca de Santos se la pasen reventando a los jugadores ).
Independientemente de eso, el gol valió por sí mismo el boleto, al ser una jugada hermosa, vistoza y curiosamente en un lugar donde el máximo jugador Mexicano que ha salido de México realizaba cada que se le antojaba.
El gol de Peralta, bien podía haber sido marcado el gol de la jornada, pero como todos sabemos Televisa y demás, necesitan vender la idea de su equipo amarillo diarrea y pusieron la "genialidad" de Benítez, por encima del Gol de Oribe, sólo como dato chingativo y para que nos demos cuenta que para ellos fuera de la capital es un país diferente, por si eso fuera poco, durante el juego se desgarraban la garganta diciendo que quien merecía la victoria era Pumas, cuando Santos los tuvo en el último minuto con el Jesús en la boca y si no es por Ochoa, otra cosa hubiera sucedido.
Suárez un indiscutible ya en el cuadro lagunero. El pero, lo están tronando físicamente y no sólo a él.
De Destacar, la actuación de Oswaldo Sánchez ( a quién muchos en el estadio durante el juego anterior, abuchearon de una forma bastante mediocre, porque "creyeron" que él había tenido culpa en los goles vs Xolos, así de conocedora es la "nueva" afición). en el juego en C.A. aportó la seguridad que se requiere, en tiros de larga distancia, manteniendo los balones en su cuerpo, amortiguando y no dejando que ninguno rebotara al contrario que si algo le caracteriza, es la rapidez que tiene debido a su juventud.
La primera mitad, Santos sólo esbozo una que otra jugada ofensiva, una descolgada que lamentablemente para la causa fué bien resuelta por el que ahora llamaremos El Pinche feo no.1.
Así se iría la primera parte con un Pumas intentando y Santos conteniendo el embate felino, para la segunda mitad vendría el poema de gol, en un pelotazo, donde Suárez recibe y pasa a Ludueña que espera el arribo de Cárdenas le filtra, éste recorta hasta en 2 ocasiones pero su tiro es bloqueado, sin embargo se eleva para la rápida reacción de Peralta que hace valer su gran momento y de chilena logra la exclamación de todo el Estadio Universitario en un gol que aún siendo el rival, se debe aplaudir si es que se sabe y se reconoce el futbol.
La postal del gol Gracias Washington Cedeño por la imagen.
Así Santos anota su gol mil, ¡y que mejor forma de hacerlo! con un histórico golazo que será recordado igual que aquel de Apud frente a Atlas, o el de Zambrano también frente al Atlas en liguilla, sin duda algo que quedará en la memoria de la gente, felicidades al de La Partida que con goles y actuaciones así, les calla la boca a los comunicadores que preguntaban en la transmisión "¿Dónde estaba este Oribe en la Copa América?" yo les respondía ¡PUES EN LA BANCA BOLA DE PENDEJOS!...a veces le dan ganas a uno de meterse a la televisión y agarrarlos a chingazos por mediocres.
Pumas se iría con todo en contra, vienen los cambios de los guerreros, sale Suárez y Ludueña completamente TRONADOS físicamente ( y cómo no, si los están poniendo a entrenar fuerte 24 hrs antes y después de cada juego ¿táctica? o bueno...en fin, uds. saquen conclusiones, pero la verdad, que yo supiera, un día antes a lo mucho, algo recreativo, ¿pero entrenamiento duro? algunos ya llegan muertos, caso Morales que en el juego vs Xolos en el primer tiempo ya estaba dándolas más de lo que las dá normalmente...).
Entran Toledo y Quintero, sin embargo los mininos les ganan la media cancha, empiezan a apedrear el rancho, hasta que cae un buen gol por parte del juvenil unamita para poner los cartones definitivos a uno.
Después de eso, vino el show de los Pikolines, al cometer un CLARO PENAL a Quintero, pero como siempre sucede con un equipo capitalino, el árbitro se traga el pito ( ¿perdón? ) y sólo le saca la segunda amonestación al Pinche feo no.2 (que ya estaba amonestado, pero que misteriosamente "ni se acordaba") en la jugada, debía de haberse marcado el penal al cometer falta el Pinche feo No. 1 con las piernas, pero eso no sucedió y Pumas una vez más se salvó gracias a los pupilos de Ladrón Padilla.
Si imbécil, gracias a tí.
Con esto Santos saca un buen resultado sinceramente, como dije, el gol, hizo que valiera todo, y el punto es bien recibido tomando en cuenta que se venía de una derrota completamente inesperada y que muchos dábamos un resultado adverso en esa frontera que siempre se le ha dificultado a nuestro equipo.
Ahora, se recibe a las hadas del Morelia, que deben venir golpeados luego de haber perdido en la Concachafa, mientras que los nuestros sacaron apuradamente un triunfo con sendo golazo de Suárez que, haciendo lo que mejor hace, sacó un bombazo de su pierna para vencer el arquero rival y matarles las ilusiones al humilde equipo que ya casi daba el campanazo.
Aún falta un juego pendiente ante jaguares, lo que puede jugar mucho a favor de los de la Comarca, pues si siguen sumando, el partido vs Chiapas puede ser un buen trampolín para subir más escalones y no dejar que equipos como Pumas se escapen ante la algarabía de los jilgueros de Televisa que ahora sí "apoyan la cantera".
I recently did an interview for the Russian and Ukrainian football fanzine Mag Shop Report. The magazine is dedicated to football fans from this region, with photos of stadiums and match day reports from fans in this part of the world. The fanzine also includes interviews with older supporters, younger generation ultras and features a good section on alcoholic beverages titled ‘Beer School’
Groundhopping isn’t so popular in the former USSR as it is in Britain and mainland Europe, but the first fanzine of its kind in Russia is trying to promote the hobby, with plans afoot to release an English edition of the magazine.
Mag Shop is written and edited by Yuri Paretski from Zelenograd, who supports his local club and CSKA Moscow. After our interview which is featured in Issue #6, Yuri became the first and only member of the 100FgC from Russia - Squad#196. In recognition of Yuri joining the Roll of Honour the latest edition features the 100FgC badge on the cover of issue #7.
Further details can be found on the websitewww.magshop.appee.ru or you can email Yuri atthis address.
Aggborough is a ground that has somehow eluded me, having failed to visit in the club’s Football League days, as well as the last two season in which Gateshead have been in the Conference. I only need five grounds to complete the Conference set and its good to get one of those ticked-off straight away on the opening day of the season.
I travelled by coach with the GFC Supporters Club, departing from the Civic Centre at 8am. Kidderminster is a town in the Wyre Forest district of Worcestershire, located between the cities of Birmingham and Worcester. The journey went smoothly and without a hitch, arriving in good time at 12.40pm
Kidderminster Harriers kick off the new campaign at home to Gateshead in a season which marks the club’s 125th anniversary.
The Club's origins began as an Athletics club in 1877 before switching to rugby in 1880 becoming Kidderminster Harriers and Football Club, before converting to association football and became professional in the autumn of 1886.
The club initially ground shared Aggborough with local Birmingham & District League rivals - Kidderminster Olympic, until the clubs amalgamated, joining the newly formed Midland League in 1891.
They only lasted as a fully professional club for one season, resigning from the league and folding before reforming the following season as Kidderminster Harriers F.C.
Harriers won their first title in the Birmingham & District League in 1938-39, gaining promotion to the Southern League, but progress was halted due to the outbreak of WW2. The club again won promotion in 1948, playing in the Southern League until the turn of the 1960’s, a decade which was their most successful era, winning the West Midlands League on four occasions and finishing runners-up twice.
They again returned to the Southern League from 1972 until a second place finish in 1982-83 saw the club join the Alliance Premier.(Conference) In 1987 Harriers made their first of three visits to Wembley in the FA Trophy final beating Burton Albion after a replay and finished runners-up in 1991 and 1995.
Aggborough opened in May 1890 when the recent amalgamated club played Walsall, at the time the ground was oval shaped with a wooden stand with a banked athletics track and held a good 15,000 supporters.
A Corrugated iron shed was built in the 1920’s, known as the Cowshed, and a 460 seated grandstand opened in 1935, the stand roof later extended to cover a concrete terrace.
The ground was one of the first in the country to host a floodlit match with a game against Aston Villa in December 1951 and on 14th September 1955 became the first to host an FA Cup tie under lights when Harriers played Brierley Hill Alliance in a preliminary round replay, winning 4-2.
A new system was installed in the mid-sixties and a new covered terrace was erected in 1979, the Bill Greaves Memorial Stand replaced the cowshed which was damaged in a gale, the stand named in honour of their late chairman.
In 1983 further improvements to the terracing, updated floodlights and the ground squared off replacing its oval shape in preparation for the Harriers step up to the Alliance Premier League.
The 1993-94 season was an eventful one for Harriers both on and off the pitch, progressing to the 5th round of the FA Cup, knocking out Birmingham City and Preston before losing to West Ham United by a solitary goal at Aggborough. The Conference title was won for the first time but promotion to the Football League was denied due to problems with the main stand which was deemed as unsafe.
The following year the main stand was replaced with a covered single tier all seated Reynolds Stand, which is filled with red seats with ten executive boxes at the back. The rear of the stand incorporates the Aggborough Suite, club shop and supporters pub The Harriers Arms.
The ground had been upgraded to Football League standards with the stand, new club entrance and souvenir shop meant when a second Conference title was achieved six years later they took their rightful place amongst the 92, be it short lived, returning to non-league five years later.
The Bill Greaves Terrace was redeveloped as an all-seated stand in 2003. The East Stand is a basic single tier block of red seats with HARRIERS picked out in white, which takes the seating capacity up to 3,140.
There is matching covered terracing behind each goal, with the only difference being that the away end on the south terrace has an electric scoreboard perched on the roof. The overall capacity stands at 6,238 with the record attendance standing at 9,155 against Hereford on 27th November 1948
Gateshead started the season with an impressive victory in an entertaining encounter at Aggborough.
The Heed got off to a dream start when Gate was fouled on the edge of the box, the resulting Cummings free kick was handled by Storer and Jon Shaw made no mistake with the spot-kick, nonchalantly chipping the keeper to give the visitors a 3rd minute lead.
Gateshead doubled their lead when a cross from Odhiambo found Cummins in acres of space to nod home, but the lead was halved a minute later when a neat move was started and finished by Harriers man of the match Nick Wright on 20 minutes.
Kiddy pressed for an equaliser and made it all square five minutes later, a corner kick was met with a firm head by Kyle Storer making amends for his earlier handball error.
After an open first half both sides closed ranks in the second period. The match looked to be heading for a draw until ten minutes from time, when a low hard cross by Odhiambo was turned in by Kris Gate, which sent the 53 Heed Army fans behind the goal into raptures.
Jamille Matt had a great opportunity to grab an equaliser deep into injury time, but The Tynesiders held on to gain a well earned victory and a great start to the new season.
What a superb matchday to start off the new season. Arriving at Aggborough early gave us plenty of time to explore the town’s hostelries and as always I was equipped with Google map and pub list. I led the Heed Army around the streets of Kidderminster like the pied piper of Gateshead, starting off in the excellent King and Castle. The pub is set within the Severn Valley Railway museum and is a recreation of a GWR refreshment room, which serves the specially brewed Wyre Piddle(3.9%)[3.5***] which is very nice and only £2 a pint.
Afterwards we headed over to the Boars Head and predictably checked out the local JDW - The Penny Black before heading back to Aggborough for the match.
Thanks to Squad #169 Captain Carter for supplying me with ale on the journey down and a special mention to our coach driver for getting us there and back in good time, arriving back in the Heed by 9.30pm.
As I’ve already stated a great day out, having a canny drink and a brilliant result, so what more could I ask for? Hopefully more of the same over the next nine months.
Lately I've been doing so much consuming of various forms of media, I thought I'd just list some of it and hopefully delve into my thoughts on a couple of them. I'll post a more cohesive blog update later this week, which will most likely be my review of the English otome game X-Note (I'm going to review that game by the end of the week, I swear).
Film
So, Shaun and I went to see Rise of the Planet of the Apes on Saturday. Besides having an unnecessarily long title, it was actually pretty good! Even if you could care less about Planet of the Apes (which is pretty much me), the film is a fun Sci-Fi flick with a strong emphasis on characters, and it's probably the first of the "summer blockbusters" that I'd say is worth going to see.
Besides having a pretty uninspiring female girlfriend character, that is. When all the characters are actually rather thoughtfully rendered, including an ape doctor who almost instantaneously becomes the "grounding girlfriend" is a little disappointing. I suppose you can't have everyone be the star, but I suppose you're also going to have to have me pick on a film when it can't have any well-developed female characters (what can I say, it's my nature). Either way, it's still heaps better than that awful Tim Burton rendition of a few years back... Plus, the animation is gorgeous, and any film that can make you care for a character that is 100% animated deserves some respect.
Also, Shaun and I both agree that we like James Franco, so having him in the film was a plus (I'm not sure why we do... are we the only ones?)... I liked him as the son of the Green Goblin, anyway.
We're also going to watch Dinner for Schmucks on DVD, which comes very highly recommended from my parents! I hope it's good.
Manga
I don't talk about manga very often here, but I finally picked up a few volumes of Loveless at the library the other day because the art is, in my opinion, pretty gorgeous.
The story is a little weird, though, which has kept me away from it until now, and though I'm enjoying it well enough, I think the only reason I've really stuck with it for 4 volumes is the art and the way it plays with gender norms, but even then I'm not sure where it's going with that. I probably won't seek out the rest of the volumes now that Tokyopop, the English distributor, has gone under, unless my library happens to have them already.
Games
I always have a weird relationship with games: I seem to write more about them than I actually play them!
I did start Patapon the other day, because Shaun was playing Battlefield: Bad Company 2 on the PS3, and it's been sitting expectantly on the shelf for a couple of weeks now
The gameplay is fun, but I'm finding that it's getting a little repetitive to tell my troops to move forward over and over again, especially when you were fighting an enemy who just ran away. But I've still only played a couple of missions so far, so I hope things change up a bit after I play a couple more. I'm not that rhythmically inclined, though, so I have to focus all my energy in playing the game and not getting distracted by whatever Shaun's doing beside me. Hah!
So, what are you all playing/reading/watching these days? I'm all ears!
The 100 Football Grounds Club is now full with all the squad numbers allocated and no vacancies for new members. I decided some time ago that the membership was never going to be infinitive and planned to cap the squad to a final total of 100 + 99.
The main reason for this decision is that anyone with an interest in groundhopping would have surely came across this website over the last 5 years and if readers wanted to be in the 100FgC, would have shown an interest in joining.
I’d like to thank everyone who has shown their support, all 198 of you, your now privileged to be part of an exclusive club. Happy ground hopping, travel safely and let me see those ground totals increase. Cheers!
Capcom isn't really getting on my good side lately, and I'm sure most of you know why, but that doesn't mean we can't still appreciate Resident Evil's big baddie Wesker and his weird nasally voice. I don't know about you, but I know if I had a cat and a Wesker action figure at my disposal, this is exactly what I'd do with them:
I've gotta say, that is one cool cat to put up with his/her owner's shenanigans like that. I don't think either of my cats (who are back with my parents in the US, sadly) would be so accommodating.
Unfortunately, I don't know who to credit for this wonderful thing, but if anyone out there knows where it came from, I'd greatly appreciate if you'd let me know!
Television Without Pity are un set de sondaje numit "Tubey Awards", la care Lauren Cohan este nominalizata. Categoria in care o veti gasi se numeste "Best Guest Star". Votati AICI!
Television Without Pity are un set de sondaje numit "Tubey Awards", la care Lauren Cohan este nominalizata. Categoria in care o veti gasi se numeste "Best Guest Star". Votati AICI!
I know the whole point of these "Japan Envy" pieces is for me to share things from Japan that aren't readily available to the rest of us, but I'd like today to highlight a wonderful US-based retailer that specializes in cute Japanese goods.
The one time I visited Pittsburgh, PA (to look at colleges, actually), my mom and I stumbled upon a store called Kawaii Gifts. In their relatively small space they managed to stock all manner of cute Japanese stationary, plush, accessories, and homewares, most of which I had never seen before, even online. Though I spent a reasonable amount when I was in their physical location, over the years I've become a dedicated patron of their extensive online store Shop Kawaii.
Not only do they carry all manner of character goods from brands such as San-X, Sanrio, Kamio, and more, but they are also priced extremely reasonably for an import store. With every order I've placed, I've always received a freebie of some sort, such as a pencil, sticker sheet, or a pin made by the store themselves out of old, unused stationary. There's nothing like free things to make me a happy patron!
Here are a few items I'm drooling over right now:
I absolutely love Kamio's Fairy Tale World series! This notebook's pages have various designs, too!
The only thing I love more than Kamio's general Fairy Tale series is their Alice in Wonderland series! This bag is perfect, and I just so happen to be in the market for a bag with a zipper closure.
I'm not too sure how I feel about San-X's newest character, Iiwaken. His name is a play on the Japanese phrase "ii wa" meaning "that's good" and "shiba-ken," which refers to the type of dog, Shiba (or Shiba Inu). He's a good dog, get it? Aha... Ok, that's your Japanese lesson for today!
Anyway, as I was saying, I'm not sure how I feel about him, but there's something oddly appealing about that notepad and the dogs' little white butts.
No post detailing my love for cute Japanese things would be complete without mention of San-X's Rilakkuma, a bear who loves relaxing above all else. I absolutely love this guy, but I'm not sure I need these in my life:
I suppose if I played golf, Rilakkuma golf toppers would be high on my list of things to buy, but as it stands, I'm not a golfer, so the novelty of these is lost on me. If you're wondering, I'd probably choose the pink and white one, even though the dark brown Rilakkuma is generally my favorite of the three characters.
With that said, I seriously suggest checking out Shop Kawaii if you're at all interested in these type of products. They're a great store with an awesome selection and even more amazing customer service. I'm sure I'll be using them as my source for cute Japanese goods for many years to come.
