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Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Unofficial Sasuke Update Show #3 on Nico Nico!



I'm happy that they are keeping the schedule! A month after the last one, Sasuke Director Masato Inui returns to host the 3rd installment of what he calls the Unofficial Sasuke Update Show on Nico Nico.  Edit: He's traveling in Europe right now so we'll find out who will be hosting it. The first one was held back in October.  November was the big month where he and Ryo were building Sasuke Indonesia and produced 13 behind the scenes videos on Nico Nico.  Last month was the return of the first format with new people and this one seems to be a slightly different format.  They have also introduced a brand new Twitter account just for the broadcast to handle the questions incoming from twitter to be answered live during the Nico Nico broadcast.  The name of the Twitter handle is S ura channel (which means Sasuke back channel). Inui posted it on his twitter to confirm that it is indeed the case.  I assume they will also do more announcements there tied to the broadcast like they did when they announced it's creation.
Tuesday, January 26, 2016 - 20:30 (8:30 PM - Japan) JST
  6:30 AM (Eastern Standard Time) (TUESDAY Morning)
3:30 AM (Pacific Standard Time) (TUESDAY Morning)
For those who are curious.. what is Nico Nico?  This is the online streaming service that was used during the Sasuke 30 and 31 broadcasts that had commentary on the tournament while it was airing live in Japan. Over the past Sasuke 31 season, it was used often for community updates and additional content.   This particular channel is new as this is a channel started specifically by the Sasuke Director himself. I mentioned this before, but it bears repeating:  I need to reiterate something about the channel.  This is not an official channel for TBS.  This is his own personal channel and the views and impressions on this broadcast/channel are not the official views of TBS.  For those who are unaware, Mr. Inui was hired to direct Sasuke after the collapse and eventual bankruptcy of Monster 9.  He is now creative owner for the televised image of Sasuke and he serves not only as Executive Director but sole Editor of the televised show.  However, he is President of FolCom and considered to be an outside independent contractor hired by TBS.  Remember that while what he discusses about the composition of the show (which he controls), he does not serve as representative of TBS. TBS controls the license of the show and is the only one certified to announce any official plans.  He wanted to make sure everyone knew that up front and there are certain answer he is just unable to give since he has limited control of the show and cannot possibly speak for TBS in an official capacity. 
First Nico Nico Broadcast - October, 2015 ©Shingo Yamamoto

The line-up for Broadcast #3 is identical to the first one from back in October, 2015. (see above photo).

Sasuke All-star Shingo Yamamoto 山本進悟  and New Generation Star Ryo Matachi (Cliffer #2) 又地諒 from the Sasuke 30 Nico Nico Broadcast
 
2-Time Grand Champion Yuuji Urushihara 漆原裕治 (Cliffer #3) (From Sasuke 31)

Masashi Hioki 日置 将士 from the Sasuke 31 Nico Nico Broadcast

The hope was for this informal channel is to provide a monthly update on the world of Sasuke from his perspective and provide an opportunity to engage the community live.  They seem to be doing more this time by adding not just keeping the Nico Nico live chat but also engaging the Twitter chatter.  They are actively working on the sound and video quality so it is their hope they aren't plagued by tech issues like the first couple were.


Inui hopes to do this at a pace of about once a month in an informal setting.  So far the biggest news coming out of these was from the very first one Nico Nico where the announcement of Sasuke 32 being green-lit.  We are very much in the off-season and are still waiting for plans to finalize for both Sasuke 32 and the Sasuke World CupHe'll answer what he can so again, there are some topics he cannot formally address as it's either out of his hands, political or he just doesn't know the answer.

Monday, January 18, 2016

Rambling Rican Trip to Japan - Part 5

YouTube Link to Rambling Rican in Japan! (Part 5)

Just posted a YouTube video on my personal channel of my trip to Japan.  For those counting at home, this is the 5th video from the series. This video features the rest of the day of that Thursday (same day we saw Yuuji) and onto Friday (the day before Sasuke) where we had to change hotels from Odaiba to a town called Machida.  Thanks to to Perry Oosterlee from the Netherlands for allowing me to use his videos again! Previous videos include, Part 4 was the rest of my Haruta Trip to see the 2-Time Grand Champion Yuuji Urushihara 漆原裕治 (Cliffer #3) at work. In Part 3 in the series, Yuuji took us out to eat lunch and sign autographs.  In Part 2, I posted a room tour of my first (of 3) hotel stays.  Part 1 was the flight over to Japan on YouTube that all of you made possible! I don't care if I sound like a broken record, but THANK YOU so much for your support! I could not have gone to Japan without you! Hope you enjoy the video! ♥

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Updates on backlog

Sasuke (Japan) Director Masato Inui 乾雅人 ©Masato Inui

It had occurred to me that I hadn't done a blog to update everyone on the backlog of stuff that I retrofitted into previously existing blogs.  I finally got to them within the past couple of weeks but never brought it to people's attention (unless someone looked it up on their own).  I was planning to do more on the Sasuke Indonesia front but realized I'd have to talk about about 5 additional videos.  So instead, I place them all on a playlist so people can view them on their own time. I did a link back at the top of the article so they have access to the playlist.  Again, thanks to Mr. Inui for taking the time to showcase the course while it was being built and giving us an inside look at the course before the event even started!  There are a total of 13 videos that Inui produced for Nico Nico and I had permission to repost on my YouTube channel that I put up on a playlist on YouTube.


Way back in November I made up trip up north to see a friend of mine who was visiting the USA.  I referenced it during Episode 8 of the Final Stage Podcast that I did a trip up to see Perry who flew in from the Netherlands to compete at the Movement Lab gym in New Jersey.  I went to see him after the event (and had a fabulous lunch..) and had a chance to meet Chris Wilczewski.  He was kind enough to give me a tour of the facility even though it was in use (kid's birthday party). I meant to put the video of the trip I referenced during the podcast up soon after taping.. but I never did. Sorry about that!

Link to video ©Arsenette Reiter

The video for my trip to Movement Lab is finally up (yes.. very late).. Sorry for the quality of the video as it's shot from my iPhone and I have a shaky hand (too many operations lol).  It has also made me think I have to upgrade my camera at some point as my iPhone has better quality than my old video camera.. oy.. Anyway, speaking of the podcast, the latest episode (January - Episode 9) is up!  I'm now starting to use a new small opening. I'm trying to keep it short but identify the video being mine.  How do people like it? I also used it for my first vlog.  Either way, I may be going to the finals of the National Ninja League at the end of February.  It depends on a lot of things (including my health) and will update the blog and most definitely my Twitter if I do end up going.

Getting a gift from Lost in Ube! ©Arsenette Reiter

Finally, I'm working on the Japan Trip videos again.  Referencing my camera before (among other things), I went into a long discussion as to why I'm procrastinating so much doing these videos on the Podcast (direct link to that topic).  Should the opportunity arise again (I hope), I vow to upgrade my equipment and do a better job. I talk a while on the subject on the podcast so I'll spare ya writing down several paragraphs on it...  Either way, while working on the Sasuke Trip, I was horrified when I came to the realization that I never vlogged about 2 days of Japan before the tournament.  So, I'm working on that and realized I didn't videos those days either!!! grrrrr.. It will be another slide show I'm sad to report.. I do sightseeing, dinner, switching hotels in different towns (to be closer to Midoriyama) and THEN it's Sasuke weekend.  It will be a massive Sasuke video which at this point I will just do as one huge video (a whole lot easier since it was just registration where I got most of the video from). Btw for those curious about the jacket, they don't sell the size but they still have small version of this jacket on the TBSi Store.  HUGE thanks to Lost in Ube for the generous gift! It came in handy and wore it for Day 2 of Sasuke 31!  Mental note, the white jacket of that same type is only for production staff so sadly... that's not available.

Friday, January 8, 2016

Final Stage Podcast Episode 9

Graphic for Episode 9

Thanks to William as always for adding synopsis graphic of the episode content each month on the Final Stage Podcast!  All of our previous podcasts are officially up on iTunes and on the hosting site of Podbean in addition to William's YouTube channel.  Please show your support by sharing the podcast on your favorite social media and help get the word out of the podcast!  Like, share and subscribe on YouTube. Also, rate and/or write a review up on iTunes and I'll read the 5 stars on the next podcast! ♥
Episode 9 - Direct link
 
Just a quick update to let you know that the 9th episode for the Final Stage Podcast with William and I is out! All of our previous podcasts are officially up on iTunes and on the hosting site of Podbean. The episode went live about a couple hours ago and this time the iTunes version updated earlier this morning! It is of course uploaded on Podbean at the same time it goes live on iTunes as it's the main hosting site.

Published on Jan 8, 2016
Happy new year, everybody! In honor of the new year, William and Arsenette discuss the new, upcoming show “Team Ninja Warrior”. Esquire secretly previewed the first episode and William watched the whole thing. Join us as William discusses the episode in depth with Arsenette. Did he like it? Well… (Reminder that this is a spoiler-free review)

Also, the duo talks about Inui’s latest livestream, the competitors representing USA, Japan, and Europe in USA vs the World, the ANW entry deadline, the National Ninja League, and how someone can get away with claiming a Canadian is from France.


Hosts:
William: https://twitter.com/2D2Will
http://www.twodashtwo.com/
http://www.twotwentytwoproductions.com/

Arsenette: https://twitter.com/Arsenette
http://ramblingrican.com/
https://www.youtube.com/Arsenette

Show notes:
0:26 Intro
1:06 William discusses Christmas in NYC and watching Star Wars Episode VII
3:04 Arsenette discusses her new calendar! (and other Rambling Rican stuff)
13:35 Our New Year's Resolutions
17:53 Rundown of the latest Sasuke Nico Nico show by Masato Inui!
24:16 Reminder: ANW 8 application deadline is January 17
25:19 National Ninja League Finals to be held on February 27 & 28 at the Movement Lab
26:43 USA vs The World airing January 31. The three teams are publicly revealed!
43:08 Who are we looking forward to on USA vs The World?
59:54 Esquire previews Team Ninja Warrior by airing the first episode early. We have a spoiler-free discussion about the show. List of teams: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/esquires-team-ninja-warrior-pits-top-teams-january-19-preview/
1:44:02 Closing

Music Credits:
"Sands of Time"
https://isaacwilkins.bandcamp.com/track/sands-of-time-2
by: Isaac Wilkins
https://isaacwilkins.bandcamp.com/

Monday, January 4, 2016

YouTube Vlog on 2016 Rambling Rican Calendar


I did my very first vlog!  It's a quick video on the 2016 Rambling Rican Calendar!  LOL in fact I took this one off the wall to show you guys what it looks like.  Had a bit of trouble trying to find enough light since I'm been up all night lately.  I had to use my phone to record it since it's better quality than my aging video camera.. /sigh..  Anyway, hopefully the video is clear enough so you can at least get a good idea of how the calendar looks on the inside.  Just like last year, I am very happy with the quality of the calendar.  It's made of a thick card-stock and pretty sturdy.  Hopefully I did a little better than last year's.  Btw for those who were curious, I still have 3 extras I bought last year since the website no longer sells them.  Also, for those who can't otherwise order them online (since the shipping regions are limited), let me know and I can put in an order for you should you want a copy.  At the end of the video I have a small glimpse of the next project I plan to cover.. I've been procrastinating since it's a daunting task.. but I will get it out this month!