2018 Rambling Rican Calendar is for sale!

2018 Rambling Rican Calendar ©Rambling Rican

Direct Link to Video

I was surprised to be asked to do this again.  I wasn't completely ready to do it this year given so much has happened but it doesn't cost me anything to create something that apparently many of you enjoy! ♥  Thank you! I'm really happy about that since I'm still friends with a lot of the Sasuke/Ninja Warrior community despite the political junk in the background.  I'm also very thankful for Jin to have sent me photos of this year's activities along with fellow competitor's photo donations last minute! ♥  Maybe if more are interested in it I can continue yearly doing this for the community regardless of my lack of participation in day to day fandom.  I still love and support those in the ninja community and they continue to fill my life with positivism and support.

March 2018 snapshot ©Rambling Rican

So, back by popular demand the latest calendar is now up on the website!  Thanks for the support everyone has given me the past few years I've been doing this. I did one for 2015, 2016 and 2017. Just like last year any proceeds (and they are little since I don't sell many of these to warrant much attention) is for the completion of the Sasuke-themed book I've been working on forever.  The publishing part is not that expensive, but hiring an professional editor is. Each time I've done a fundraiser I've broken even so I don't have a reserve for covering the costs of publishing the book. I've mentioned before the process of writing the book has been daunting. I've also never really raised much money doing these calendars since it's really made for fun with the community who supports my work.

August 2018 snapshot ©Rambling Rican

I kept most of the format like last year since those who bought the calendar seemed to like this format best.  The majority of the photos came from Kung-Cheen Howng 洪 恭芹 (aka "Jin) with permission of those he took photos of, Geoff Britten sent a couple earlier this year and got permission to use for this project and the rest I took myself during my trip to Japan last year and my friend Dr. Cathi Jones who took pics of the same event (Sasuke 32).  I wasn't expecting to do this calendar this year so I was limited in who I could get in this short period of time.  Most are from get-together events that took place in Gunma, Saitama and Tokyo Prefectures along with the yearly Sendai  PTA event that the city runs and photos from Taiwan.  As usual thanks to Philip (from SMF) for designing my logo! I also added more birthdays of those who have competed in Sasuke this year to add to the normal array of Sasuke regulars (like the All-stars/Shin Sedai) to fill out the months.

June 2018 snapshot ©Rambling Rican

Full disclosure on the "fundraising part" I mentioned pertaining to these Calendars.  I'm getting about $5-7 US dollars per calendar created. All of the prices are up on their website along with a description as to how this works.  I'm very happy with the quality of the calendars and have used this website for 4 years running!  At this point I highly recommend the calendars! These calendars are really good quality and sturdy! (VenusHeadTrap - Griffin Tremaine did a video on the calendars last year if you are interested in seeing what last year's looked like). The calendars are only printed when someone orders them as opposed to other companies that require for a certain amount to be ordered up front.  While they also had an option to do a fulfillment drive (like they do in local schools with the sign up sheet) I chose the other route available since the amount most people would get would be much smaller.  The company will be doing the fulfillment so I don't have to be the middle person.  I won't know who orders what from as the website since they take care of that privately between the buyer and them.  So far I've had zero issues other than creative issues on my own.  I appreciated they had no set up fees (some websites can cost 100-200 bucks just to set up) and again, my experience from the past few years was quite positive.

All months in the 2018 Rambling Rican Calendar ©Rambling Rican

Feel free to use the $10 referral code! ♥
On your first order just type in Referral Code: E9VWYS for $10 off your first purchase (one coupon per account)!  The way it works is that you put in your profile "Where you referred" and that is where you place your referral code (E9VWYS). I do believe it goes to making your own content on the site rather than a coupon per se. It's a bit convoluted but you will end up getting a $10 credit on your account when the option becomes available. 

August 2018 snapshot ©Rambling Rican

I also noticed that they added a lot of other things like like photo books, cards, and even T'shirts, etc.) if people are interested in buying some sort of merchandise that will help me as well. It doesn't cost me anything to set it up and it would help me tremendously if you buy stuff from the store.  So if you want to contribute to the kitty and get the 2018 (it comes in 2 sizes apparently although I formatted it for the smaller one) you can buy it directly on CreatePhotoCalendar's website!

The website accepts Visa, Master Card, Checks, Money Orders, and even PayPal.

Shipping Zones

Website list with shipping, locations, pricing, etc.  (as of December, 2017)

Zone 1
United States

Zone 2

Canada

Bahamas

Bermuda

Puerto Rico

US Virgin Islands

Zone 3

United Kingdom

Austria

Belgium

Brazil

Costa Rica

Curacao

Czech Republic

Denmark

Ecuador

Finland

France

Germany

Hungary

Iceland

Ireland

Italy

Luxembourg

Netherlands

Norway

Oman

Poland

Portugal

Russia

Romania

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

Zone 4

Australia

Bangladesh

Greece

India

Israel

Japan

Malaysia

Malta

New Zealand

Pakistan

Philippines

Saudi Arabia

Serbia

Singapore

South Africa

Thailand

Turkey

Ukraine

United Arab Emirates

November 2018 snapshot ©Rambling Rican

I've mentioned before but if you are interested in getting a calendar and it is NOT on the list that the company sells to, I am willing to mail out orders. I'd like to limit that as much as possible though as it gets complicated and extremely expensive. All shipping costs would be paid by the person who is ordering them.  However, considering that if your area is not on the list, that means that your shipping will be quite high.  I don't make the calendars so I have to pay for my own copies. Please don't ask for free calendars. As always I am eternally grateful for your continued support throughout the years. Please spread the word and hopefully I can sell more calendars this year!  The website has share options to all major social media. Please use them and spread the word!  If anyone is interested, I can create more products to put up on the store. It doesn't cost me anything but time to design things. If you are willing to buy it then I'm willing  to diversify the portfolio. ♥

Rambling Rican Vlog - Viewer Comments and updates on Sasuke 32 videos

Direct Link to video

Another vlog!

It's been a couple weeks since my last update and in the interim there have been 2 updates.  1 is the latest Rambling Rican in Japan video on this YouTube page and the other is the latest episode of the Final Stage Podcast. I also answered viewer questions/comments, a bunch of general stuff and upcoming projects!

I do read your comments! I just can't comment in the comments section since I don't use Google+ on this YT Channel. I'll comment to them in latter videos and on my twitter! https://twitter.com/Arsenette and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ramblingrican/

Related Link: http://www.finalstagepodcast.com/

Last year's Calendar: http://www.ramblingrican.com/2015/12/2016-rambling-rican-calendar-is-for-sale.html

Music is "Parasail" by Silent Partner

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.

Perry Oosterlee, Arsenette Reiter (me) and Chris Wilczewski at Movement Lab ©Arsenette Reiter

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.

YouTube Vlog on 2016 Rambling Rican Calendar

YouTube Link to Vlog

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!

2016 Rambling Rican Calendar is for sale!

2016 Rambling Rican Calendar Cover ©RamblingRican

As I mentioned before, I'm starting to organize a small set of fundraisers for the another trip next year to Japan.  Just like last year, my first foray into it will be the Calendar.  Thanks to everyone who helped last year, I was able fly to Japan for the 31st tournament!  My hope is to return to Japan (assuming in the Spring as the tournament date has not yet been announced) and interview as many people as I can to include in the book I'm writing on Sasuke's history.  This year I was able to get a lot of information but not enough for what I was doing.  Many changes to the format of the book occurred thanks to the trip experience.  I noticed a glaring problem I had in terms of lack of information. I need to do more interviews and while some of that lack is slowly starting to get taken care of, the main bulk is still yet to happen.  I'd have to overhaul the scale of the trip and do a better job in organizing more interviews.  I guess I call it a rookie mistake. I was quite overwhelmed and not being in a native environment I did a poor job organizing more concrete interviews.  I'm hoping to do better on the next trip in organizing those interviews in advance.

 July, 2016 snapshot ©RamblingRican

Speaking of correcting mistakes, I overhauled how I did the calendar.  I chose larger photos and removed most of the captions.  I found it was a bit cluttered when I did put the captions even if I sacrificed identifying exactly who was in the photo.  Given also that there were a lot more group photos, I had to make a choice and stick to just keeping it as clean as possible. The majority of the photos I took myself during my trip to Japan this year.  The rest come from events and get-togethers that took place in Gunma Prefecture and the Sedai event that is an annual PTA event that the city runs.  I'm happy to say that the Calendar is complete and finally up on the website!  As usual thanks to Philip (from SMF) for designing my logo! I was blessed in having a few photographers who donated their photos (Kung-Cheen Howng 洪 恭芹 (aka "Jin), Tatsuya Tada 多田竜也, Yuusuke Morimoto 森本 裕介 and Sasuke Director Masato Inui 乾 雅人.  I also added more birthdays of those involved and featured some of the Sasuke regulars (like the All-stars/Shin Sedai) to fill out the months.

September 2016 events snapshot ©RamblingRican

Full disclosure on the "fundraising part" of the Calendar Project.  I'm getting about 5-7 dollars per calendar created. All of the prices are up on their website along with a description as to how this works.  I was happy with last year's trial run and decided to use the same site again.  The calendars are only printed when someone orders them as opposed to other companies that require for a certain amount to be ordered up front.  While they also had an option to do a fulfillment drive (like they do in local schools with the sign up sheet) I chose the other route available since the amount most people would get would be much smaller.  The company will be doing the fulfillment so I don't have to be the middle person.  I won't know who orders what from as the website since they take care of that privately between the buyer and them.  So far I've had zero issues other than creative issues on my own.  I appreciated they had no set up fees (some websites can cost 100-200 bucks just to set up) and again, my experience from last year was quite positive.

I also noticed that they added a lot of other things like like photo books, cards, and even T'shirts, etc.) if people are interested in buying some sort of merchandise that will help me as well. So if you want to contribute to the kitty and get the 2016 (it comes in 2 sizes apparently although I formatted it for the smaller one) you can buy it directly on CreatePhotoCalendar's website!  The website accepts Visa, Master Card, Checks, Money Orders, and Paypal. They ship to the USA, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Europe, Russia, United Arab Emirates, Philippines, India, Thailand, and Australia.  If you are interested in getting a calendar and it is NOT on the list that the company sells to, I am willing to mail out orders. I'd like to limit that as much as possible though as it gets complicated and expensive. All shipping costs would be paid by the person who is ordering them.  However, considering that if your area is not on the list, that means that your shipping could be quite high.  As always I am eternally grateful for your continued support throughout the years.  Hopefully I raise enough to return next year to Japan. Every little bit helps!  Please spread the word and hopefully I can sell more calendars this year!  If anyone is interested, I can create more products to put up on the store to help diversify the portfolio. ♥

Indiegogo Campaign is live!

Updated January 11, 2015 - Added Yuusuke Morimoto perk!
Updated January 16, 2015 - Added Shinya Kishimoto and Tomohiro Kawaguchi perks! Also adding link to the most recent update + Q&A.
Updated January 23, 2015 - Added Sasuke merchandise perks.

YouTube Link for Indiegogo Campaign

IT'S HERE! Finally!  The Link is live to the huge fundraising project that I was discussing before.  I'm using Indiegogo to "Help get Rambling Rican to Japan!".  I've written about this before, but this is a crowd fund campaign to get Rambling Rican to Japan for Sasuke 31 this summer!

Link to Indiegogo Campaign!

This video gave me fits.  I shot 2 completely different ones then reshot the last video twice!  OI!  Then I had to iron out all the financial planning stuff this week.  Sorry for the delay in getting the campaign up. I had some issues setting up the online banking due to my own idiodcy.. remember folks.. your federal tax id number is not the same as your state tax id number.. LOL   Crossing fingers and wish me luck!

Yuusuke Morimoto 森本 裕介 during ANW's USA vs. World

 Updated perks section of the Indigogo:

• I was able to secure future cooperation from Veteran Sasuke competitor Yuusuke Morimoto 森本 裕介.  Those in the USA will remember him as Team Japan's ace who was the first person ever to clear American Ninja Warrior's 3rd Stage in competition in Las Vegas, Nevada.  For the Japanese, he is a veteran of 7 Sasuke tournaments and was the last man standing in Sasuke 29. Thanks to that feat he led Japan to a Silver Medal at the Sasuke ASEAN Open Cup in Malaysia  and wore the coveted #3000 in the Anniversary show Sasuke 30!  He is willing to sign photos for contributors in conjunction with this fundraiser!

Tomohiro Kawaguchi 川口 朋広 in Sasuke Park 2014 ©Sasuke Park at Toyosu

• Veteran Sasuke competitor Tomohiro Kawaguchi 川口 朋広 is a veteran of 6 Sasuke tournaments and was a Finalist in the most recent tournament Sasuke 30! My blog has covered his career in it's entirety and has been kind to let me interview him for hours for the blog.  He is willing to sign photos or anything we can come up with for contributors in conjunction with this fundraiser!

Shinya Kishimoto 岸本 真弥 on his course in Shizuoka ©Shinya Kishimoto

• Veteran Sasuke competitor Shinya Kishimoto 岸 本 真弥 who is best known as the competitor who bends frying pans had a break-out season in Sasuke 30 when he made it all the way to the Third Stage!  He is willing to sign photos and anything we can come up with for contributors in conjunction with this fundraiser!  As a tribute to what we know him by, I'm adding the perk of him signing a Japanese frying pan!

I'm starting out with postcard size photos that I intend to take to Japan to have him sign in person! If more interest comes from this I will add larger sizes or different items. Please note that all other merchandise will have to be bought by me when I arrive so they would be completely subject to availability. I figured photos are easier and I can have them ready and take them with me to Japan ready to be signed. If you have any questions or suggestions please contact me. I'm in the works to add more competitors. I'll post any who are able to participate as soon as I have permission.

There has been interest in official Sasuke merchandise that is extremely difficult to get outside of Japan.  I added 2 different perks.  One perk is for the Tee-shirts and one perk is for the Towels. Only during the taping of Sasuke do these things become available.  As sampled above, TBS prints limited edition Sasuke tournament shirts with the date and year on them.  For a $100 donation I can buy a Shirt or a Towel for you. Please remember that I have to buy them at full price and are subject to availability during the taping of the tournament.  This is why I'm limiting the amount I would buy at Sasuke.  Don't forget to add the shipping costs (domestic or international)

If there is any interest in importing the 2014 versions (that are only made available through online sale ONLY within Japan), I can arrange a $100 perk just for that. I can arrange with friends for them to be ordered within Japan.  Please send me a message if you are interested.

Sasuke Director Masato Inui receives his Calendar! ©Masato Inui

Finally, thanks for those who have been buying the Calendar and sending me photos!  I included 5 calendars I bought myself to the perks list in the campaign.  Working on getting 2 additional ones actually signed by at least one of the competitors (Jin is working on that for me. LOL  Thanks Jin!) and will add that in the perks later one when I confirmed who did it.  I know some people have been having issues with ordering these outside of the USA, maybe this is an opportunity to do both?  We'll see how it goes.  Thanks for the support for those who bought them!  I get a kick out of people letting me know they bought it and the Japanese are fascinated by something they've never seen before! LOL 

Sasuke 30 Rebroadcast and Sasuke related updates

Back on December 5th I saw a re-tweet of a talent agency post (for Kenji Darvish) announcing something I wasn't sure was actually real.  A FULL rebroadcast of Sasuke. To my knowledge there has only been 2 rebroadcasts of Sasuke (Sasuke 23 and Sasuke 24) and both were in the Monster 9 era.  Of note, the two times Sasuke has seen any reruns, Sasuke was heavily edited and cut to either 1/2 or even 1/3 it's original broadcast size.  The complete opposite thing is happening this time. It's actually LONGER than that original broadcast (by approximately 40 minutes).

Sasuke 30 tester demonstration/walk through ©Kikaku TVGuide

「SASUKE 2014」再放送のお知らせ！

2015年1月3日あさ9時30分から
スペシャルアンコール「SASUKE 2014」を放送します。
放送中、大切なお知らせもありますのでお見逃しなく！
お楽しみに！
※一部放送されない地域もございます。

"Sasuke 30th Anniversary"

SASUKE 2014

Saturday, January 3, 2015
9:30 JST (9:30 AM local time in Japan)

Station: TBS (Japan)

7:30 PM (Eastern Standard Time) (FRIDAY Night)
4:30 PM (Pacific Standard Time) (FRIDAY Afternoon)

Additional time conversion

Finally posted on the Sasuke TBS Page and on their Facebook confirming what we found out earlier in the week.  If you notice, the broadcast time is longer than the July official broadcast. I'm very happy about that. I also confirmed that there will be no Navi this time.  It's not really necessary anyway as we know the full results by now. I'm just happy that Sasuke will have some sort of presence now that there is a year break between Sasuke 30 and Sasuke 31 coming in 2015.

 Sasuke Producer Hiroki Kikuno 菊野浩樹 (left) and Sasuke Director Masato Inui 乾雅人 (right) just before Sasuke 30 ©Kikaku TVGuide

In response to the longer air time, Director Inui tweeted said that he is indeed reediting the show to include some runs that were previously cut in the July 3rd broadcast to fill out the new broadcast time on January 3rd.  For most of us who love watching the First stage runs it was a great announcement that some new runs will be shown from the 1st, 2nd and even 3rd stages that were previously cut or severely edited!

 

Yuuichi Okada 岡田祐一, Shinya Kishimoto 岸本真弥, New Generation Star Ryo Matachi (Cliffer #2) 又地諒  and Keita Tomino 富野恵太 (Cliffer #4) ©Ryo Matachi

The news of the longer time and the Inui involvement in re-instituting some cut runs meant GREAT news for people like Shinya (more remember him as the guy that bends frying pans).  From all reports his run was both funny, exciting and stressful all at the same time.  To remind people, his run, albeit a clear, was cut completely and was part of the infamous 7 person Clear Chart™.

The Nagasaki Brothers!
Takamasa Nagasaki 長崎 剛政 and Shunsuke Nagasaki 長崎峻侑 ©Shunsuke Nagasaki

While not confirmed, it also gives hope that we will see at least one of the stages that Shun participated in.  Along with Lee, he was one of the guy that got his runs triple fast-forwarded. Yes.. ALL THREE STAGES. Here is hope we get to see at least complete one!  I hope many will chose to watch Sasuke during the New Year.  We know that Sasuke has zero chance to win it's timeslot despite the hour simply because they will be going up against a ratings juggernaut in "Hakone Ekiden" on NTV.  (Last year their rating was 27.. yes... 27)  They are under no illusions they will win. I just hope they at least have a respectable showing and provide an alternative for those who don't want to watch the New Year marathon. AIM FOR SILVER!  LOL

Sasuke All Stars Toshihiro Takeda 竹田敏浩 and Makoto Nagano 長野誠  ©Masato Inui

Because I can.. ehem.. actually this is relevant.  Those following Nagano's Facebook will know that Nagano has built a brand new family home during this year.  Not only has construction been completed but he had a special ceremony done to commemorate this occasion.  Takeda made the trip to help christen the house and even Inui showed up to film the event. Our hope is that we see it in Sasuke 31's Navi since we know that Sasuke 30's rebroadcast will not feature a new navi.

An update on the Calendar and other projects in Rambling Rican.  Starting in the first week of January, I will be putting up a huge fundraising project on Indigogo to help fund a trip to Japan.  I hope to be able to put it up in time for the rebroadcast but we'll see how difficult it is to set up during the New Year.  Please look forward to that as I will need your help to get to Japan to help supplement the book I'm already writing.  Thanks to Philip again for making my brand new logo! I should have the new logo incorporated into the blog and will be cleaning up the sides and banner in the next couple of weeks. Most likely after the holiday season.

And finally, I forgot to mention on the blog (so sorry about that) but back in September I noticed (and posted on Twitter) that Rambling Rican broke the 1,000,000 views mark!  Actually now I'm at 1,030,000+ now. LOL  Thank you everyone for your continued support these past 6 years. I'm still amazed people come to the site to read anything here!

2015 Rambling Rican Calendar is for sale

Cover for the Calendar ©RamblingRican

As I mentioned before, I'm starting to organize a small set of fundraisers for the big trip next year to Japan.  (crossing fingers) My hope is to be able to go to Japan in the Spring and interview as many people as I can to include in the books I'm writing on Sasuke's history.  The first of the projects was a Calendar with STQ'ers in 3 different locations celebrating the 6 years I've been doing this blog.   The locations just happened naturally and would have happened regardless if the photos were not used for this calendar.  Miska Sutela from Finland was over in Japan visiting and the STQ'ers just naturally got together to train with him.  Even Morimoto flew up from the South of Japan to take part in the festivities. That event was in Yamagata.  The Sedai event is an annual PTA event that the city runs.  Jin and Tada were invited to participate and brought their cameras to that as well. Sasuke Director Inui even showed up there out of nowhere shocking everyone! LOL  The Gunma event was a small local hangout that I got a couple of bonus photos from. I'm happy to say that the Calendar is complete and finally up on the website!  Thanks also to Philip (from SMF) for my brand-spanking-new logo! I even added a cat from the Create Calendar site and perched it on the monitor! LOL

 December 2015 Events Snapshot ©RamblingRican

I was blessed in having a few photographers who donated their photos.  The large majority came from "Jin" Kung Cheen-Howng 洪 恭芹 and Tatsuya Tada 多田竜也 with a handful of photos from Yuusuke Morimoto 森本 裕介 and even Sasuke Director Masato Inui 乾 雅人!  I also added the birthdays of those involved and featured with some of the Sasuke regulars (Like the All-stars) to fill out the months. I didn't get them all of them but I hope to be able to expand on that next year with their permission.  I wanted to add more but just started with this for now and see how people like it. I also had a cultural lesson about Japan. They have never done a fundraiser before.  I'm not kidding. This idea is completely foreign to them!  Just the calendar itself was a confusing thing.  I remember being on Skype with a few of them explaining what a car wash, girl scout cookies, candy bar sale, spaghetti dinner, and even a lemonade stand was!  It was quite the experience.  I appreciate all of those who participated in this having NO IDEA what this could possibly accomplish! They were so confused... (some still are even though I have their permission!)  Seems it's quite an American invention. (wait until the crowd-fund project... that's going to blow their minds! LOL)

 April 2015's snapshot ©RamblingRican

I have to admit I had a difficult time with the format though.  I originally had less photos and no captions.  I did one of those normal photography type calendars with single or double photo pages.  The quality of the photos I had were absolutely awesome (and I had over 500 photos to chose from) so I was able to do that if I wanted. However, I ran into a distinct problem.  Without the captions no one knew who the heck anyone was.  Ultimately that’s what people had the most issue with. The photos were awesome by themselves but it didn’t have any impact on them because honestly only a hard-core (like myself and possibly most of SMF) would know who the heck anyone is anyway. LOL Heck some people wouldn't recognize what they look like but would recognize nicknames like "Moody" or "The Lucky Bastard that got Bunpei Shiratori to speak at his wedding" but they would be damned if they knew what they looked like in photos with other people in it.  Also, most Rambling Rican readers go to my blog to hear what I have to say about photos rather than the photos themselves.  (and trust me I'm forever grateful for that!)

 A snapshot of the creation process

I had a hard time trying to find fonts and colors to fit without screwing up the design. I originally was going to do captions in the Events section (where the dates, numbers are in one of the empty blocks).  Then scratched that idea quickly.  Then decided under the pics to at least mention WHO was in each particular photo.. but that really screwed up the format. I had chat bubbles and that really made it look worse (and cheap..).  I had blocks where I had the captions IN the photos but for the smaller photos they basically cut off the photos making them even smaller. So I settled with this one alternating between black and white font in hopes it didn't blend too much into the background.  One of my longtime Sasuke friends (Thanks Cathi!) suggested to add my own Rambling Rican captions like I do on the blog offering my own thoughts on some of the photos.  Hubby toned down some of my more wtf moments (he did say and he's right.. this is a family friendly calendar that can be put in any home with children present) so he took out some of my lines and acronyms.  Oh future editing projects will be fun and I have to put my ego in check!  He is right though as painful as it is to admit it.  I moved photos around, took some out, added some in, changed format, order.. heck  I fought with the damn thing for 3 straight days!  If in the future people want pristine photography photos (like a photobook – which this site also does) then the only marking on the photo would be a copyright.  I'm more than amiable to expand on that in the future.  But for now this will work.  The first year with any project is the most difficult to create.   I can change it for next year if I get too many complaints but so far this is the direction I got from my longtime readers (and the most approvals). I know that I won't be able to please everyone sadly but that is the nature of varying opinions.  Especially when money is involved as it is in this case.

May, 2015 Snapshot ©RamblingRican

Full disclosure on the "fundraising part" of the Calendar Project.  I'm getting about 5-7 dollars per calendar created (not sure if I get hit with back end fees like most companies do these days - if not it's 7 bucks at the top end). All of the prices are up on their website along with a description as to how this works.  This is the first time I'm using this website and hope the experience is positive.  The calendars are only printed when someone orders them as opposed to other companies that require for a certain amount to be ordered up front.  While they also had an option to do a fulfillment drive (like they do in local schools with the sign up sheet) I chose the other route available.  They will be doing the fulfillment so I don't have to be the middle person.  I won't know who orders are from as the website takes care of that privately between the buyer and them.  So far I've had zero issues other than creative issues on my own.  I appreciated they had no set up fees (some websites can cost 100-200 bucks just to set up) and their reviews are overwhelmingly positive (yes I checked outside websites and Googled their names).  Consider this a test run. If this year works out well I will continue to do this and even expand on any of the other stuff they offer (like photo books, cards, etc.) if people are interested in buying some sort of merchandise that will help me as well. So if you want to contribute to the kitty and get the inaugural calendar (it comes in 2 sizes apparently although I formatted it for the smaller one) you can buy it directly on CreatePhotoCalendar's website!  The website accepts Visa, Master Card, Checks, Money Orders, and Paypal. They ship to the USA, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Europe, Russia, United Arab Emirates, Philippines, India, Thailand, and Australia.  As always I am eternally grateful for your continued support throughout the years and I hope to continue by expanding and reaching that ultimate dream of writing about Sasuke at it's source:  Japan!

Edit: 12/9/14

Lena Horn posing with my calendar! ©Lena Horn

One of my friends (who is also an Author - Forgotten Fox (Book 1 of The Celestial Saga) shown here) was nice enough to send me a photo of her holding a Calendar she bought.  That is the standard size 8 1/2 x 11 calendar. I also got a few of them (to mail out to the guys as thank you's) and having never worked with the company before, I have to say, the calendars are a reaaaaally nice quality!  The calendars are actually heavy stock and really hefty for their size!  I wasn't sure the quality of product but I'm quite pleased!

Special Projects and whatnot for Rambling Rican

Chi from Chi's Sweet Home ©giphy

Some of you already know about this, however for the most part I've kept this fairly quiet until I was about ready to do something about it.  For those of you who have been following me for a while now, you know by now that I love researching the background of this show. I adore reading about the show's past (most of which I've missed coming in later into the series - Post Sasuke 17) and reading about the stories from a competitor's point of view. Earlier this year I had the opportunity to do a presentation about Sasuke in an anime convention.  It was at that time I realized the scope of the history and that I didn't even have a HOPE to fit all of that in an hour. LOL  What startled me most though is how much people didn't know about the original show.  Even recent stuff.  Granted, it's obvious now with the death of G4 and NBC dropping the show, but even so, the history of how we got here is just about lost in time.

Over the past year I've been talking to several people whom I rely on support, insight and information along with the opportunity to bounce ideas back and forth on the many ideas that pop into my head. I laugh because I know I have the most patient friends on the planet! LOL  One of the ideas that has been in the forefront for a few years now was writing a book.  This idea has been around for as long as I've been blogging.  It has morphed into various forms from a coffee table photobook to an all-out historical retrospective. I decided somewhere in between.  The scope of the book is already starting to get larger and larger so I've decided to break that into 2 different books. The first book is about the first 30 tournaments spanning 17 years of history focusing on the how and why it got started to how it survived 2 cancellations to be the show it is today.  The second book (provided the first is received well) would be about the many many many competitor stories and anecdotes that give me a smile every time I hear them.  I wanted to break them into 2 different books because the first was going to be so large as it was and having funny competitor stories overwhelming the historical account was starting to make the book into friggin' War and Peace in size.  Also, as I've been doing Skype interviews of late with the Japanese competitors and even the Director of the show, it's really come to my attention how much interesting historical information gets lost if it's not written down. So I've decided to do that starting next year.

In the coming months I plan to start working on what I have so far and then do an ambitious crowd-fund project to see if I can get to Japan in 2015. My hope for the Japan trip is to be able to meet the production staff, interview as many people as I can (including long-time Sasuke competitors), take my own photographs and get a behind the scenes on how Sasuke has managed to survive this long.  There is only so much I can get from a Skype interview with a couple of people. My hope was to go there and try to get a personal view from as many people as I possibly can.  I plan to start that crowd-fund project early next year (which in all actuality is only a couple of months away). I'm hoping it works as I'm worried it's going to be an expensive trip.  Most of you know I'm unemployed and have been for a few years now.  I would be traveling with my husband (inventor of the Shingo Hat Theory™) who has taken care of me whenever I go out and knows the first signs of when I'm not feeling well. I would be relying on him a lot to keep me on track as well and not get over-committed and sick with my trying to fit as much as I can should I get there. So the only way I can get to Japan and supplement the book will be with everyone's help. I wanted to give you guys a heads up when the posts start coming in. There's a lot going on in the background but I haven't been posting lately.

Girl working at the computer (cartoon, woman, flowers)©Oksana Alekseeva

I've already started working on the book in earnest and as of now am working on the financing part of this project.  The first little project for fundraising will be a Rambling Rican 2015 Calendar that will be ready sometime in December.  I want to open up a small little store where I can sell Calendars, knickknacks, competitor photos, mugs and whatnot with the new Rambling Rican Logo that's currently being worked on (no it's not the image above LOL). I'm trying to find ideas help with people that want to contribute and take something with them in the process. A few of the competitors in Japan volunteered to allow me to do a calendar using their image in a celebration of 6 years of Rambling Rican.  They hope people will be interested in both helping the project and supporting the new and upcoming generation in Sasuke. That will help with the fund to start paying for the book project with it's many moving parts. Everything from licensing issues to production fees that are in all book writing ventures.  I hope people will be looking forward to it.  I'm excited if not a little anxious about the whole thing. Feel free to leave comments if anyone is interested in what I'm doing. I'd like to hear your thoughts.