Suiensaa, RIVER PV, and Seating

First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMI!!! I hope you like the stuff I sent you, Gavin, and Yuto.

A bit tired today as I was up til 2:45am last night. I was up late because NHK changed the TV schedule for TV Japan (Rogers Ch829). Monday nights at 2:15am now airs AKB48's educational TV show "Suiensaa" (english title is "Fun Science for Teens"). It's hosted by Oshima Mai (graduated AKB48 member), a comedian duo (one of which is Fujimoto Miki's husband ~ who forced her to quit Morning Musume), and they are joined by 3-4 different AKB48 members every episode. Yesterday's episode was about soccer penalty shootouts.

Today, the Promotional Video (PV) for AKB48's 14th single "RIVER" was released. The actual single will be released next week on Oct 21. The PV was filmed in collaboration with the Japan Self-Defense Force ("SDF" like in the Macross anime ~ I didn't know SDF was real until recently). The PV has alot of cool scenes (ie Team B TopGun shot @ 2:27) and was almost like a US Army commercial, but I still like it.
"RIVER" is suppose to a song about believing in yourself, to never give up, and it doesn't matter how big the obstacles are (aka the River) you should be able to overcome it (aka crossing the River).
The only part I hate is the last line of the song, "You can do it!". Everytime I hear it, I picture Rob Schneider from Waterboy.


^ AKB48 - RIVER (Low Quality PV)

Last topic is this article I read today about "10 things you definitely should not do in Japan". I think #6 should be enforced when the CMC gang goes out for lunches. I'm sure you CMC people would unquestionably sacrifice yourselves for me :)

6) Choose the Wrong Seat
There's a somewhat antiquated custom when it comes to eating out in groups. If you're with some business colleagues, it's better for a junior member (in terms of hierarchy, not age) to take the seat closest to the doorway or access point, the senior member the farthest away. The belief is that should an attack occur, the least experienced (thus the least valuable) will be killed first, giving the others time to mobilize and protect the higher-ups.

BTW Robot Hockey Pool Week 1 results: Fongpay 5 vs Chuck Norris 2. So Chuck, I'll be collecting on our Breakfast bet Wednesday morning. Don't forget to sit near near the doorway when we eat :)