Hey all…

I never officially posted where I am currently employed, but now I feel I can let the cat 100% out of the bag.

I now work as International Coordinator at PlatinumGames. IC is a position that was created for me to describe the fact that I do everything from marketing work to assistant production. However, my main job, and the one I hold the most passion for, is writing excellent game scripts, be they original or translated.

The best thing about PlatinumGames is the incredibly talented staff we have. But to fulfill our plans for global domination, we need the most fearless game creators on the planet standing with us. That is why we started the official PlatinumGames Blog.

The PG blog exists to show everyone how wonderful it is to work in our corner of the world, through the eyes of not just the people running the show, but also the designers, programmers, and planners that make the magic happen. Right now everything is in Japanese, so I might mirror my own posts here in English from time to time; however, if you can read kanji, please check out the site. Everyone from Shinji Mikami, Atsushi Inaba, Hideki Kamiya to designers, planners, and programmers are blogging. And I’m sure everyone is interested in their musings more than my own post on the joys of buying CDJs.

P.S. Yep. It is PlatinumGames. Not Platinum Games. Which I like… Because I don’t want any space between me and games. I guess that means megames.

I’ve been so tired lately, I haven’t quite been motivated to blog. Here is a quick summary.

New bed is comfy.

DJing went well last Saturday. But January is gonna be a big event. I’m putting forth full effort to get something fun going. Mark your calendars now. January 5. If you can come out to the club, I’d appreciate it.

Blade Runner final cut in the theaters was beautiful and entertaining.

Beowulf in 3D was beautiful and not so entertaining. If it weren’t for the 3d gimmick, I wouldn’t have enjoyed it. I can’t wait to see Avatar, or a good film, in 3d.

Dinner at Maimon with my friend Tomoko was very good. Never gone out to eat oysters before.

Desert of Oyster Ice Cream was interesting. File it under “Happy I tried it once”.

So Saturday night, I took my wonderful friend Fumie out to dinner at Coppola’s Vinoteca. I’ve been wanting to eat there for a long time, and my current business trip finally afforded me the opportunity. On top of that, I was graced with excellent company (and wow at how pretty she looked… I was surprised, indeed).

We sat down at the long bar seating (the only kind at Coppola’s) and proceeded to wait, and wait, and wait. The service was bad. But it was surprisingly charming. See, the lady waiting our table had none of the Tokyo pretension that goes along with a Tokyo Midtown restaurant. Instead, she was a down home Kansai girl stumbling through our dinner service with a smile and friendly conversation. Could our food orders have gone in faster? Sure. Would I have taken the cold sommelier over her? Absolutely not.

My first order of business was inquiring about the price of a bottle of Neibaum-Coppola (Now Rubicon Estate) Rubicon. The waitress brought me a 2002 that was priced at Â¥25000. My limit for this wine was Â¥20000, so Fumie did a good job of keeping my mouth behind my credit card. We ended up with a Coppola Diamond Collection Pinot Noir from Monterey, priced a reasonable Â¥6500. It was matched with sauteed paprikas and a cheese assortment. Moving on to the main course, we went with a wonderful Quattro Formaggi pizza (the Gorgonzola was excellent), and followed it with a perfectly prepared braised pork chop with lentils. The sauce was fantastic, the pork moist and tender… Just an amazing dish.

By now the bottle of Pinot was exhausted, but I offered Fumie desert. She went with a Pistachio ice cream cake with peach sauce matched to a glass of orange muscot, while I went for tiramisu and a desert Zinfandel. Both were excellent dishes that left a lasting impression with me, although the pork was the highlight of the evening.

All be told is was 21000 yen for the two of us to have dinner. But it was worth every yennie. I had a wonderful night.

I’m headed back to Osaka tomorrow… to plant myself on my new sofa.

And of course, I’ll have to have a glass of Pampero to relax after an 80 hour work week.

I also rearranged my bar set up to be a bit more compact. I like how it turned out.

Been in Tokyo this week – Sunday to next Monday. Today was my only day off in the span, so I went to Ikea and bought some stuff in preparation for my new bed arriving this next weekend. Comforter, sheets, a tall reading lamp to put behind the bed, a new throw pillow, and a bed-side table.

Afterwards, I headed to Tokyo Midtown and tried dinner at Coppola’s Vinoteca. I had a bottle of Coppola Diamond Pinot Noir (although I came close to ordering a bottle of Rubicon, the Â¥25,000 asking price was a bit much for me), and a glass of a desert Zinfandel. Food was sauteed paprika and a cheese platter for starters, a quattro formaggi pizza, brazed port chop with lentils, and a piece of tiramisu for desert. It was an excellent dinner in excellent company, but as I parted ways, I was reminded of the words of the bard.

Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow,
That I shall say good night till it be morrow.

But sometimes fate intervenes with last trains. Or paths that weave away from each other. Or age. Ultimately, our world is rigged against prolonged and meaningful relationships. We always have to say goodbye, whether it be after an evening or 60 years of marriage. We fight against this by trying to create larger and larger social graphs. We do everything we can to stave off the loneliness and prolong the night. But morrow always comes.

I’ll be back in Osaka on Monday, but it will be a full week. Tuesday is the dentist. Wednesday is a nomikai. Thursday and Friday I’m free, and then on Saturday the bed arrives and I go out DJing. I will also see Beowulf with a friend.

I have called Mai less and less, and in the month since I become a single man, I can feel her slowly begin to slip away. It is a feeling of intense melancholy. I’m taking it one day at a time, because that is the only way I can keep on going. I’m definitely not good at being alone at night. I hate not being able to communicate with someone. My hours are getting longer and my sleep is getting shorter as a result. It is a bit hard to feel anything now. I’m just trying intensely hard to keep busy. If I don’t, that is when the sadness and loneliness kicks in. I guess the trick is to keep breathing.

So I’m still struggling with my new life alone.

I’m pretty firmly in the grips of depression, but it isn’t beyond what I can handle. I’ve only called in one morning off of work since the initial shock set in. I just couldn’t get up yesterday. Today, it was a little better, but I had a run in a couple of hours ago with Mai that soured my day. I’ve made up my mind not to hate her, but she is making sticking with that decision very hard. I hope some of you reading this can hate her for me.

Also, I wasn’t able to go to Axwell after all. I REALLY REALLY REALLY wanted to, but I have to leave for Tokyo bright and early tomorrow and work until at least 9pm. I’ll be in Tokyo for 8 days, so it would be nice to see as many Tokyo friends as possible. I really need it. This trip has not only caused me to not be able to see Axwell, I also had to give up my Underworld tickets. It has wiped out a lot of things that would get my mind of how miserable I feel, so I hope that I can see some friends and get some good out of it.

I’m a fucking mess. Waking up at 5:30 to catch the Shinkansen is going to be a bitch in this state.

This Sunday, I have to leave very early in the morning for a week stint in Tokyo, but not even a trip would stop me from my Saturday night plans… Swedish House music finally invades Osaka.

AXWELL @ GRAND CAFE!

It may not be the nicest club in Osaka, but they have one of the better sound systems, and it’s fucking AXWELL!!!!!!!!!11111111oneoneoneoneoneunounounounouno!

If you want to go, just leave me a comment!

Now that I am living alone, I decided that some new furniture was in order. When this was OUR place, I understood that I couldn’t make it my place. However, Mai and I have basically broken off contact it seems… A bit of a bummer, but I really dislike the person she is becoming, so in some ways it is a relief. It is also a relief because now this is my place. That is why on my day off yesterday, I went to Horie to buy a new bed and sofa.

I’ve never had a bed in Japan, and it is something I always remember Gregg complaining he wished he had. Hopefully it makes me feel a little more adult and a little less college student. I also bought a new sofa to replace the beat up cheap sofa I was using before. I’m quite enamored with it, but I forgot to take a picture.

Work is going well. This Friday, I have plans to go to the Christmas Market at the Sky Building. I really like the office… Even though it is a bit far from Osaka Station, walking around it makes me feel like I’m doing something important in an important place. I also love the fountains at night.

Finally, in honor of Cory Barlog leaving SCEA. I give you R. Lee Ermey vs. Kratos.

“By the power of Zeus, Ermey will feel my wrath!”

“Look what I got here, a 100% twinkle-toed greek pussy! How’s my boot feel pussy?”

“What!? Your head hurts!? Let me fix that for you. Now your neck should feel about the same. Better, numbnuts?”

The new Seal CD, System, is absolutely amazing. Stuart Price, the guy who produced Madonna’s Confessions is an absolute genius at creating this type of pop dance album, and this is probably his best work. It comes out next week, and it comes highly recommended by me.

Tomorrow I have the day off, so I am going bed/furniture shopping in Horie. I haven’t been down there in a while, so I am looking forward to walking around and shopping, but to be honest, it is a bit sad to have to go do it alone. If you want to tag along, feel free to give me a shout. I’ll probably be down in Shinsaibashi from the early afternoon.

I’m also going to be working on creating a demo mix cd, so I need to pick up some records/and or Serato Scratch Live! or a CDJ to put together something really good.

Finally, Call of Duty 4 is ridiculously good.

I’m DJing this weekend at my normal monthly event. This has been an incredibly hard 10 days for me, so I’m hoping lots of people can make it out and have a good time. I promise to play good music.

Click the link to the club for directions.

COLORS WEEKENDER GREEN @ ZING

DJ: DJ MASAKI, DJ FASTER, FREEBASS, ATSUJI, DJ SHO, JAY,
QRE-3000, GULU GURU
SKY LOUNGE DJ: JP, FULL BAR, BONTODUB, HIROSHIT
DECO: GNOSIS & OLYMPUS
SPECIAL THANX: SHINPEI ISOYAMA & MEN
OPEN 22:00 / DOOR 2,500YEN 1D / WITH FLYER 1,500YEN 1D
http://www.zing-osaka.com/

Today is Mai’s last day in the house. Tomorrow she moves into her own place a few minutes away. I’m probably going to help her move… Which will be a strange thing to do, but there is no avoiding it. I’m glad I’ll still be a small part of her life, but the sadness of all of this can be a bit overwhelming. It is hard to concentrate on work, and when left to my own very silent devices behind the keyboard, it is even harder to hold the sadness down. I bet I’ve been a bit irritating to some of those here at the office, but it is going to take me some time to get it all together. I will say this though, Mikami-san is like a saint, and does a great job of keeping me up when all I want to be is down. It would be a much shittier existence for me if it weren’t for him.

Well, I guess Mai is moving out, but I’m not sure if we are moving apart. We may even move closer together. It is a weird feeling.

Things are getting better.

My initial shock has subsided, and I realize that Mai is making the best decision for her, and for me. Everyday we talk about it, I learn more about the feelings she has suppressed because she was afraid to tell me. Some of it is sad, but most of it makes me realize that she needs time to figure out how to express herself, be confident, and ultimately be a good partner. She has even been able to express how she feels about me in ways that surprised me.

Some people have been really surprised that I won’t hate her for this. But just because she is leaving to live her life for a while is not a reason to hate someone. She needs to be selfish and work through her immaturities, and I need to do the same. And the first step in that is being grown up and supporting her for taking the steps she needs to grow up herself.

Besides, if I support her, I’ll always be in her life, even if only as a friend. And being that she is an amazing person to begin with, that is a pretty damn good reason to be a grown up about all of this. Not to mention, one can never tell the future. Growing up does not necessarily mean growing apart.

Anyways, the thing that I’ve most learned in these past two weeks is actually pretty simple.

Who needs a girlfriend when you have a weighted companion cube.