Hajime Sorayama - Sexy Robots

Urotsukidōji: Legend of the Overfiend (1989) Full Movie!

 

100% NSFW. Watch at your own risk!

     The OVA that started it all and invented tentacle rape.. and really brought erotic horror to the forefront of the genre. Adapted from a popular anime and ultra violence as well as sadomasochism added for good measure.. you know, for flavor. It was crazy enough that Penthouse famously bought the rights and split it into four movies for the american market. Now we can watch it unfiltered on youtube! Hooray!

Nothing like a four-breasted ring side rodeo to set the movie off. 

I would typically review the movie and put some more stills on here, but I don't think anything that makes this movie a landmark in horror/fantasy is appropriate for my blog, even this one. All I can say, is watch it, come back here, and leave some horrified comments.

Apple, we're breaking up.

Is it bye forever?

When you are into tech as much as me, having been to college for it, built a small business around it (and failed), pride yourself on keeping up with trends and technology, and hand build and tweak several custom PC's in our home, you would think I would be on the bleeding edge.. and I thought I was as well. What makes me qualified? I watch Bladerunner and Hackers several times a year, listen to obscure 80's alternate German soundtracks to popular movies, and spend a ton of time in front of a screen. Any screen really, I'm on my phone all the time. I have several laptops in use weekly from work to play, several tablets and micro PC's, and I have the title of Director of IT at my current job, among others. I should be able to identify when a product is aging out, but this time it missed me and I'll tell you why.

Experience luxury in our all new Apple I-Flush 9000

    I see a ton of reviews and articles out there talking about the "Walled Garden" of Apple products, and I understand what they are talking about, being a fan of the book and movie, A Secret Garden. What you don't know outside of those walls you won't miss, and if you never have the urge to peek over the wall confines of the garden, then why change? I found myself in that boat, and I didn't even know I was there. From what starts as getting a product because it has new and exciting features that are thrilling and satisfying, to be totally satisfied by consistency and something that works really well. I don't want new or thrilling unless is shoved in my face, and shoved it was.

Well would you look at that; Difference. Comparison. 

At work, everyone is moving from iPhone over to Android based phone. Not only is the screen bigger, but some come with stylus', some have a mini screen on the back, some flip open to a second screen, and some even fold out, showing a tablet inside. This is not a new feature and has been out for a few years. The phone above is the Z Fold 6 by Samsung, and as it number states, this is the sixth iteration of the phone and the most modern. A brewer flipped this out in front of me and showed me how it works, with the front screen that was as big as my Iphone 13 Pro Max, then opening up to a not-so-small tablet. He proceeded to open two apps at the same time while watching a Youtube video, then folden it half so I could keep watching the video on one screen while he played around on the other side with his email. The sound was incredible, the speed surpassed anything I've seen, and everything was flatter and thinner than my iphone with only one screen and an ugly notch at the top. I was due for an upgrade as my battery is getting below the 80% mark, which means I have to charge it now during the day.

Like little soldiers all lined up.

I went to the phone store. I should note that my current Iphone is paid off, and I use an outside service, but I wanted to see what was out there. I played with the new 16 Pro Max, and like my last upgrade, saw no visual or speed differences at all, with the exception of the reduced notch at the top. Size, same. Operating system, the same. The sales rep said I could use AI to create my own Emoji's now, something that I have no interest in doing. Cameras? From what I could tell without looking at a spec sheet? The same. I asked to see the Z Fold 6 and I got see them in a display environment side by side. It felt slick and modern. It opened from the middle and felt like a well oiled piston. No bezels to speak of, and the buttons had that Mercedes Benz heavy click of quality when pressed. I was told the cameras are actually better than the Iphones, but the processer was slightly behind the iphone, but it felt MUCH faster opening apps, which could just be better optimization. Overall the screens were brighter and reeked of high class build quality. Watching a youtube video felt like a whole new experience on both of the camera screens and was the peak of innovation. I left the phone store knowing I would be ordering this phone when I got home. 

There is already a clear winner, but time will tell.

     The new phone comes in Monday and I'll be switching over. You can see that the 16 Pro max is slightly wider, but Z Fold 6 is bezeless, so seems similar in size. I have big hands, but always struggled getting my hand over to the other side of the screen to the top corner, so I don't think I'll miss that 3mm in width at all at the end of the day. With an otterbox on it, the Pro Max was always huge in my pocket, so the size and weight difference should be welcome. In the big picture of things, the switch comes with some regret, as I've been with Iphones since the iPhone 4, have used an Iwatch and Apple headphones since the beginning. The reason for the change is just lack of innovation and technology advancement. Gone are the days of paying a premium price for something with far less features and capabilities. Going up 3 generations of iPhones just did not feel like an upgrade at all with everything just seeming too similar, and I would be paying $1000 out of pocket for the trade in for what I would only experience having a new phone with fresh battery life. It's my money, and I'm going to spend it how I want, and I want fresh and exciting again. 

Edit - One week test Drive: I like it so far. It was a struggle right at the jump to find something as easy like the camera, but most of the gestures seem to be the same. The back, home, and app buttons are really easy to get to like, and the side button with the fingerprint scanner is great all around. Face recognition works about 75% of the time, but the fingerprint reader works every time, and I set it for multiple fingers. Making folders and getting things the way I like them was about an hour of trial and error. The size is really perfect, and I can reach everything. Its VERY responsive, and everything loads quickly and nothing has crashed. I'm still getting used to the texts, copying and pasting, and saving files. I don't regret the change, I think it was time, and I'm having a ton of fun with it. 

Pros so far

• The camera and the options that come with it for pictures and video is far superior in comparison to the iphone. Pro mode is insane. The number of cameras and and you can record on all of them at the same time? Crazy.
• The OS is easy to use
• Loading times are reduced
• Table mode is crazy. I don't use it much, but when I do, it's wonderful.
• Opening multiple apps on the same screen is great.
• Unlocked software so I can run emulators.. chefs kiss.
• Gaming is great
• No notch or any visible camera hole on any screen
• No bezels
• Feels like a oiled machine.. like a gun or something. Metal and sturdy, feels quality.
• The sound is by far better. At full volume its super loud and clean.

Cons so far

• Battery life is no better or worse. Use the fold out screen and it depletes quickly
• Finding apps that I want in the moment is a learning curve
• Camera preview FPS is a little slower than the iphone but the output is superior
• Case sticks out a little from the screen (otterbox) and it can be tough hitting buttons on the edge
• Keyboard is has smaller buttons, but I learned it can be adjusted without issue
• Spacebar is right next to the back button, so I accidentally hit it pretty often
• Opening the phone can take a few tries sometimes because I'm not use to it. Face recognition is not perfect, and I'm not use to pressing a button to open it. No real issue, just a learning curve.
• Getting it paired to the watch was good, but took some masaging to get it right. Now that it's paired, the watch lasts a week on a charge easily, has more features than an apple watch, and looks better as well. 
• The phone vibrates too hard, and I have no clue how to lower it
• Even on the lowest screen brightness, its too bright at night sometimes when playing around in bed on it
• No issues when rotating, but every iPhone i've ever had there is some kind of small issue with rotating the phone in any mode, sometimes even getting stuck like that until turning the phone off and on again
• texting is going to be my biggest gripe. I just need to time to get it right as there are more options and things can you can do customize the experience. 

Technics SH-TL7 & Jennifer Connelly

     In Japan, they released a ton of strange and mysterious Hi-Fi components in the 80's that are lost to time. I would start another blog on all the different and wonderful formats and add-ons for extinct technology, so I won't get into it here. Suffice to say, it's a lot. In this video, Jennifer Connelly at 14 years old sang in Japanese promoting the new Technics SH-TL7; a high priced addon for expensive Panasonic equipment that adds telephone connections and high def answering machine capability to your existing hi-fi stack. She ended up releasing an album in Japan where the song "Ai No Monologue" went to #1.

Captain's Quarters II BBS - Vintage Macintosh & IIGS

 

Click here to connect!

     Great BBS made in Mystic highlighting vintage Macintosh that I noticed on Reddit. I've been playing around in BBS systems recently, just for nostalgia's sake, trying to relive my first years on the internet. It's no secret I was a Mac user back in the day and was cruising BBS's and Hotlines all the way until I had my Performa 636. 

Cassette Futurism - Part 1

1985 Nissan 300ZX Interior

Panasonic headliner mounted stereo cluster from the 1970's

Hitachi DA-P100 Illustrated by Akira Terasawa

Yamaha Frog 750cc Prototype - Hartmut Esslinger 1985

Panasonic VZ200 Double Din car stereo

NEC PC-9801CV All in one PC

1988 Pontiac Trans Am GTA gauge cluster

Sanyo 50T51R TV Radio

Casio TM-100 FM Radio Watch

NASA 70's VR Prototype

Sony HB-F1XV MSX PC

Sharp x68000 Super with Roland MT32 MIDI Sound Add-on

1978 Ford Fiesta Tuareg by Ghia

Bang and Olufsen Beovox MS150 1983

Story Time: My trip to New Orleans and the Anne Rice Memnoch Ball 1999

 

The Memnoch Ball, 1995

Since I was able to read and watch TV, I was crazy about Vampires. I loved the old universal movies growing up, and I was so into watching and reading the horror media of the 80's I grew up in. As I got older and in high school, I read a ton of Anne Rice, sometimes the same book twice in the same week. If a new book came out, I would be in line to buy it right away. One of the reasons I started working at Books-a-Million part time was to get all the cool Vampire: The Masquerade and White Wolf books first, and at a heavy discount.. sometimes even free. In one of these horror magazines at Books-a-Million there was a whole section about The Memnoch Ball in New Orleans in 1995, and that started an obsession.

The movie had just come out and I was in love with the imagery and overwhelming gothic nature of New Orleans. New Orleans was a mythical place in my mind. I know it was real, I have heard of stories of people going there, but never did anyone really close to me experience it themselves. Asking my parents if I could go really made them concerned, and there was nothing I could do to convince them to move a vacation there. I wanted to see the cemeteries, the shops, the places from the movie. Every damn book, game or anything that had something to do with modern day Vampires was based there. I had to go. I had to know more. 

The Vampire Lestat Fanclub is still going on today, organizing events. Anne herself attended until before she passed away.

I subscribed to the Anne Rice newsletter and joined the Usenet groups on AOL. There was a thread where people (adults) were talking about where they were going to meet, the hotels that they would stay at, and the great dinner before The Memnoch Ball. I asked a ton of questions and got them answered: Where was the ball? What dinner? Which hotel? What's the address? And so on. In this way I was able to schedule a fictional trip to New Orleans in my mind and get excited about it, even it I was not able to attend. The tickets for the dinner were $250 and I got the phone number to call and make a reservation over the phone, and the address to mail the check to. There was three different levels of tickets to the Memnoch Ball, one was a public ticket, and two higher tiers were for her Fan Club. The top tier came with a bottle of wine signed by Anne Rice, and you got to meet her and get a picture. That ticket was $200.

7-Eleven, a previous employer of mine for around six months sent me a letter that they have sold out their profit sharing and were now part of another company, and sent me a check out of the blue for almost $1200. All of a sudden the funds to make my dream became a reality, but it did have it's challenges. For one, my parents could not know that I was going to make a road trip, alone, out of state while under 18 years old from Florida. I had only went on the highway a handful of times, and I had a hotrod 1972 Nova SS that was of questionable reliability. I built it, it was mine, and I have fond memories of it. Big 350 engine, awesome stereo.. and fast. Holy shit this car was fast.

First thing's first- I bought the tickets. I called the numbers, mailed the checks. One issue came up, no hotels or rooms available anywhere. I felt indestructible at that age, so I did not let that stop me and vowed to just sleep in my car in the back seat. I owned a knife, I figured that would be enough. My girlfriend at the time was living with me, so I had to figure out how to not tell her about what was going on, and also explain my absence. Our parents knew each other, if she or them found out, the Memnoch Ball would just be a fantasy. It just so happened, one of my friends in the military who lived in Tennessee was getting married the same week. I called him and some friends that were going and they said they would cover for me. I felt like an asshole not attending their wedding, but I had no idea what kind of paper marriage bullshit my friend was up to anyways. My alibi complete, I was ready to leave.. the tickets came, and I saw the ball said 21 and up, but whatever, I looked old enough, and had a beard already.

I packed my car's backseat with a cooler with some food in it for 2 days, a paper map from the gas station, a backpack with some clothes, a few items I wanted signed in case I did meet Anne, and set off. At this point in my life I did own a cell phone, but was told by my dad to only use it in emergencies, as it was over $1 a minute to call someone. I forgot to charge it anyways, so it was dead. The drive took around 12 hours because I only had a 12 gallon tank, in a car with 411 rear gears. I will say, I never got stranded or broke down, the car easily made it there, and looked liked a bad motherfucker the whole way.

I arrived in the early afternoon with two hours until the dinner, so I found a gas station and went to the bathroom and changed into nice clothes, and set out towards the french quarter to The Rosegate House for the big dinner. I had my Vampire Lestat Fan Club Ticket, my Coven Card, and I was ready to rock and roll. I got there, parked two blocks away and holy shit.. it was just as I imagined it. huge mansion on a beautiful old street.. ancient vampires could be in there! I got in line with a bunch of other people with my heavily used copy of Interview with the Vampire. The couple in front of me were also fan club members, and dressed in dark purples and black gothic period clothing. There were so nice to talk to, and did not seem at all concerned that a kid from Florida made it here alone for the opportunity.

Over an hour of sweating and waiting for the gate to open from the house, there was an announcement: The dinner was cancelled. There was a huge collective groan as the sun was going down. I waited in line to talk to the man who was in charge and made the announcement- he said all tickets would be refunded and that we would all receive a gift in the mail for our troubles. The reason for the cancelation? The Real World New Orleans was filming at the mansion, and they would be the only ones attending the dinner. There was only about 20 of us, so we huddled in front of the mansion as what I can only assume are producers and such ushered the cast of the Real World past us, and up the stairs into the house. We were shooed away as lights were set up, so everyone moved to the end of the street.

I think people assumed I was older than I was. I mentioned I have a car, and the couple I met said they took a Taxi. In exchange for a round of drinks, I agreed to take them to their hotel so they could change and we could go out. At this point in my life, I had never really been to a bar before, and from what I heard, bars in New Orleans were next level insane. Well, I was not disappointed. Bourbon street was fucking awesome. 

$1 drinks everywhere, people drinking in street, and as soon as it hit midnight, it went to level 11. There were fights, people dressed like vampires selling PBR's from a three-wheeled bike to me for $2. I lost track of the nice couple but met some other young people dressed like gothic noir princes from The Masquerade. They took me around, I let one of the girls drive my car. She thought that was the greatest thing ever, and took pictures of it, and had me take one of her. I saw someone holding a sign up for a "movie location tour" and gave him $10 and joined a group of about 15. I had no idea at the time, but the move Double Jeopardy had just came out with Ashley Judd, and it was doing well in the theatres and drummed up a lot of interest in New Orleans. We walked the streets and went inside hotels like we were staying there, between back roads and bars, in small alleys and all the way to the Metairie Cemetery. I got to see the Cemetery after all! I was vibrating I was so excited about every little thing.

My memory was not the best about the shit that went down after that, but I think I just got trashed at a dive bar that had one of those connected back rooms that had dirty couches and stage and fell asleep there. I was kicked out in the middle of the night, found my car, and fell asleep in the back seat until the sound of trolleys and cars woke me up the next morning. I parked on a sidestreet next a breakfast place that I could of swore was a bar last night, but in either event, had one of the best breakfasts of my life and the first real food since I entered New Orleans. The next 8 hours were a day dream of walking around and seeing things, buying things from shops, and just relaxing at Cafe's eating the best food ever. I ate oysters for the first time on the half shell after watching a family destroy several plates.

My ticket said - Anne Rice's Memnoch ball at The Coven. I took my car, which looking back was a mistake because parking is not the easiest. I cant remember where I actually was, but the whole street appeared to be under construction. The Ball was just as the pictures described.. people dressed up, a band playing incredible music, everyone dressed up, and I was correct to assume I would not be carded for ID at the front door. My black drawstring bag handed to me at the door had two bottles of wine signed by Anne, a bookplate of Memnoch the Devil with Anne's picture (blank) and a black candle. The place was fucking PACKED. You could barely move, and I wanted to ditch this heavy bag at the car, but it was so far away. There was a another level with an iron railing and you could walk up to the next floor, and it was less populated so you could get a break- and there she was. Anne Rice with her arms on a railing next to what looked like a punk rock Mad Max extra talking to her. 

She was in all black and looked like she belonged in the movie. She was laughing and talking loud over the music like she was a normal person. I walked over and waiting next to the railing where her people and the punk rock girl was standing, and sure enough she laid her attention on me. Right then and there I realized I forgot my Interview book for her to sign, and the only thing I had was the bookplate and my ticket.  I stammered a few words of how much of a fan I was, of her, and her writing and the way she shaped the world I'm standing in right now. I told her how much I loved New Orleans and I drove from Fort Myers. She just smiled and nodded her head while she signed the couple of things I had. She apologized about the dinner, and blamed someone by name, but I cant remember who she said, and thanked me several times... and just like that, the 2 minutes was up, and she was talking to someone else again and smiling her big broad smile to them.

 The rest of the night was a blur. I saw her walking around several times, and at one point they put a throne on stage and people were talking to her between music sets. Several celebrities in her world.. authors and agents were thanked and brought up on stage. Some band covered Marilyn Manson? Or maybe it was him, either way I was drunk and happy, and just in a different world. The drive home was easy as soon as I got to 75 and went south. I spent way less money than I intended and nothing bad happened, with the exception of the dinner getting cancelled. 

Devilman: The Birth (1987) Full OVA!

 

Shurato's Heavenly Sphere BBS

 

Make a new account and come hang out. 

The Hourglass Sanatorium (1973) Full Movie!

 

This movie is crazy. I mean it.

     The Hourglass Sanatorium is a 1973 Surrealist Polish film directed by Wojciech Jerzy Has, who is known for very strange and fucked up short films that have no basis in reality. Somehow he got people to finance these art films in a big way.. this movie is surprisingly good quality. There is a theme of random topless women with open shirts in almost anything he does, which is fine by me. I'm not entirely sure how this movie got made, or why, but it's clearly a work of art on the highest level. 

This movie poster fucks

     The movie moves scenes like your mind moves into dreams. Between cuts there are ferns and ivy growing, tombstones sticking out of walls. Alternate reality and time warps start to make you wonder what exactly what is real, and what is not. The film does have haunting and strikingly detailed visuals for a movie from that time. Scenes open up like paintings, then our character interacts with those paintings like they have been frozen and waiting for him, and these scenes switch very rapidly from different parts of landscape, to sprawling mansions and castles, to underground clockwork graveyards. The characters that interact with him are all very temporary to the actual theme, and just come in and out as he thinks of them, for seemingly no reason at all. Nothing moves the story along at all, except pure wanderlust and curiosity. 

This is the most normal scene of the movie

The main character interacting with random scenes

These are toys, not people