January 31, 2014

The Village Part 2 Being Filmed in Yokohama

Did you see M. Night Shyamalan’s creepy 2004 movie, The Village? The director of  supernatural thrillers that feature his signature surprise endings has opted to film the sequel to The Village in Yokohama, Japan.
And Marina and Elena were singled out at a local mall by a talent scout and won parts as minor characters in the movie. Movie stars!
Here is a shot of the two in their costumes in front of their snow shelter on the set.

They are shooting the movie in a replicated farming hamlet from the Edo era (1603-1868) where the inhabitants are terrorized by a group of large, vaporous beings who circle the small village in the winter.

During the filming, to give the actors some acoustic cues and convey the atmosphere he wanted, Shyamalan played a recording – a low, barely perceptible yet ominous thrumming sound – while smoke pots replicated mist blowing over the moat that ringed the village perimeter. The day we were there for the girls' scenes, the villagers mostly huddled in their ice homes, while huge industrial fans blew in gales of snow. 

Here are the girls with their creature heads on after they were transformed into beasts as part of a plot twist in the script.
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Readers (all five of you), I apologize.
I can go no further with this yarn.
Fact is, it’s not even snowing in Yokohama. There is no movie. There is only a web of lies that is this post! See? It’s freaking igloos in paradise.
But it is still winter. We were bored one mid-January weekend. So went to the Sea Paradise amusement park island on a weekend where Akita prefecture happened to be holding a winter tourism promotional event featuring igloo-like snow shelters from the old days of northern Japan. It was about 12 degrees, and the palm trees are still green in the Yokohama area. They had to truck in the snow.  The picture says it all: 
The boring truth is that we did the usual Rising Daughter fandango and had a good ol' family time. But spinning a yarn like this is much more fun than a straightforward account, no? (The Beast Band was entertaining, too.)

January 28, 2014

OPERATION PURELAND

FROM: CDR RISING FAMILY
TO: CIC BLOGGER
SUBJECT: OPERATION PURELAND
OBJECTIVE: BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION
DEPLOYMENT ORDER 7B-D FOR PUMPKINHEAD#1
PERIOD OF REPORT: 201401XX INDIA TIME
TASK ORGANIZATION: 4 PERS / RISING FAMILY TEAM (RFT)

GENTEXT/SITUATION:
A. GENERAL: BIRTHDAY OPERATIONS FOR 7 YEARS
B. ENEMY: NON-LETHAL FORCE / INVASION OF WALLET
C. FRIENDLY: SMALL FEMALE HELLO KITTY FAN FRIENDLIES EVERYWHERE
D. ATTACHMENTS AND DETACHMENTS: TEAM DETACH ONLY FOR BATHROOM PEE-PEE OR POO-POO SUPPORT OPERATIONS

GENTEXT/MISSION
A. COMMANDER’S INTENT: TEAM MORALE UPGRADE ESPECIALLY SUBJECT OF BIRTHDAY
B. CONCEPT OF OPERATIONS:
 1. DEPLOY TO PURELAND VENUE.
 2. ENJOY SHOWS, RIDES, ATTRACTIONS AND FREAKY STYLE
 3. AVOID FIGHTING AMONG TEAM MEMBERS
 4. ENHANCE SINGING AND DANCING SKILLS
C: SUBORDINATE TASKS
 1. AVOID EXUBERANT PURCHASE OF EXPENSIVE CRAP IN GIFT SHOP
D. COORDINATING INSTRUCTIONS:
 1. ALIGNED UNIT LEADERSHIP BETWEEN OIC AND 2IC CRITICAL TO MISSION SUCCESS.

CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS:
1. RISING FAMILY TEAM (RFT) CONDUCTED BIRTHDAY OPERATIONS FOR SENIOR DAUGHTER OF THE TWO-DAUGHTER FIRE TEAM.
2. RFT HAD MISSION TO CELEBRATE BIRTHDAY WITH MUCH JOY AND LAUGHTER AT PURELAND. (REF: “PURELAND” IS HOME TO HELLO KITTY DOLL CHARACTER CHERISHED BY GENERATIONS OF YOUNG GIRLS.)
3. RFT OIC/TEAM LEADER AND 2IC (HEREAFTER, PARENTS) GATHERED INFORMATION PRIOR TO DEPLOYMENT WHICH FACILITATED DEPLOYMENT PLANS. 
4. RFT DEPARTED BASE AT 0730 ARRIVED AT STAGING AREA 1000 HRS.
5. INTERIOR RECON SHOWED COLORFUL INGRESS POINTS.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
1. LARGELY AVOIDED OVERPRICED GREASY FOOD BY SMUGGLING IN HEALTHIER CHEAPER FOODSTUFFS.
2. BIRTHDAY CELEBRANT ENJOYED DANCING AND BOAT RIDE.
3. YOUNGEST TEAM MEMBER BEHAVED WELL. AWARDED GOLD STAR FOR COOPERATION UNDER JEALOUSY.
4. TEAM MEMBERS SAW MANY TRULY FREAKY STAGE SHOWS.

5. OBSTACLE TRAINING WITH GUIDANCE FROM D.I. KITTY

 6. OPERATIONS ENDED SUNDOWN/ EXTERIOR RECON COMPLETED

LESSONS LEARNED:
1. URINAL EXTERIOR TOO DISTURBING/PREVENTED MICTURATION

2. DANCING BUNNY GIRLS GAVE TEAM LEADER BUTTERFLIES AND DELIGHT
CONCLUSIONS:
1. MISSION OVERWHELMING SUCCESS / EXCEEDED EXPECTATIONS.
2. POSITIVE ATTITUDE BY TEAM MEMBERS CONTRIBUTED TO OVERALL TEAM COHESIVENESS AND SMOOTH EXECUTION OF TASKS WITH MINIMAL DISRUPTION FROM CRYING OR BEGGING FOR SNACK FOODS.
3. USE OF THIS MISSION PROFILE FOR FUTURE BIRTHDAY OPERATIONS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
4. REF: http://www.puroland.co.jp/english/
MESSAGE ENDS //