Former Morning Musume Ai Kago is singing a couple of classic anime songs on a compilation and they’re gonna be produced by none other than Public Enemy. What is this world coming to?! 😛
Ai Kago back in her Morning Musume days.
Anime songs she is covering are “Himitsu no Akko-chan”:
and “Lum no Love Song” (Lum’s Love Song) from Urusei Yatsura:
Admittedly I’m curious about what the songs will sound like in the end, but there’s no way Public Enemy (or most likely just Terminator X?) knows who Kago or Morning Musume are, or the anime songs in question at all, haha.
Martin Kariya has apparently signed with Dinamo Riga (Latvia) of the KHL. Must’ve been quite an attractive offer to lure Martin away from the Swiss league where life is comfortable and his stats last season were 50GP 15G+43A=58P. Martin, of course, played half a season for the Nikko Ice Bucks in 2004-05 (15GP 6+12=18).
Islanders GM Garth Snow invited Kuji after he was contacted by his university. Maybe it’s not coincidence that he landed in Long Island, as the club is owned by the Chinese-American businessman Charles Wang.
While John Tavares, the number-one draft pick from Canada, is the undoubted poster boy at the Islanders evaluation camp, the club also reports on its website the “really impressing speed” of the small (172 cm, 5’8”) Japanese forward.
The 22-year-old had a good debut with the national team at the Division I tournament in Lithuania, last April, winning bronze and scoring two goals, one assist in five games.
And now he’s practising with the Islanders, whizzing around Tavares and other high-rated prospects, and giving autographs to kids attending the camp.
“After watching Kuji for two days, his skating and his overall skills are not a problem at this level,” said Japan head coach Mark Mahon, who visited his player in the camp. “It is his decision making as the play moves much faster then the University level in Japan. Also the limited time and space is a factor with larger players and a smaller ice surface, but he has handled himself very well and according to Islanders coach Scott Gordon he has fit in very well and is a very attentive player.”
LAKELAND, Fla. — Pittsburgh Pirates farmhand and reality show contestant Rinku Singh earned his first win Monday in the second game of a Gulf Coast League doubleheader.
Singh struck out the only batter he faced in the Bradenton Pirates’ 10-5 victory over theDetroit Tigers‘ affiliate He is believed to be the first India-born player to win a professional baseball game in the United States.
Shuhei Kuji is really impressing with his speed. Kuji, who plays for Wasata University in Japan and for the Japanese National Team, was invited to Mini-Camp by Islanders GM Garth Snow.
早稲田大学のキャプテンで、数少ない日本代表の大学生の久慈修平選手が、現在NHLのニューヨーク・アイランダーズのプロスペクト・キャンプ（NHL経験者のプロスペクト、ドラフト指名選手と、招待選手←久慈選手はここ）に参加しています。現地からの情報は入ってきていませんが、写真は一枚出てきました。キャンプでは#54を付けています（招待選手は大きい番号なんでしょう）、そしてこの場面ではアイランダーズが今年のドラフトで全体１２位指名したディフェンスのCalvin de Haan選手と１対１ドリル（？）をやっています。結果はどうであれ、有意義なキャンプになるでしょう。誰かインタビューしてくれないかな？
Japan’s embattled Prime Minister, Taro Aso, is to call an election for 30 August, officials from his party said.
His office said he had agreed the date with his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and coalition partner, if bills already before parliament were passed first.
The Kyodo news agency reported that Mr Aso had told party lawmakers parliament would be dissolved on 21 July.
The move comes after Mr Aso’s ruling coalition suffered a crucial defeat in local elections in the capital, Tokyo.
The opposition Democratic Party (DPJ) won 54 seats to 38 for LDP, ending four decades of dominance in the assembly.
Finally, Japanese people stood up for change, the LDP’s been in power for so long that just cleansing the eternal corruption will be a welcome change, and this result should be an indicator for a DPJ takeover of the Diet (though, DPJ is a mess of its own and they may not gain majority and force the government to form an unwieldy coalition.)
Waseda University captain and Japanese national team player Shuhei Kuji has been invited to the New York Islanders Prospects Camp. This is a big deal, as players with NHL experience such as Josh Bailey and top draft picks like John Tavares (can’t get any more top prospect than this) will also be participating. No doubt this will provide valuable experience for Kuji to play against superior competition and hopefully make some strides in his game, and maybe even get drafted in the future (though the chances of this is very slim).
Incidentally, Kuji was the only non-Toyo University player selected on to the 2009 Kanto University Championship All Star Team earlier in the year.
Japan, Hockey, Baseball, etc. 