Greg Smith To Run For Kansas Senate

Kansas State Representative Greg Smith (R-Overland Park) issued the following news release:

State Representative Greg Smith (R) announced Wednesday, August 30, 2010 that he will run for the senate seat in Senate District 8 which is currently held by Sen. Tim Owens.



Rep. Greg Smith is well known as the father of murder victim, Kelsey Smith, a strong advocate of crime victims’ rights and the rule of law. He has worked tirelessly in the Kansas House to sponsor and promote legislation that protects youth and young adults from violent predators and led the effort to successfully bring the state of Kansas in compliance with the Adam Walsh Act. He also sponsored and successfully guided to passage legislation that protects crime victims’ rights by allowing District Attorneys to convene grand juries to investigate serious felonies.



Additionally, he supported efforts to lower the tax burden on Kansans, reduce the size and scope of state government, pushed for fiscal accountability and transparency, as well as worked to allow the private sector to create jobs for Kansans. Rep. Smith had both a perfect attendance record and voting record in the 2011 Session of the Legislature.



Smith, who is also a high school social studies teacher, labored to keep Johnson County money in Johnson County schools. He believes that Kansas public schools should benefit our children and not benefit special interest groups.



When asked why he was moving from the House to the Senate, Representative Smith said that he has been disappointed by the lack of will by the Senate to support pragmatic solutions to the many problems that Kansas faces. “The status quo will not bring about needed changes to make Kansas a leader in job creation and quality public education. The Kansas House exhibited strong leadership this past session. It’s time for the Senate to lead as well and I feel I can help best facilitate that by moving to the Senate,” said Smith.

Greg would be a great asset in the Kansas Senate. He is one man who can shake things up and accomplished.



For more information on Greg Smith, go here.

Restoring Japan Tourism "A Tall Order"

A recent article by the Japan Times (online edition) on the troubled Japanese tourism industry repeats the points I've made here.



For example:

Foreign tourist numbers have been plunging since the March 11 quake, tsunami and nuclear crisis in Fukushima Prefecture, and not only for visitors to the disaster zone.



The soaring yen is another factor discouraging visitation, but experts nonetheless hope to woo more foreign tourists, hoping they can stimulate an economy with a population that is rapidly aging and on the decline.

The article posed many questions and provided answers. Here is one:

How big an impact did the Great East Japan Earthquake have on foreign tourism?



Compared with a year earlier, foreign tourism since the catastrophe had plunged 50 percent from the previous year to 1,786,000 as of July 31, according to the Japan Tourism Agency.



Between March 12 and 31, visitor numbers sank by 72.7 percent.



The rate of decline has since eased, with July's numbers off 36.1 percent from a year ago.



The Tohoku region saw the most severe plunge in tourism, but other regions also suffered from canceled international flights as demand sank after the disasters, agency officials said.

The primary reason for the drop in foreign tourism to Japan has been placed on the ongoing problems of the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Until the problem is resolved, tourism to Japan won't bounce back anytime soon.



As the title of the article states "Restoring foreign tourism tall order." Indeed.



To read the full article, go here.

How I Spent My Day Off

Today's a nice and hot Tuesday in the San Fernando Valley.



Unfortunately, the air conditioner compressor went on the blink Sunday night and I am twittling my thumbs (well, not exactly) waiting for the repairman to show up.



Luckily, I have an big old Kenmore tabletop fan that has the wind power of one of the engines of the Goodyear blimp. So the apartment is nice and cool (so far).

Now Listed In Travelwriters.com

Today, I have joined Travelwriters.com.









What is Travelwriters.com?

A professional network of travel writers, editors and members of the public relations community. Travelwriters.com is based on a simple principle: to connect top-tier writers with editors, PR agencies, tourism professionals, CVBs and tour operators, nurturing the important link that so heavily influences

the travel media.

To view my profile page, go here.

We News It Picks Up "Japan Safe For Monster Fan Tourists"

Above, Miki Hayashi with "The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan." Photo by Armand Vaquer.



We News It.com has picked up the article "Japan Safe For Monster Fan Tourists."



We News It is described:

We News IT is a community powered news website where users can register and submit news stories. News stories undergo a short review process before they are published.



Everyone is welcome to join so they can submit or leave comments.



Anyone can take part.



Only requirement: Articles in English language.



Enjoy.

To view the site, go here.

Vasquez Rocks

Today, I had some insurance claims work to do in Acton, California.



On the way back to the San Fernando Valley after finishing, I stopped by the nearby Vasquez Rocks. These rock formations are familiar to television and movie fans. They've appeared in Star Trek, Bonanza, The Outer Limits, The Flintstones (movie) and countless others.



According to Wikipedia:

These rock formations were formed by action of the San Andreas Fault. In 1873 and 1874 Tiburcio Vásquez, one of California's most notorious bandits, used these rocks to elude capture by law enforcement. His name has since been associated with this geologic feature.

I've passed by Vasquez Rocks countless times, but this is the first time I actually paid the rocks a visit. They can easily be seen from California State Route 14 (to the north of the freeway).



Vasquez Rocks is worth a stop!

Superboy and Superpup: Interview With Chuck Harter

Above, Johnny Rockwell as Superboy.



The Superman Homepage has posted an interview article with Superman historian Chuck Harter by Susan Schnitzer on the television pilots Superpup and Superboy (with Johnny Rockwell).



According to the article on the pilots:

The pilots of THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERPUP (1958) and THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERBOY (1961) are both important parts of the "Superman" legacy. George Reeves' the Adventures of Superman (TAOS) series (1951 - 57) served as a classic role model for many "baby boomer" fans. Chuck Harter's definitive look at the 2 rare spin-offs from the classic TV series is Superboy and Superpup: The Lost Videos was published in 1993 by Cult Movies.

And:

Chuck is currently writing, and seeking a literary agent for, the final quarter of his next book Tragic Hero: The Shooting of George (Superman) Reeves which he firmly believes is the solved mystery of George Reeves untimely death. Another book in progress is the story of the silent movie comedian Harry Langon. It will be called Little Elf: A Celebration of Harry Langdon and will be written by Chuck Harter and co-authored by Michael J. Hayde and is to be published by Bear Manor Media in 2012. Chuck did a recent narrator job for Superman impersonator Scott Cranford's documentary entitled Heroic Ambition. http://www.heroicambition.com/

To read the interview, go here.

Tony Isabella's Bloggy Thing

Noted legendary comic book writer and critic Tony Isabella (left) has started his own Blogspot blog. He's calling it Tony Isabella's Bloggy Thing.



Currently, he is taking a look back at Marvel's Godzilla comics of the 1970s.



To see Tony Isabella's Bloggy Thing, go here.

Anime Cloud Picks Up "Japan Safe For Monster Fan Tourists"

Above, Miki Hayashi with "The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan."



The article "Japan Safe For Monster Fan Tourists" posted by the Anime News Network has been picked up by Anime Cloud.



Anime Cloud is a website for news and information in the world of anime and Japanese pop-culture.



To view the site, go here.

Checking Voice Mail Pays Off (Sometimes)

Sometimes it's worth it to immediately listen to one's voice mail messages.



I received a voice mail message this morning and it turned out to be potential business for the insurance claims adjusting company I work for, Crittenen Claim Services. I immediately responded and passed the information to the boss.



She negotiated getting some business out of them. I was originally going to handle the initial assignment (getting statements from four drivers involved in an accident). The only fly in the ointment was that the company (based in Dallas, Texas) requires digital recordings.



Thinking I should have this minor "problem" licked, I went to the local Radio Shack for digital telephonic recording equipment (I currently have analog telephonic recording equipment). $80 later, I found the equipment was not compatible with my phone set-up. I returned the stuff to Radio Shack. Oh, well.



Fortunately, the boss has digital recording equipment and is able to handle the work.



At least I got some business for the boss and received a new claim assignment today. Saturday morning, I head out to Acton to handle it.

Criterion's Godzilla: New Developments

The kaiju world is abuzz at the prospect that Gojira (i.e., Godzilla) (1954) will receive a DVD/Blu-ray restoration treatment from Criterion.



Classic Media released a subtitled Japanese version along with the Americanized Godzilla, King of the Monsters! DVD set a few years ago that received a lot of kudos from fans. Having both movies released and restored by Criterion would be the icing on the cake.



Now, there's word that a fine-grain 35mm print of Godzilla, King of the Monsters! has been found. August Ragone has details on this at his blog.



The last version of Godzilla, King of the Monsters! was the closest thing to a restored print released (by Classic Media) to date, but it was pieced together from several sources and some items were edited in out of original order.



Having a fine-grain print available (provided it is still in good shape) on DVD would be tremendous! (August Ragone explains why.)



Above, the "Godzilla King of the Monsters! plaque at Frank del Olmo Elementary School in Los Angeles.



Godzilla, King of the Monsters! was the edited version by Terry Morse that featured Raymond Burr and was filmed at Visual Drama Studios in Los Angeles in 1956. A commemorative plaque has been placed at the location (now an elementary school).



It'll be interesting to see what transpires!