Pokémon Nicknames: Wingull and Pelipper

All photo credit goes to my little buddy.

Wingull (in Japanese: キャモメ “Camome”) is a WATER and FLYING dual-type Pokémon. Wingull evolves into Pelipper (in Japanese: ペリッパー  “Pelipper”) when raised to level 25, where it remains a  WATER and FLYING dual-type.

Credit goes to the artist (Whatshername).

Among my favorite names for Wingull are “Jonathan” or “Livingston” after the philosophical book (and later movie) by Richard Bach called “Jonathan Livingston Seagull.”  Trailer linked here. 

Sure it was thought provoking.  I read it and thought — “What? .. he what? … you wanna what?”

Follow your heart —  link here.

“The gull sees farthest who flies highest” ― Richard Bach, Jonathan Livingston Seagull

I also like to name them “Top Gun” (and also use the star-symbol), after the 1980s movie of the same name. Wingull usually knows “Water Gun” which is one of the cutest Pokémon moves, although I eventually replace it with stronger moves like “Water Pulse” or “Scald”. I put one out on the Wondertrade named “She Squirts”.

I also used the names for coastal places where there are a lot of seabirds. A good name for Wingull is “Nantucket” after the island and the famous dirty limerick.

If you are a student of American comedy history, you can appreciate the names “Gertrude” and “Heathcliff” after the famous comedy bit by the late-great comedy legend Red Skelton.

Another possible Wingull name is “MineMineMine” which was what the seagulls were calling in the movie “Finding Nemo“.

I have named Pelipper “Skipper” after the Skipper from the Giligan’s Island TV show. Once I went on a theme-naming spree, and named Pelipper “Alan Hale”. You could make a Double-Battle team with a Pelipper  and a Wingull named “The Skipper” and “Little Buddy”. Of course, your opponent would have to be familiar with that 1960s TV show.

A good name for a male Pelipper would be “Charleston” after the beautiful South Carolina city. You may want to use other coastal names where pelicans live. Perhaps “Carolina” or “Myrtle” after the staes or the town of Myrtyle Beach.

A name that would work fro female Wingull/Pelipper is “Gullah” the name of the dialect spoken by the African-American residents of the “Sea Islands” region of Georgia. The dialect was preserved due to the island’s relative isolation from the rest of Georgia.

Credit goes to the original Gullah region painter.

The people who speak the dialect are sometimes referred to as “Geechee” – but be careful – the word has been used as derogatory slur. You might use this Pokemon name, but do so only to honor the unique historical culture of the region.

See you in Charleston, Gullah!

Kimonos on Monday: Anna Iriyama

Image

Ahem … Anna’s hand is down there.

Far be it for me to tell WordPress readers how to view an article. However, to get my photo gallery here, please play this song on YouTube. It will open in another window, so you can view the photos while you listen. “Anna” covered by Los Beetles de Mexicano  LINKED HERE.

Anna Iriyama has been a member of AKB48 since 2010. She is one of the more popular members, despite getting few lead singing roles.  Unfortunately Anna was one of the victims of the infamous 2014 attack at the AKB48 handshake event, and will probably always be linked to the issue. Her injured hand appears to have healed well.

No, I promise to never leave you “home Alone” Anna!

She is a beauty of course.

Anna Iriyama had this nice photo shoot where she appeared barefoot in yukata.

In case you were wondering what was under Anna’s kimono.

Starlight: Anna Iriyama 入山 杏奈 (Iriyama Anna), was born December 3, 1995 in Chiba, Japan.

 

Pokémon Nicknames: Drilbur and Excadrill

Photo credit goes to the hoodie maker!

Today, let us drill down and mine more nicknames for Pokémon Black and Pokémon White characters. Drilbur (in Japanese: モグリュー  “Mogurew”) is a Ground-type Pokémon. Drillbur’s category is “Mole Pokémon”. Drilbur was a popular baby form.

Drilbur evolves into Excadrill when raised to level 31. Excadrill (in Japanese: ドリュウズ “Doryuzu”) is a dual-type Ground and STEEL Pokémon. Excradrill’s category is “Subterrene Pokémon”. (“Subterrene” might actually be a good nickname right there!)

Drilbur is a mole, so as my mind wandered a bit, and I thought of the “mole” concept used in chemistry.

I named a Drilbur  “6.02 x 10~23” (unfortunately you cannot use exponents in the nickname creator). Oh – but I had to use the upper-case letter “O” in place of zero!  I found out that there is a limit to how many numbers you can use in a nickname. I never thought of it before, but someone could otherwise use a phone number as a name, so it makes sense.

Chemistry class? … remember that chick you tutored in Chem 101? Sing it Elvis — “Are you ready for the final solution?”

E.C.: “Sparks are flying from electrical pylons … snakes and ladders running up and down the nylons …

“The chemical term “mole” is usually abbreviated as “mol” which saves all kinds of space in scientific writing …

Wait — that is American actress Gretchen Mol. Sorry my mind wandered in class again.

Right …  forgive my digression … a mol has a value of 6.022140857(74)×10²³ mol⁻¹  — also known as Avagadros Constant. Thus, I have named some Drilburs “Avagadro” or “Avagadro’s #”.

Perhaps you could name your mole after famous people with moles. “De Niro” or “De Niro’s Mole” for example. (Denny is NOT making this up – “Robert De Niro’s Mole” has its own Facebook page, I just looked.) The term “mole” can also mean “Double Agent” in various spy thriller novels. Excadril is a dual-type Pokémon, so why not?

“Whack-a-Mole” could be a funny name .. or maybe just “Whack“.

Everyone loves whacking to that arcade game!

Ahem … moles are similar to “shrews” which are another type of burrowing rodent. I named a female Drilbur “Tammy Shrew” after “The Taming of the Shrew” by Shakespeare. Ha. William Shakespeare — come -on Bill, don’t say that. There is no part of a lady that looks like a furry rodent.

If he was actually trying to tame her shrew, he sure missed way too high.

I sometimes name a female Drilbur “Lovely Rita” after the Beatles song “Lovely Rita Meter Maid“. Drilbur looks like it has a sash across the chest, as in a crossing-guard or meter-maid’s uniform. As Paul sang: “With the bag across her shoulder, it made her look a little like a military man … wank, wank, wonk, wonk”. I used “Edward S.” after the movie “Edward Scissorhands “, but then realized it was pretty stupid.

Excadrill names I have used include “Excedrin” after the headache medicine. Yup, an Excedrin and a Gatorade will set you up for a another big lunch after you have had a hard night.

Ha Ha. This angry little guy was made into a meme. Ha.

I sometimes use “Roto-Rooter” after the famous plumbing company. Seriously, they can use that burrowing drill to unclog any hairy plumbing mess.

If you have seen the movie, you know that pipes are about to be cleaned.

These moles like to burrow, so I was thinking the more literary spelling “Burroughs” after author Edgar Rice Burroughs. The name “Furrows” or “Good Furrows” is elegant, I think and inspires fantasies about farming.

I have used “Drillbits” for cute little Drilbur, and “Drill Press” for the more intense drilling that the larger Excadrill can do. “BlackNDecker” might be a good name for a drill, as the Black and Decker company makes tools.

The usual references:

http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Main_Page

http://www.serebii.net/

http://pkmn.net/?action=rater

What are the names for your drills? Please comment!

Pokémon Nicknames: Gothita, Gothorita and Gothitelle

She could also be my Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday!

Gothita, Gothorita and Gothitelle are all PSYCHIC-type Pokémon. Gothita is a “Fixation Pokémon”, Gothorita is a “Manipulate Pokémon”, and Gothitelle is an “Astral Body Pokémon”. They are all “human like” (egg-group), and all are 75% Female, 25% Male.

http://www.serebii.net/

Gothita (in Japanese: ゴチム “Gothimu”) evolves into Gothorita (in Japanse: ゴチミル “Gothimiru”) at level 32, then Gothorita evolves into Gothitelle (in Japanese: ゴチルゼル “Gothiruselle”) at level 41. There is no known Mega-Evolution. (Reference: from Bulbapedia)

Gothitelle, Gothorita and Gothita are all based on the “Gothic Lolita” fashion style. I am a big fan of “Japanese Lolita” fashions, although I cannot say that am much of an expert on ladies fashions. I just know what I like. The “Lolita” fashion style (NOT to be confused with the lolita concept in the book) is common among anime fans, cosplayers and Japanese “Maid Cafés”. I was very happy to see this theme acknowledged in Pokémon Black/White a few years back. Too bad that there was never a “Maid Café” in Kalos Region, because otherwise they had a multitude of cafés in Limiose City. There are many styles of Lolita Fashion, and in this slide show Gothitelle, Gothorita and Gothita explore these nicely:

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Here are some names I suggest for the G-girls: “Sugar+Spice” – because Lolita enthusiasts are sweet. You might like “Wednesday” after the gothic young lady from the 1960s TV show The Addams Family.

Lolita cosplayers like to have “Tea Party” meet-up events, where they dress up in their finest Lolita outfits. I wish I could be invited to one. Thus I named them “Sweet Tea” (as a play on “Sweet Pea”). I caught one in a Timer-Ball and named her “Tea Time”.

“Loli Pops” or some variation might fit little Gothita. “Black Berry” or “Black Cherry” might be good for a Gothic Lolita, and these flavor of jams are served at Lolita tea parties!

I sometimes make musical references. I think that “Sulky Girl” is perfect for Gothitelle, after the great song by Elvis Costello (the very cool MV is linked here).  I used “My-Dark-Life” for Gothitelle, after the Elvis Costello-Brian Eno collaboration (linked here). “Sweet Jane” seems to fit a Gothorita — after the Lou Reed song of the same name (linked here). Maybe “Veronica” would be good, after the goth-rock group The Veronicas. They have their song “Lolita” (music video linked here). It is gothic yes, and there is some milk, but I really do not like that type of singing. I know you kids like it, but it sounds to me like someone is strangling a cat.

Other names … maybe “Abby” after the character from NCIS show. That led me to “Abby Normal“, which might be good name for a psychic type.

I think that “Ana-Mae” or “Anna-Mae” would be a good “Maid Cafe” type name. Anna Mae sonds like “Anime” as in eat this cake anime!

What about male Gothoritas however? This is one of the Pokemon which is very much female in appearance, but 25% of them are male. What do you name a male Gothorita?

I suggest “BroLita”, or some variation. There is a subset of Lolita culture where boys like to wear wigs and frilly Lolita outfits. There may even be Brolita meet-ups and tea parties for all I know.

Denny imitating Frank Sinatra: “If only you were a REAL BROAD … I’d take you out for the biggest steak you ever saw”.

Perhaps “Manson” or “Marilyn” after the androgynous goth creep. A better nickname for male Gothoritas might be “LadyBoy”,  “PanayLadyBoy” or “Thai Ladyboy”. Ahem … (Denny is NOT making this up) … there are some men who seek out prostitutes on sex tours in Southeast Asia. They do not want a woman however, they actually want to have sex with a young boy dressed up like an underaged female prostitute, only with a pepperoni surprise.  Look, I was never big on SubWay sandwiches.

There is a very cool episode of the Pokémon anime in the Unova Region. As Ash and his friends try to cross the large Skyarrow Bridge to Castelia City, they keep getting looped back in time by a Gothitelle to when the bridge was still under construction. If they try to cross again, they get looped back again by Gothitelle’s psychic powers. Gothitelle keeps creating the time loop- distortion- illusion because it misses the little girl who trained it. The last time Gothitelle and the young girl were together, the bridge was still under construction. I don’t watch a lot of the Pokémon anime, but this was one of the best. It was one of the more poignant, mystical — and maybe even a little creepy — episodes of the Pokémon cartoon show.  The episode is LINKED HERE.

I am friends with several Lolita fashion bloggers on WordPress. If you want to share your Lolita Fashion expertise with Pokémon fans, please leave your WordPress link in the comments.

What is the name for your little Loli? Please comment!

Pokémon.Nicknames: Barboach and Whiscash

Any Whiscash could have made a better choice.

Time is running out for one of my nicknames! My favorite name for Whiscash has always been “Wishy-Washy”, because Whiscash has that big “W” on his head. This November 18th, I will no longer be able to use that name because the OFFICIAL name of a new Sun and Moon Pokémon will be “Wishiwashi” – a native of the Alola Region … but perhaps I am getting ahead of myself.

According to Bulbapedia … Barboach (in Japanese: ドジョッチ  “Dojoach”) is a Water-Ground dual-type Pokémon. Barboach evolves into Whiscash (in Japanese: ナマズン “Namazun”) at level 30, and remains a Water-Ground dual type. There is no known Mega-Evolution. Both Barboach and Whiscash are dubbed “Whiskers Pokemon”. “Whiskers” is certainly an acceptable nickname.

They are both catfish, but Barboach is more of an upstream faster-current catfish, while Whiscash looks more like a bottom feeder.

You should have seen the ones who got away!

I always liked to name Whiscash “Wishy-Washy” as in someone who cannot make a decision. This cannot be said of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who makes her decisions based on identity politics. Her famous quote when nominated for the Supreme Court  — and I am NOT making this up — was “I would hope that a wise Latina with the richness of her experiences would, more often than not, reach a better conclusion than a white male.” … er… nothing wishi-washi about that at all! In honor of that I often name female Whiscash “Stomayor” as it might be a “Wise Catfish“.

I have named male Whiscash “Wiseguy” after the American Mafia term. You can choose any number of “W” names or words.  Male Whiscash could be named “Doubya” after former President Bush 43.

Moe quote:” A wise guy huh? ” … BONK.

Try “Hunter” after baseball legend “Catfish Hunter“. My preferred Barboach name is “Odoroyo Fish” after the great Tsuri Bit song! Sing it girls:

My second favorite Barboach name is “Blackwater“. The Doobie Brothers used to sing about those “catfish jumping” …

Barboach names I have used include, “Murky“, “Stillwater“, “Dark Water“, “Barbells“, “Barbs“,  “Barbie-Fish“

What is the name of your wise Catfish? Please comment!

 

Pokémon Nicknames: Trubbish and Garbodor

“A trash bag … are you kidding me?”

That was what the nay-sayers were saying about the Generation 5 Black and White Pokémon.  Every time a new game comes out, fans are usually critical of any new sprites, and think that new ones always pale in comparison to the older, tried and true Pokémon.

“… but a TRASHBAG?”

Ahem .. from Bulbapedia: Trubbish (in Japanese: ヤブクロン “Yabukuron”) is a POISON-type Pokémon. Trubbish evolves into Garbodor (in Japanese: ダストダス “Dustdas”) at level 36, where it remains a POISON type. There is no Mega-Evolution for this Unova Pokémon – thank goodness.

Trubbish (the “Trash Bag Pokémon”)  and Garbodor (the “Trash Heap Pokémon “) are not among my favorites, but I can certainly defend their existence.

If you have been to the New York – New Jersey area, you know that you will see a lot of trash along the roads. Not just litter, but BAGS of trash that has not been picked up, and will likely NEVER get picked up. This is especially true for neighborhoods along transportation routes, and the older, poorer parts of town. Look,  I’m not trying to insult you Newark – but how can you put up with it?

I’ve said it before, and I will say it again … New Yorkers are a filthy people.

I am sure that Pokémon’s GAMEFREAK developers from Japan were impressed by the piles of trash, lining the roadways of what is supposed to be America’s greatest city. It is not surprising trash was made into a character.

Furthermore, you have to remember what Pokémon are. Pokémon are NOT animals. They often take the shape of an animal, but they sometimes take the form of an inanimate object (an ice cream cone, a set of gears, etc.). Sometimes they take a humanoid form (Mr. Mime, etc.), which creeps me out a little. I don’t like it when they take humanoid form, but they are just trying their best to communicate to our limited human perceptions. It is true that Pokémon are affected by, and can be controlled with electromagnetic radiation (and thus can be stored in a Pokéball or PC storage box). 

However, Pokemon are spiritual beings. They take the form of things which our human minds can understand. Yes, it is usually some type of animal (cat, fish or even dragon). We as humans cannot understand their true form, so they appear to us as something familiar. (Pikachu is a mouse – but is not really a mouse. He takes the shape of something which we can relate to, and this calls to our emotions.)

There is a spirit — with feelings — in most everything …in the rocks, in the forest, in the wind and waves. Even in your household appliances. Isn’t it funny that you usually refuse to see them? Pokémon take their respective forms, not because they are those things, it is so we can better acknowledge them. 

… OK, so the trash bags. Indeed there are a lot of trash bags in the rough parts of the Unova Region (er… I mean the New York metro area). It is not surprising that a poison type would appear to us as abandoned garbage. … and what does that say about us?

I was able to get a good nickname from the Pokémon Name-Rater’s web page. (His page is linked here, however always remember that Mr. Name Rater hates you.) One user said that he named Trubbish after the day of the week when his garbage was picked up.”Tuesdays“.

Of course names like “New Jersey” or “Newark” would be appropriate, as well as other decaying urban areas with poor sanitation services. “EastSt.Louis” for example.

“Postmodern” or “Modern Art” might be appropriate, as most postmodern writers and artists are basically garbage. If fact real garbage has been sold as “modern art” to certain art-loving New Yorker snobs.

Perhaps you could use one of those “made up” urban names for the poisonous-attitude, obese and belligerent “social justice” warriors i run into once in a while. “LaQueefa” for example. Name one “S.J.W.” and send it over the WonderTrade. Punk rockers in the games usually have Poison types, so you could use sick punk names like Dinah Cancer. Garbodor is shaped like some type of matador, but I’m not sure I can give it matador type names like “Pork Sword“. How about “Greta Garbage” as a play on legendary actress Greta Garbo?

I would not throw her away!

I have used the name “Trashish” by combining the words trash and hashish. I was thinking “Akeem” might be funny. If you have seen the Eddie Murphy movie “Coming to America”, he makes the great comedic line: “When you think of garbage — think of Akeem!” Scene linked here!

Of course, “TheNewYorker” and “NewYorkTimes” are other garbages which make the 12-character limit.

Names like “Hefty” might be good, as that is a brand name of trash bags. Hey Bob … remember how we used to have a running joke about Hefty’s “Steel Saks“? Saks … HA.

What is the name for your bag of trash? Please comment.

Hanako Oku and the Forbidden Music

Hanako Oku and the forbidden music.

I sure wish I could have seen this video of Hanako Oku’s 2010 concert. I had this video in my YouTube “suggestions” list, but when I opened YouTube, the Record Industry Weasels at PonyCanyon Records have it region blocked (Of course the phrase “Record Industry Weasels at PonyCanyon” might actually be redundant.) As far as I know, the video is only blocked for American users, because of this year’s licensing changes at YouTube.

I know what you are going to ask: “Denny, What if you buy YouTube RED? … then is the video unblocked?”  The answer is a big NO. The licensing laws are still not congruent. The videos are still blocked.

I had seen one portion of this concert before. It was an outdoor concert. I think it was “First Love” she performed, but this was years ago. I remember that there was a lot of wind noise, but she still sang it with a lot of emotion, and I loved it. (No one sings unrequited love the way Hanako Oku does.) This was back when I was first out about Hanako Oku’s music, and before I was banned from Facebook. Someone on the Hanko Oku Discussion Group on Facebook had posted a portion of this performance.

I would love to see the entire performance. If you are one of my blog  followers outside of the US, could you please check this video out, and tell me what I am missing?

Oh look, there is a new Poll!