Pokémon Nicknames: Chatot

His cosplay is so accurate that he looks like the “Real Macaw”!

Chatot (in Japanese: ペラップ  “Perap”) is a NORMAL and FLYING dual-type, introduced in the Sinnoh Region (Gen 4: Diamond-Pearl-Platinum). It is the “Music Note” Pokémon.  Chatot does not evolve into any other Pokémon. (Source: Bulbapedia). There is not a “Mega-Evolution” form yet, however the bird can learn a Normal or Flying Z-move.

Chatot appears to us as a musical note combined with a chatty bird such as a parrot or parakeet. I tend to give this bird music or singer themed names.  My favorite name for (male) Chatot is “Gershwin” after the great American composer George Gershwin. Along those lines I also like to name them “Rhapsody” after Gershwin’s famous Rhapsody in Blue. I think that this name works well for female Chatot.

Chatot is probably NOT for trainers like me who mostly play by the attack-attack-attack method. The bird is not all that strong. Chatot appeals to players who like to use “tricky” moves. Also, in games where there are double or triple battles, Chatot may be part of a tricky team.

There must have been a lot of “chatter” on the island that day!

People who like Parrots, or have macaws or other exotic bird pets would identify with Chatot. Perhaps Jimmy Buffet fans a.k.a. “Parrot Heads” would enjoy this Pokémon. 

An entire PC BOX of “Polly Wanna Crackers!”

When I was in high school, my teachers would always yell at girls who would not stop talking in class. They often used the name “Chatty Cathy“. The term also refers to the famous talking doll that were popular long ago with girls my age.  TheRealMacaw is a take on the American expression “The Real McCoy“:

I also like these musical note related names. The St. Louis Blues NHL team has a great looking jersey with a blue note on them. “The Blue Note” is also the name of a famous New York jazz club. You might use CB Radio type names like “Breaker-One” or “Good Buddy”

A great name for female Chatot is “Soprano” after the lady singers with the high vocal ranges. “Caruso” is after Enrico Caruso the famous opera singer. Some regard him as the greatest singer of all time. Speaking of singers, consider “Alvy Singer” after the character Woody Allen played in his best movie — Annie Hall.

Twelve letters will allow you to use the name “SingSingSing” after the Louis Prima song made most famous by Benny Goodman. There was a noted New York State Prison named “Sing-Sing“. You would be singing the blues there.

You kids are way too young to remember 900 Numbers. Way back in the 1980s when there was no Internet, late night TV commercials and seedy magazines used to advertise these various “chat lines” that lonely men could call. Basically, you could call up one of these numbers and a woman would talk dirty to you while you masturbate. Thank you Alexander Graham Bell. Get this – these phone calls would charge your credit card or phone provider $4.99 per MINUTE! I know, it is hard for you kids to believe, because there is so much free porn here in the future.

I know what you are thinking: “Denny you must have spent a fortune on 900 numbers when you were in your 20s.”  Ha. NO. I never ever would call one of those rip off chat lines. It might seem like a good idea at 3:00 in the morning after having a productive evening drinking beer … but NO. No way. I would rather have my money thank you.

The way I looked at it, there was absolutely nothing that one of these telephone Chat-thots could ever tell me that would be worth 5 bucks per minute. What … Stock tips? Lottery numbers?  Plenty of suckers must have wasted their money, because these chat number were big business all the way into the 1990s. Think about that … 5 bucks per minute. Now how many minutes would they need? … but I digress once more …

Here is some cute Chatot cosplay from cosplayer Lilacwire TWEET TWEET!

https://www.acparadise.com/acp/display.php?c=19199#costumeinfo

Here is more cute Chatot costume by Kiki @OrganizedChaos TWEET TWEET!

https://cosplay.com/album/32d8re0

That’s all for this week. When in the Sinnoh Region, please chat me up. Perhaps one could “chat up” a Thot at a bar?

Opera or Jazz? What is the name for your Sinnoh-Region Singer? Please comment!

Pink Lady, I owe you an apology.

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“I would rather eat worms than ride a Jap bike”

OK, how about this for idea for an American TV series: An all-girl Jpop group comes to America and teams up with a dorky American comedy guy.  Sounds too good (for Denny) to be true?

In fact there WAS a 1980 television show close to the Denny dream,  No, I’m NOT making this up. Despite the brain cells I killed in my late 70s and early 80s “punk rocker” days, I can still recall the NBC show “Pink Lady and Jeff”.

The NBC show is regarded by most TV historians and critics as “one of the worst television shows ever”. There was a time in the late 70s/early 80s when NBC produced a number of shows now regarded as “worst ever”.  Not the type that were “so bad that they are good” – just shows that were BAD. Remember “Sherriff Lobo?!?”, “BJ and the Bear”!!?? … “Manimal”???!!!

Unfortunately, Pink Lady’s variety show is on that list. Six programs were produced, but only five aired, as it was hated so much. It did not play in Peoria. Looking back, it did NOT deserve the hatred that was set loose on it.  Full disclosure: I also thought it was pretty stupid. It was full of actors and musical acts I could not care for.  I want to make an apology to you Pink Lady, for my involvement and anything I said.

The following is from the Pink Lady and Jeff Wikipedia article:

“The series starred Japanese female singing duo Pink Lady — Mitsuyo Nemoto, (“Mie”) and Keiko Masuda  (“Kei”), and American comedian Jeff Altman (who oddly was also on “The Dukes of Hazard” show over on CBS in the same time slot – DS). The format of the show consisted of musical numbers alternating with sketch comedy. The running gag of the series was the girls’ lack of understanding of American culture and the English language; in reality, Pink Lady did not speak English. (It is cringe-inducing to watch the dialog — DS) Jeff would then attempt to translate and explain the meaning of things, which led to more confusion.”

I do love a good fish-out-of-water story. Oh, man so much potential, and actually the ladies are pretty good.  The group was very popular in Japan (here is one of their songs “SOS” linked here), but unheard of in America. Heard that before?  VideoPirates on YouTube has produced a clip show here.  It is jaw-dropping amazing. Forget the train wreck … this is worse … you can’t look away …

See … “UN-FREAKING BELIEVABLE LOIS!!!”  Pop Culture enthusiasts: WATCH THIS!!! It is a great cross-section through the wasteland that was American popular culture.  Looking back, some acts I do like.  There was a nice moment where Pink Lady met the great Roy Orbison.

The producers Marty Krofft and Fred Silverman recall a story during production:  When the girls arrived in Los Angeles they wanted to go to Disneyland.  Of course no Americans knew who the Japanese star duo were, but there are many Japanese tourists at Disneyland, so the girls were mobbed for autographs.

They were so beautiful … and I was so dumb …

It is really too bad .. and unfair that the show was over-criticized by the American audience.  (Consider the crap we watched on our three channels at that time.)  Watch these clips.  Comedian Jerry Lewis is there, and he even performs his usual “HEY LADY” schtick.  Looking back, some of the jokes were really, really bad.  Many would be considered “politically incorrect” as well today. Some of the guest stars were has-beens, or “never-weres”.  Some like Roy Orbison and Alice Cooper would revive their careers later in the 1980s.  I have to admit it — their duet with Donny Osmond does sound pretty good. I hated seeing Playboy Hugh Hefner interacting with the girls however. (Cut to Denny imitating Homer Simpson — shaking a threatening fist ”Get away from them you old perv.”). However, all through that Mie anf Kei are GREAT!  Their sweet personalities shine through the goofy sketches. They are super pretty, look great in the bikinis, and I love their musical performances.  Well, now .. not back then … Sheena was a punk rocker.

“I would rather eat worms than ride a Jap bike”  my leather-clad biker companions would say. In fact I would see that on T-shirts. There was a significant amount of anti-Japanese sentiment and misunderstanding in the industrial cities of America in the 1970s and 1980s.

I grew up in a corrupt American steel-making city. The mill-hicks would always go ape-shit over imported steel product.

Myself, I did not ride a Harley.  I rode a “rice grinder” — a Yamaha 250 dirt bike. (FYI: This is a completely different type of motorsport than the Harley crowd). My dad was a steelworker, and cussed me out for the Japan import.  Assholes would ask me: “Why do you ride a JAP bike?” “Are you broke? .. eat your import”

Why the Japan-bashing? Well, they were beating our pants off, and we union-bleeding creeps wanted our government to “protect” us.  Meaning: “Slap a $1,000 tax on all Japanese auto imports.” I remember this statement getting a cheering ovation at my graduation. We made cars. Japan made better cars for a cheaper price. But isn’t that what America is all about? Man, I have seen factory workers smoke pot and snort THC right on the job. If you have ever seen the Michael Keaton movie “Gung Ho” – you will see how the comedy film captures the anti-Japanese feeling at the time. So many of the World War II veterans also had jobs in the mills, and you should know how they felt about Japan.

Things were different in California. Everyone drove imports there.  I think if the Pink Lady producers knew what type of resentment there was in the US Northeast, they may not have backed the show. That is beside the point of it being a goofy idea.

Pink Lady and Jeff – unfortunately — was doomed from the start.  OK, it was a goofy show, but so were all the others. Pink Lady — I apologize for the bad Hollywood television writers. I apologize for the bad taste of the American public. We just were not ready. Pink Lady (and even you Jeff) … I apologize for not seeing your beauty and talent back then.  I would love to see a reunion concert or show in America.

It would be great if the media geniuses in Hollywood would take advantage of the otaku market in America and create a Japanese variety show for the US audience.

I sure know where you can find the dumb American co-host … I will wait for the call.

Starlight: It took 24 years for me to see the beauty of Pink Lady.