Tag Archives: Babymetal

Top Ten Tuesday! The Top Ten Phil Factor Posts of 2017

These are the top ten most wildly popular Phil Factor posts of 2017 based on views. If you missed them the first time, just click the title. They’re new to you!

10. Dear Women, We Are Not ThemConsidering the public outrage over virtually every famous man being a creep and predator, I’m surprised this one didn’t get even more views.

9. Do Drugs, Not HugsMy humorous ode to those that aren’t fans of physical contact with mere acquaintances. There’s a poll at the end of this one. You should go vote.

8. Dear Donald Trump,Mr. Trump didn’t ask for my advice, but I gave it to him anyway. This one got a ton of shares to other social media.

7. Want a Million Dollars? Make Your Bed (and other things that will make you rich)Is there something to be learned from the habits of the uber wealthy and my sarcastic comments about them?

6. Facebook People vs. Twitter PeopleIs there really a difference, or do we act differently on different social media?

5. Blogger Stereotypes: Are You One? Are you as original as you think? Maybe not.

4. My Psychic Predictions for 2017I got a couple right and some were near misses that might still pan out.  Come back on Saturday for my Earth shattering psychic predictions for 2018!

3. Music Monday! The Strangest Thing I’ve Ever Seen on A Music StageThis one completely surprised me. I posted a video of Judas Priest‘s Rob Halford singing with #Babymetal, an unusual Japanese heavy metal act, and the next day I had, for about a week, the most popular blog in Japan.

2. Me and Billie Joe ArmstrongMy musical story from childhood until now. And in spite of the brilliant writing, not even an e-mail yet from the frontman of “God’s favorite band“.

washingtonpost.com

1. People Are Stupid, So Why Should It Be …: My frustration with a lot of stupidity in the world. Based on this posts popularity, either a lot of people love Depeche Mode, or they love to hate.

Honorable Mention Goes To: Could There Be Snakes in YOUR Can? This was one of my favorites that just missed the top ten. You’re welcome to share any or all of these on social media. Have a great Tuesday! ~Phil

I Think I’m Turning Japanese, I Really Think So

I’ve got your picture, I’ve got your picture

I’d like a million of them all round my cell
I want the doctor to take your picture
So I can look at you from inside as well.
You’ve got me turning up and turning down and turning in and turning ’round. I’m turning Japanese, I think I’m turning Japanese, I really think so. ~ The Vapors, 1980

I don’t think that I’m turning Japanese, but it’s possible that #ThePhilFactor is. Earlier this week my Music Monday post featuring the band #Babymetal went a little viral through some Twitter love from Japan. I’ve never had a huge Japanese following, but I figure that since I’m publishing a new book soon I might as well try to capitalize on my newfound audience. Thinking that I want to take advantage of the tidal wave of attention from Japan is entirely different than actually successfully doing so. For instance, I just committed a Godzilla sized faux pas in the last sentence by using the phrase ‘tidal wave’ in reference to Japan. They seem a little nervous when that phrase comes up.

In an effort to get up to speed with my new Japanese blog visitors I’m going to review everything I know about Japan in the hope that if I’m mistaken about any facts you’ll help straighten me out.

Things I Know About Japan: 

A girl heavy metal band named Babymetal is more popular than The Phil Factor: I’m sure you’re as surprised by this as I am. Seriously? Are you kidding me? I’m The Frickin Phil Factor! My blog is older than those snot nosed little punks. Quick survey: Who thinks I should rename my blog The Frickin Phil Factor?

Japan is an island nation: Of this I am fairly sure.

Godzilla (or Gojira for my Japanese friends) is the official mascot of Japan. Of this I am also fairly sure. In fact, most people mistakenly believe that in all those old Godzilla movies the giant lizard was attacking Tokyo. He was in fact attempting to protect it from Rhododendron, that flying three headed thing.

Slurping Loudly is considered polite: It is a way to show your host or hostess that you really like the meal.

Cuddle Cafe! In Japan there are Cuddle Cafes where you can pay money just to snuggle with a stranger that works there. I don’t see how that could possibly cause any problems.

Adult Men Get Adopted: 98% of adoptions in Japan are men between 20 and 30. The reason? If the owner of a business doesn’t have a son to keep the family name alive, an heir is adopted into the family. I may move to Japan just hoping to get adopted by the owner of Sony.

The Japanese Penis Festival: The Kanamara Matsuri is centered on a local penis-venerating shrine. The legend being that a jealous sharp-toothed demon hid inside the vagina of a young woman the demon fell in love with and bit off penises of two young men on their wedding nights. After that the woman sought help from a blacksmith, who fashioned an iron phallus to break the demon’s teeth, which led to the enshrinement of the item. (Description from Wikipedia) Aww…what a sweet story!

Mr. Miyagi from the Karate Kid movies is now the President. (By the way, next year Ralph Macchio and the guy that played his nemesis will reprise their roles as 50 year old dudes still holding a grudge in a YoutubeRed series)

Based on my extensive research, those are all the facts you need to know about Japan. In order to welcome my new friends to my blog and to improve U.S.-Japan relations I would like to translate a few useful phrases for them:

Half of us didn’t vote for Donald Trump: 私たちの半分はドナルドトランプに投票しなかった

The Frickin Phil Factor: フリッキンフィルファクター

Hello my Japanese friends! こんにちは私の日本の友達!

Real sexting conversation to read in Japanese: 日本語で読めるリアルなセックス会話  (this one is a throwback to another of my posts which has brought thousands of Hindi speaking people to my blog over the last two years)

Babymetal Loves ThePhilFactor.com : ベビーメタルはThePhilFactor.comを大好き

Yes world, you are welcome. The Frickin Phil Factor is once again bringing people together. Have a great Saturday! ~Phil フィル

Would You Like To Do A Guest Post Here?

As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, I’m in full book writing mode, which decreases my blog writing time a bit. As per your vote a few weeks ago, I’m looking to replace my Tuesday Top Ten lists with Guest Bloggers. I’ve had two great ones, Sick Christine and John Howell.  If you have a book to promote, or just want to promote yourself and your blog just say so in the comments.

Have you ever woke up, got out of bed and dragged a comb across your head,  then checked your blog stats? Yes, I’m sure we all do it. At 6 a.m. this morning I got up and checked for comments and what yesterdays stats were. (I love following my blog views throughout the day). Normally when I wake up there’s a very moderate number of overnight views. Today I woke up to what is usually a good, full days worth of viewing stats. Looking at what was getting so much attention, it turned out to be my Music Monday post this week. It’s a video of a Japanese girl trio who sings heavy metal songs, Babymetal, singing with Judas Priest lead singer Rob Halford. I titled it as The Strangest Thing I’ve Ever Seen on a Music Stage. Apparently #Babymetal is very popular because all my views came from Japan and Twitter. Yes, that’s right, #ThePhilFactor is now trending on Japanese Twitter.  If you haven’t seen the video, here it is. Rob Halford doesn’t even come on stage until the 7:40 mark.

For my new readers I’d like to say:

こんにちはBabymetalファン! Phil Factorへようこそ

Music Monday! The Strangest Thing I’ve Ever Seen on a Music Stage

I saw this occur live, in person last year at the Alternative Press Music Awards and I still can’t get it out of my head. It was the weirdest musical performance I’ve ever seen. Rob Halford of Judas Priest performed with #Babymetal , a trio of young Japanese women singing with heavy metal backing music.  The real performance starts about one minute into the performance. Former heavy metal icon Rob Halford joins the trio at the 7:40 mark.

Have a great Monday! ~Phil