if cities were people

Originally from an old server that is now gone. Reposted in September 2006.

and geeky obsessions


You know, the fact is... if cities were people, I'd be madly in love with Tokyo. Its shapes, its lost roads, and vibrant ambiance. (The other cities on my love-list shouldn't get jealous, I still hold a fond place in my heart for Vancouver, Canada and Auckland, New Zealand, among others.) Why do I mention this? Because I haven't fallen in love with the city of Seoul yet. It's an interesting city, and I am slowly starting to enjoy being here. But between me and Seoul it feels like someone said "lets just be Friends." Was it me? Was it Seoul? How do I get to know Seoul better? Those are the dorky thoughts swimming in my head at the moment.



From millions to none. When I got here this youth hostel was full of people, I slept in the only empty bed. And now its down to just me in the dorm room, and three of the Germans in the private rooms upstairs. Is this a trend of full-not full or is it because its so cold now in Seoul?



And onto my newest geeky obsession!! I love the website wikipedia! One of the things I love about it the most is its multi-language support. I started off on pages and pages of useless data, enough to slowly make me (an infoaddict) happy. But then I realized they had feeds in Japanese (and many other languages) so I began to surf in Japanese too. And then I realized something shocking. Compared to the English pages, the Japanese ones were dull and lifeless. Why? They often had no pictures! I did more clicking and realized that it often seems like the French pages are even more colorful than the English ones (go Frenchies!) and in atleast one or two cases the Spanish pages had extra charts, etc. I wondered what I should do about this and decided to start my own army on the pages of wikipedia! Every geeky obsessional army needs a name, so (for now) I have dubbed my new goal ******** or something crazy like that. ((EDIT: I've been told by Japanese and Chinese friends that my pure mind didn't notice the kinky sound of my old name X jyusei-gun [Ｘ受精軍 ] so I'm going to change it to something cooler, and not kinky, hey its not my fault if I was thinking in a pure niave way! stay tuned. )) Anyway... whats my goal? I'm going to try to cross pollinate (hence my name) pictures (and other datasets) from the English (or other pages I can understand) onto the Japanese version of wikipedia! OK. Why? I don't know. Because I'm not working and its fun. So much fun I've now added this to my "Woohoo! If only I got paid to do this weird geeky crap" list. Yes, I'm still looking for a job. But my beautiful mother finally stole (haha) my diploma from the college I graduated from and got it sent over to me in Korea, so I'm that much closer to working again. Woo!



SAMPAI JUMPA LAGI



17:52:00 | permalink | comments (2)


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Cooper


Why'd she have to steal it and why didn't you have one in the first place?
Noexit

thoughts about living and language

Originally from an old server that is now gone. Reposted in September 2006.

and other things to type on a friday night


I'm worried about my rate of spending money. Lets get honest, in college I was poor. In some of my poorest times I was able to survive on one meal a day. One. Of course I was hungry, but graduating college was really important to me. And even after taking student loans I didn't always spend so much on food, wanting to save it for travel to Japan. I remember once telling a single friend how much I spent on food in a month, and he said he spent more in a week. (I should point out though that a network of very friendly nice friends sometimes fed me, many smiles for them.) The point is though, by the time I got to Japan, I was able to survive on very little food a day until I got a job. I didn't consume a lot, and was able to survive until I got a job (although once again someone, in this case kayo's sister, sometimes offered me yummy food, so it wasnt always so thin on the meals). Now after being in japan a long time (and gaining nearly USA 25LBS!) and having a lot of money to spend on food (eating three or four times a day) I've sunk into a bad spending habbit. Yes, food is cheaper here, but I tend to buy more than I need to survive, or even I sometimes buy useless things like snacks (puffed-balls made out of penuts and shrimp flavor, yummy!) and 100% juice. I know this sounds odd, but I want to survive until I start working, and if I intend to see my friends sometimes and not run out of money, I need to cut back on my spending. Just a note to self I guess.



Language. I've read a lot of articles about this; if a baby learns three languages none of the languages are damadged, three can be learned with no problems. But what about an adult? (or a kind of old person if you cant think of me as an adult.) Everytime I'm walking around and I hear myself thinking in Japanese, I wonder if I should try to "think" those thoughts in Korean. I wonder if it would effect my Japanese? I don't think that thinking in Japanese has effected my English (lets hope!) but English is my native language. Will my Japanese response rate slow down if I begin trying to force Korean thoughts? (although I'm not at all close enough to being able to think in Korean yet, I can't even communicte right now.) And you know? Have I ever mentioned that its weird to think in another language. Its like another "thing" in your mind. It feels, atleast to me, like a different shade, a different texture, its hard to explain right now.



I've been seeing more movies recently, because they are so cheap here (as cheap as $4, the price of two cheap lunches). Although so far most of the movies are typical hollywood stories, with nothing special to mention.



All right, this brings to close this odd entry. DAAG





21:07:00 | permalink | comments (1)


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I'm really trying to envision you 25 pounds heavier, and it's amusing me a little bit. Anyway, dude, you're not spending too much for food. Everyone should eat three meals a day, it's healthy, dude. I know college is a different deal, because you're feeding yourself and you eat like crap because it's cheap, but hopefully soon you'll realize that life is too short and you should enjoy eating. But I know you're also a gadget freak, so maybe your spending there needs a little more monitoring. I dunno.

And you should work for the UN or something. Or translate for a living.
Diego

still waiting for a job

Originally from an old server that is now gone. Reposted in September 2006.

and sad about america


OK, cue the dramatic music... its just my own opinion, but it sucks Bush is really close to getting the Whitehouse. I don't really like Kerry either, but Bush just sucks for so many reasons. I am, however, aware that many Americans really like Bush. And you know, as I told a New Zealander yesterday, thats what scares me. (Credit for the music: Bacchanale (1940) by John Cage as recorded by Stephen Drury, from aworks.)



No matter what your feelings of Eminem (and some of his biggoted remarks) you've maybe heard his anti-bush song Mosh (if you havent, check it out, its interesting) but what I find most interesting is the tons of less famous and well, uhh... untalented, others who are trying to make their mark against Bush too. Its my love of B-Movies again making me love this, but you have to check out this super low-tech anti-bush rant. Its odd (not the least being the title which is "George W Pussy") but I like to watch it because of its extream oddness. I wonder though what the person was thinking when they made it (made by the same person/people who gave the world a rap song from the point of view of jesus christ, oddly enough). Theres a lot of extream anti-bush opinions still pumping strong, even if he does win, and I wonder how this will all end up.



And now, its time for a pointless link rampage! I have tons of links in my gmail (yes, I mail myself info about sites I think are cool, but dont have time to decide to put on my random list of cool sites or anything) so I'm going to throw them at the few viewers of my site. Woohoo.



Proving that people can fight about the most useless things, people fighting about urban legends and language. (my orginal link about verbs died before I posted, weid.)

Weird. Proving to me that Bush and Kerry are really much closer than most say. They are related. Yup. Family tree shows us they are from the same roots.

An exclent rant about how people should not worry about movie spoilers. Interesting!



Oh and I almost forgot to mention the most shocking thing of the day. No not bush seeming to win the Big Seat... no.. I put my clothes in the laundry and came back a while later, and pulled them out but there was one (men's) underwear that wasn't mine. Totally 100% not mine. How was it in my wash?? Weirdness.



Are we now in a Bush-Bashed World? Weird. peace to the streets... DAAG!


18:36:00 | permalink | comments (2)


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I liked "the other guy"!
Steph


We're all going to hell. That's been my observation today. Bush won and he won HUGE. He's the first "President" to win with more than 50% of the vote in 12 years. That means he's going to do what he wants and pack the Supreme Court with reactionary facists. I'm hoping that the Senate blocks every nominee. Anyhow, don't blame me, I voted for the other guy no one liked.

Dansen, good luck with the job thing. I hope your degree comes soon. Kayo, It's been kind of funny conversing with you over Dansen's site, but I hope you enjoyed the Japan Series. Personally I am looking forward to the NPB/MLB all-star game. That should be good.

Oh well, It's back to the books for me. Criminal law and torts tonight. At least reading cases about murder is mildly interesting, if not disturbing. Oh, who am I kidding I am already getting desensitized to it.
Nick!

waiting for work

Originally from an old server that is now gone. Reposted in September 2006.

and seeing friends...


So I want a job. I really do, but I don't really want to work at a cram school this time. I think I got the job at that elementry school, but I still don't have my diploma so they weren't able to hire me. The recruiter guy was taking me to another job interview, and then at the last moment he told me it was for a hakwon (cram school) so I canceled that interview, but have another one for a elementry school soon. Was supposed to be today. Didnt hear anything about it. Soon, I hope.


I went to my friend Uni's hometown last weekend, it was my first time to see her parents in 2 years! (Although I met her and her boyfriend a few weeks ago here in Seoul.) Her parents were very nice to me. They bought me a lot of expensive food for dinner. Including... living octopus. For dinner. Living. Well, it was cut to pecies live... but, yes, the legs were still kicking. It was a new exprience for me. And yeah, I couldn't help but think it was kind of gross. But it tasted good, actually. I took some awesome pictures of the trees in her hometown, but I can't figure out how to get the pictures off my cellphone yet. So I'll show those some other time.



And other than that, I've been seeing a lot of friends. And waiting for a job. Exciting. Heh.



17:07:00 | permalink | comments (2)


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Yeah, I am not much into "live food". I can't eat anything that is still trying to get away. As such I hope that if I get chosen to be something's lunch one day, it will go ahead and kill me fully before starting in on my tender midsection. A fellow I know said that he had eaten a living fish once and that it was by far the best fish he had ever eaten.
At any rate, hang in there Dansen, you will find a good job yet. I know you will because you have the "charm" as my family calls it. Translate as "luck".
Take care.
Trench


Uh, did you bite into moving octopus legs or start on dead pieces?

Good luck on the job hunt, teach.
Steph

strongest typhoon in 10 years

Originally from an old server that is now gone. Reposted in September 2006.

and thoughts about lucid dreams


Today Tokyo had the strongest typhoon in 10 years (or so they said on TV) it was really strong, rain pouring down, flooding the streets, but it seemed like Yokohama about 3 years ago so I wasnt so impressed I guess. I had wanted to see giant waves crushing down the streets, floating cars, mayhem, destruction!! wahaha! But oh well, heavy wind and rain was cool enough I guess. For awhile, while I was waiting to hang out with Marykoh, I was getting soaked even though I was wearing a coat, and using an unbrella. Solid sheets of water cascading through gusts of wind, pretty, glittering in the neon lights that glowed solid. Cool enough I guess.



I read some things on the web about lucid dreams, and I saw a movie that I cant remember the name of right now, that were saying some pretty odd things. I know I have only a few viewers, but if anyone wants to give me their thoughts on the matter I would appreciate other opinions. The articles on the web, and the movie, say that electronic machines usually fail to work in lucid dreams (one place went as far as selling an electronic device you wear to bed, one of the functions being that you can press a button to get visual/audio feedback because they said if you think your awake but you press the button and it dosent work then your sleeping... all this for only $495! some shipping charges may apply. order today!).. electronic machines not working didnt seem possible to me, I thought I used machines all the time in my sleep, but they were talking about lucid dreams I guess, and although I have had lucid dreams using computer menus as a device to switch between dream options (I know, super geek attack), I couldnt pull into my mind a time when I had used a specific digital machine like my cellphone or something while having a luicd dream (make sure we are all on the same page, a lucid dream is "a dream in which you are aware of the fact that you are dreaming") ... So thats why I decided to have a lucid dream for exactly that reason, but thats when my annoying mind comes into play. I often have lucid dreams of some percent (90% would be god-like control of my dreams and 5% would be a soft understanding that I am dreaming with little or no control) but for some reason when I wanted to have one, I didnt. (Or atleast less than 5%) The next day I did some mental excersises (ok, I know, starting to sound like a lucid dream freak) and had a lucid dream that night (not a strong one, just enough to control my actions) and pulled out my cellphone... and what do you know, it worked fine. It seemed a little different, the menus were brighter than they should be, flatter seeming more like paper I guess, but it was my cellphone none the less. So I'm wondering now if lists of things "you cant do" in a lucid dream are just things that reflect the specific experiences of the dreamer. (For example, hidden fears of digital technology might manifest as not working machines when you dream?) Or maybe if your told you cant do something, then you cant do it in your dreams because you think you cant? I'm not sure. Anyone else able to use electronic machines while lucid dreaming? Or even in normal dreams? Other things on the list was it being really hard to turn on lights in dark rooms (something about the visual cortex having a hard time with this) and looking at numbers is hard to do with out making the numbers "swim" and looking at sentences and then looking away and then looking again and having the same sentence isnt possible... thats what their list said anyway, seems a little bit like if you belive its true then it will be true, because its your mind... but the mind does have limits, and the sleeping mind is shutoff from the whole use of the brain (so that we dont go whacky while sleeping) so maybe somethings arent possible... any feedback from my two webpage viewers/guests? Anyway, even if I'm talking into the wind, I find it fascinating. Weird minds we all have.

SAMPAI JUMPA LAGI



02:40:00 | permalink | comments (1)


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I can specifically remember electronic devices not working in dreams, but I can't specifically remember a time that they have. That isn't to say that they haven't, because if they worked fine, then it wouldn't stick out so that I'd remember it.
Aaron

closer and closer to korea but...

Originally from an old server that is now gone. Reposted in September 2006.

dont have all my paperwork...


I still dont have all the paperwork I need to get my Korean working visa, and thats making me a little nervous... but I should be ok, I hope! I am really looking forward to working again soon.


The other day, when I was hanging out with Marykoh, I saw this "party joke"... its a package with a plastic big nose and stick-on blue eyes and it says "hello mr.foreigner" ..this is just wrong for a million reasons. Only 293 YEN! weirdness.



I have been seeing so many of my friends that I am starting to feel a little dizzy!



I think I'm not the only one who thinks this private spaceship SpaceShip One is cool!? I mean, humans zooming off into space (kind of) ... with out the help of governments? The future really is coming... ^o^ ..and I was thinking a few days ago... Tokyo has so many moving esclators its almost like those futuristic moving sidewalks that you saw in 1960s movies/books etc...



Its been a little dark and rainy in Tokyo, the seasons are changing again...

SAMPAI JUMPA LAGI



03:46:00 | permalink | comments (1)


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I too, can be a foreigner! I hope nobody actually bought it.

Also, I think that they actually spent more money on the ship than the actual prize. It's still cool, though.
Diego

ricecookers are hard to sell

Originally from an old server that is now gone. Reposted in September 2006.

moving out of my place


I went to my local "recycle shop" (used stuff store) and asked to sell my ricecooker, because I'm going to Korea and don't need it. The lady at the cashier told me to wait a second and went into the back to talk to her manager. I could hear her say, "Mr. Foreigner wants to sell his ricecooker, but..." So the manager comes out and spouts a billion words a second in polite, formal, Japanese. So I ask her to use easyer Japanese. She switches to sounding like she was talking to a baby monkey. Thats not what I ment.
"You want us buy?" she asked in her overly simple Japanese.
"Yup." I said.
"We...no...buy."
"Uhm, where should I go?"
"You... know PARCO department store?"
The department store is right infront of the train station. Anyone who didn't know that would be pretty brain dead.
I nodded, "Yup, I know."
"I... think there is one.. .THERE."
I hadn't seen one (although a couple blocks from there is something that is about the same as the store I was in) and she didn't seem sure.
"There isn't." I offered.
"Oh, uhm... well, uhh..."
"OK, I'm fine." I said and picked up my rice cooker. Then she switched to heavy accented English.
"Aimu sorii. (I'm sorry.)" I know she was trying to be nice, but after being called Mr. Foreigner (being foreign should have had no relevence to me being there!) and then having to endure her talking to me as if I was a baby monkey, I couldnt help but remember the foreigners I met here who couldnt speak English (Russians, Africans) and a few who could, but just bairly (Italians, etc) and so I let my face cloud with frustration. She must have seen my face as I turned to leave, because she asked in Japanese, "Whats wrong? Is my English incorrect?" I wish I had tried to give her a lecture about "foreigners are equal" or something, but I just said "Not that." and then I walked out of the store, slidding the door behind me. When I think about it, my word choice could have had the conotation that her English wasn't correct. Although accented, her English was fine so I feel a little bad about that. But you know what I think frustrates me the most? I won't be able to have this kind of interaction in Korea for a long time. Honestly unable to produce more than a handful of phrases, and slow reading of the local alphabet. wow, freaky.



Other than that, I'm just floating towards my next job. Life in the world.
DAAG!



16:59:00 | permalink | comments (1)


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I agree with you on that Dansen! Everyone should be treated the same, especially in that sort of situation! I'm sorry you were treated badly there.
Xal

shipping off my computer

Originally from an old server that is now gone. Reposted in September 2006.

and some cool links and whatnot


If all goes well, I will be putting my computer in a box and sending it off to Korea today. Not sure how much its going to cost though... hope not too much! And I hope it goes to the right place, I'm a bit worried about that. And for those who think I'll be making a lot of money in Korea, I'm actually going to be making less than I am making in Japan! 2 Million won might sound like a lot, but in US money its about $1,740 a month. (1,418 EURO, 192,956 YEN) I'll be enough but it aint no 2 million bucks so dont get no distorted ideas!



As a movie fan, I want to say I want to see The New Police Story a Jackie Chan movie. (That link is actually really cool, if you go to the english site and click "video" and then on the "trailer" you'll be taken to a really cool media viewer that has a lot of HK movie previews on it, woohoo!)



I think its time to be the first (?) blog to announce Hollywood's sea change. Its a new market, its a new world, no longer is it weird to have endless sequels, its the new way of making movies... why only have one movie when you can have a chain and have more to watch? Its not really a bad thing maybe? And if you dont belive me, check out Terminater 4.



And just like other people out there, I'm fascinated by the appearence of illegal textbooks on file sharing services. It takes a lot of work to put a book online (Just ask the good folks at project gutenburg! only 12,000 old non-copyrighted books online, and they have been working on it since 1971 or something!) ... we are talking scanning in all the pages and converting it to text, or PDF, etc etc etc.. . but the implications of this are amazing... the world's information is actually slowly going online, its happening folks, the net is summoning the world together or something else freaky like a B movie! woo woo!



Since I am going to South Korea, I thought I should share this video I found of these two young korean girls singing karaoke I found a long time ago. (Did I ever link it?) Its funny. Best of luck all, its off to Korea for me... I'll be buying a ticket and going over there and hoping all this job stuff works out. Wish me luck. DAAG!





14:06:00 | permalink | comments (2)


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my sister is saying she also wants to see the chinese movie! maybe you guys should watch it together! because im not interested!!!!


vicky


Good luck with the relocation! That's exciting! Too bad we weren't able to make it to Tokyo, but maybe now we have an excuse to visit Seoul... :)
syrinx

Early in the morning

Originally from an old server that is now gone. Reposted in September 2006.

a million random thoughts



I love Japan, and I already feel sad about going to Korea... (although Korea will be great too!) but its signs like the one above (orginally posted to my Keitai Current moblog) that make me realize some people here need to grow mentally. Could you imagine a sign in Canada (for example!) saying "No Japanese unless accompanied by a Canadian"?! I ran across this sign (posted at a weird club we didnt go to) while hanging out with my friend Marykoh in a dark area of Ikebukuro.



More details about my job in Korea were emailed to me by the person recruiting me for the job, and this is what he had to say...

The job condition is:

Salary : 2.0 million won per month.
Working hours : 11am - 6 Pm
Elementary level students.
Vacation : 7days of paid vacation per year and ,
If you wish : You can get the whole August off, and Dec/22nd - Feb/22nd off for unpaid vacation.

50% medical insurance provided.
The position is in Central part of Seoul, in the Jong-ro area.

Instead of housing, they provide housing allowance of 400,000 won per month, which is plenty to get a room for yourself anyplaces.



Good to hear more details... now apparently I have to hunt down my orginal diploma (something I didnt need for my Job here in Japan. They only wanted my transcripts here...) and other stuff to do the paper work for getting my visa... I plan to go over to Korea around the first week of October. More on that stuff as it pulls itself out of nothing and becomes something. Elementary school kids... aaah! scary?! ^o^



I have been going on some major infodiving trips, and I present for the enjoyment of the three readers of my site... the treasures!

I recently stumbled apone Turkish Spiderman (Turkish Star Wars led me to it) and was amazed by its pure crap level. 100% utter beautiful stinking amazing crap. I can now say that it is one of my favorate movies of all time now. Its brilliant, weird, shocking and utterly pointless. Ahh, a master work of art... If you're too lazy to click links here is your one sentence summary: Turkish Spiderman is a fiendish 1970s low-budget ripoff of the spiderman comics produced by a Turkish movie company that somehow got a few important details mixed up, for example spiderman is a bad guy! (the above link gives a great summary of this wonderful movie, also known by its orginal Turkish name 3 dev adam, but if you dont mind having the story spoiled and want a full very funny "play-by-play" of this movie check out this link.) I think this movie should have a special edition DVD.



I find it weird that I actually really want to watch a George Lucas movie... although, it is actually an old movie.. his first to be correct... he has just edited it in the way he does recently, but in this case it seems to have made a modern movie out of an old good idea that suffered from no-budget. Interesting.



Talking to a computer for an hour and a half with out realizing it? Someone reprogrammed an old (1960s?) A.I. computer application to talk with random people on an instant message service... some of the conversations almost seem like real conversations, check them out... weird. (source) This reminded me of when I programmed some simple "smart random" A.I. things with, at first, BASIC and then Visual BASIC a long time ago when I was younger and knew more about computers. It is a little creepy when you begin to talk to the computer, even more when you programmed it yourself but it feels real. I remember conversations something like:

Me: Are you a computer?

Computer: Of course.

Me: Are you real??

Computer: I think so.

Me: Are you just answering randomly???

Computer: Yes.

And of course that was random (although my programs would parse what the user typed too, so they werent 100% random) but it would freak me out sometimes. It's ALIVE!



I recently love Wikipedia (free online dictionary everyone makes together) its slowly removing the idea that the web only has surface information, its becoming a very deep source for infodiving. (By the way, watch for that word to be used now that I coined it.) In fact did you know about the movement to call New Zealand by the local Maori name of Aotearoa? Did you know that name means The Land of Big White Cloud? I think that name makes a lot more sense anyways, since New Zealand was just some random name thrown at the island by a european sailor who didnt even know the island.



Anyway, the light is begining to come in my window and I can hear morning birds. Its really not so healthy to stay up this late I guess. Best wishes for the world... DAAG!





06:20:00 | permalink | comments (5)


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diego... I hope you were joking, in any case, its a good point... signs like that treat foreign people like KIDS, as less than equal.. make any sense? .... and aaron, i mean, noexit.. if you read the dang entry you would know where that sign was :p hehe daaang
Dansen


In possible defense for the sign, perhaps they didn't want to deal with foreigners who might not know how to act in that establishment. Don't get me wrong, it's still very exclusionary, but it could be like the signs in some stores that say kids can't be unaccompained by adults.

Hey, I read the Turkish Spiderman/Santo/Captain America thing and it was hilarious! Awesome!

For some reason, 2 million won sounds like a lot, though it probably isn't. A million of anything sounds like a lot!
Diego


I wouldn't go into a club that had one of those signs either. Happy moving... you'll probably love living in Korea, so don't fret. I'll have to check out that web encyclopedia another time, or I'll end up hearing birds chirp before get to bed.
Steph


Wow! You'll be a millionaire!
Joe Schmoe


Where was that sign?
Noexit

all play and no work makes me lazy!

Originally from an old server that is now gone. Reposted in September 2006.

meeting friends, dancing, and new music


A massive flow of "no work" has led to me hanging out with a tide of people. I dont feel like turning this diary entry into a roll-call of who and when, but I had a lot of fun. (Curious people should head over to my Korean Site where I have uploaded some pictures... a quick summary includes hanging out in Ueno with Christina, saying hello goodbye to Aya's cool friend Kelly, going to a Bellingham Reunion and seeing Shunsuke and Momoe and other stuff!)



Oh. And yesterday Yosuke (not to be confused with Yusuke) invited me to go with him and another friend to this odd techno club in Roppongi called Velfarre... Roppongi is rife with gaijin (foreigners) and it has to be seen to be belived, in some of the more grity places gaijin from many countries out number Japanese it seems. Anyway, the club was odd because it was having an "after hours" party, meaning a show that started from sunrise (about 5:30am) until 1 in the afternoon. Techno dancing basically is twisting and flaying the arms and legs, so I was very tired by the time I finished. Going there tuned me into something interesting though, I was sitting in the "chill out room" with Yosuke (who was too tired to stand) and heard the song "Learn Chinese" by Jin... I did research on the song and apparently it is a bit of debate maker right now... Some people say its racist (because of the lyrics) and I cant decide an opinion though, because yes he does use racial slurs, but nothing wrong with telling everyone they have to learn chinese and racial pride can be cool, although I wonder why he has to disrespect himself so much with some of the lyrics, some could argue he isnt though, I would have enjoyed more dissing on others.,.. anyway, listen and make up your opinions. (I am not in the states, is this song even making a dent? anyone over there care to comment?)



Anyway, thats all for now. I was going to update about some cool movies I saw, but I am going to watch one now. Thats all for now folks. DAAG!





23:00:00 | permalink | comments (4)


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How long until the big move to Korea, Dansen? Will you be living in Seoul?
Steph


I will have to listen to that when I get home. right now my speakers are being used and I am to lazy to switch them over. Vacation time before a move is always a good thing
Ted


I will have to listen to that when I get home. right now my speakers are being used and I am to lazy to switch them over. Vacation time before a move is always a good thing
Ted


I'm in the US, but I don't listen to pop stations or go to Techno clubs, so I couldn't tell you if Jin is being played here. (I'd guess that he is, though).
Steph

meeting Christina in Japan

Originally from an old server that is now gone. Reposted in September 2006.

and writting this at 5:30 in the morning?!
Well, I was awake. Editing on the design of my learn japanese site and other geek things like that. Yawn. So I thought I would do a diary update! (if for some weird reason you are slow and looking for pictures of my "goodbye work" party, check out last months entries!) Anyway! I met my college time friend (Wow, I graduated, huh?) Christina Sakura in Japan, and she was with Trevor (right below her).. the other people I knew or remembered at her party thing were Megumi (below next to Christina) and Mutsuko next to her, and on the far side of the room Shota, being the typical loner rock star that he is... regretfully, the others have been lost to time (they were all exchange students at my college, well everyone except Trev-rev-yer-motor and Chris-tinnnny-a of course!) What do old friends do when seeing each other in a new country? Walk around of course. Was great to see her, hope to meet up some more before she goes home to America... Meeting Christina means I have met almost everyone that was in this one weird study group thing I had. It was like a magic "come to Japan" study group! OK, enough of late night rambles... the picture...



of course more pictures will be on my Korean website, like I normally do.



Another geek note, because I love computers so much. If anyone noticed, the quality on my keitai page has jumped up. I have a new keitai phone, which is kind of silly because I am moving so soon. But cool bigger clear pics. (Which, for example, captured Horikoshi going to a palm reader in Ginza tonight. He gave her quite a good future, but interestingly her friend got a less cool one... wonder why.) Ooooh.



More details about my new job.. it seems real. Working in centeral seoul maybe? about 10 people in each class (versus the max. 4 adults I had here...) and it might be all kids? Not sure about anything else yet. So thats the basic information. yo.



Anything else I wanted to say has been lost because I am sleepy and the sun is coming up.

DAAG



05:34:00 permalink comments (3)


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When you graduate, are you supposed to change? I haven't. I'm still goofing around as much, if not more, than I was when I was in school. The only difference is that I pay attention to getting sleep at night. It's okay to sleep through classes when you are the student, but when you're the teacher, it's a different story.
Aaron


When you graduate, are you supposed to change? I haven't. I'm still goofing around as much, if not more, than I was when I was in school. The only difference is that I pay attention to getting sleep at night. It's okay to sleep through classes when you are the student, but when you're the teacher, it's a different story.
Aaron


Hey dansen,

seems like you haven't changed much, still spending a lot of time on the internet doing different things! For some reason, I didn't know what you were going to do in Korea. I guess teaching should've made sense, but I wasn't thinking. Cool! And your blog finally is fixed too!
Diego

and it is finished...

Originally from an old server that is now gone. Reposted in September 2006.

my work here is done


A big chunk of the silly people I work with... some didnt come, some already went home when this picture was taken, one isnt one of the teachers (blue shirt on right, thats my friend Kazu) and a lot of people are hiding (about one forth, including scott.. where are you going man?!) but yeah.. they had a goodbye "party" with me at the station. We stood around, talked, drank (beer for the those liking it, juice for those not liking beer) and said goodbyes. I have a sad feeling I wont see most of these cool dudes anymore. I hope I see them all again though, if not, thanks for the memories one and all. ((I made a "point-of-view" animation of some of those people, please check it out at this link, although that site wont work in less than a month so check it out now and save it if you want it!))



oh, and I have to do a sort of geek-up-o-date: I changed my neonvirus logo and made it even more interactive and cool. Click on it. wooo. and if you click the japanese words they morph into korean words... hmm... its symbolic of my trip or something...?!



Now I have to sit around, playing with my friends and relaxing for the next month until I go to work in Korea... oooh.. that sounds difficult. ^o^ I need the relax time, oh yeah. oh and Christina (otherwise known as Sakura-san) is visiting Japan, and I'll go meet her and others the day after tomorrow, so I'm excited about that... and wow, less than 2 months and I will be working in Korea. Wow.



SAMPAI JUMPA LAGI



05:41:00 | permalink | comments (0)

thinking about going to Korea soon...

Originally from an old server that is now gone. Reposted in September 2006.

and being quiet-sad?


You know? If I wrote an IQ test it would go something like this... Socks are to clothes dryers as Unbrellas are to _____________ . If you said "trains" you read my mind. I think I have lost about 10 unbrellas to those beasts... you get in, set your unbrella beside you (its wet so you dont want to snuggle up with it) and then forget it when you rush out the doors...



Recently I have been starting to miss Japan, and I havent moved to Korea yet. If I havent made my plans clear before, let me do so now. In early october I will be moving to Korea... I needed a change and a new chalange but I am already getting sad, missing my neighberhood, and all the things about Tokyo that used to annoy me are now sentimental. Because I feel like making another list, I now offer a list of things (in no order) that I will miss about being here:

1) The food. I dont know why this came to mind first, but it did... and I am not even hungry right now... fresh sushi, creamy nato maki, crispy fried gyoza, and the list goes on! yummy!

2) The wild fashions. Last time I was in Korea they had nothing to compare to the young fashions here. Much has been said for the wild punky street-kei stuff, although I havent heard much about the punker grandmas... they remind me of my own mom who said she would do this someday when older.. they dye their hair purple, or other colors and ware strange clothes (even saw one in a pot-leaf sweater but maybe she didnt know what it was?) and sometimes wear semi-reveling clothes (by accident??)... rock on grandmas!

3) The odd-ball advertisements that are all over the place... ok, lets change number three to the odd media that is everywhere. Media weirdness!

4) The energy of the City.... I think it wouldnt be an over statement to say the city of Tokyo itself is Alive.

5) The perverts. Once I found my personal run-ins with gropers, flashers, peeing in public freaks, and all sorts of other messed up people annoying but now I think I will miss the laughs.... with a City this big, I guess you cant help but to have such people.

6) The food. wait did I say that one already? \o.O/

7) The international-vibe... recently Tokyo has been evolving into a real international community, with people from all over the place... I like that, hearing languages from everywhere and the slow stir of cultures.



OK enough of that sappy "missing Tokyo" stuff!



I thought I should mention something that I first mentioned on my Japanese diary... I was coming home from the conveince store after over hearing my new neighbor speak in loud American English and thinking about how many of us gaijin now populate this area. And anyway, I had bought a meal, and I sat on the steps of the coin-laundry and began to eat it. These young guys (early 20s?) came by and one of them looked right at me, and said to his friend: "Dammmmmn man, theres so many of them." I just sat there watching them go past, but I remember thinking this was annoying. Not because he seemed irrated by so many of us non-Japanese being around (I can feel sympathy for that, sometimes us non-Japanese dont follow the rules etc) but because it was very clear by him saying that directly infront of me that he thought that non-Japanese couldnt understand him. That frustrated me.... I cant really put it into words, I guess, but it felt weird.



In another unrelated idea, I love creative thinkers. These people spent the time to program on a plant simulator. This dosent just simulate the end result, it allows you to watch the flower grow and to change evolutional patterns and all sorts of things. This is by deffintion useless to such a large spread of the world, and because of that I think that its really beautiful.



I have decided to be depressed and quiet for awhile. Sad feelings might do me good for awhile. So let me sit in my misty room, mental blankets pulled up over my head. Besides, being sad produces good poetry...





Enjoy your moments. DAAG




03:03:00 | permalink | comments (6)


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I fixed it I fixed it. All you who use good browsers like Mozilla, it will work now.
Aaron


RED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ted


I had no idea that Tokyo had such an assortment of perv's--I thought that was an Albuquerque exclusive.

If you don't like living in Korea after you get there you can always move back to Japan, so don't freak out ; )
Steph


if theres any new users of this blog or old users who are not using MS Internet Explorer... I'm sorry.. my menu wont go in the right place, I'll fix that sometime soon.. but for now, enjoy the menu.. and my site's new look! woooo!
dansen


diego.. this isnt a porn diary, and porn jokes are for porn pages :p you are just lucky I didnt delete your crazy post heeheehee but thanks for trying to chear me up, you are one nice man-man! :)
Dansen


Whenever you are sad, just think about the good times and the cuddling we used to do, and when I whisper a foreign language in your ear sweet nothings about the island we'll live on while raising our two kids.

And being nude all the time without a care in the world about how skinny your butt looks.

Hey, I cheered you up with that visual trip.

Yeah, sounds like you'll miss Japan. It's been such a big part of your life.
Diego

its the bright light...!

Originally from an old server that is now gone. Reposted in September 2006.

opening blog #5


I was talking to one of my students at the start of a class, and I came to the self realization its not the summer heat that sometimes makes me feel uncomfortable ... its the bright light, I guess because a lot of my life was spent in the backwoods of Washington state... a place where direct sunlight (versus rain) was as about as common as alien attacks... which could have happened to a few of the odd locals at one time or another I suppose. Because I realized that the evenings here are devine, and I have always enjoyed the pleasent dark brooding heat. And when a warm breeze stalks the night, its all the more enjoyable.



And with a drum roll, I open blog number # 5 to the public... KATA SAYA. Its an indonesian blog, but dont over think my skills. I have been off and on studying Indonesian for about 4 years now I guess, and I still havent gotten much past the introductions ("hello my name is..." level) and I think thats quite sad. So in an effort to change this, I am opening a blog where I will try to use new words, basically with heavy looking at a dictionary and other tools of learning. So for now it will look something like a chopped up Haiku blog, with short sentences and odd grammar... no pain no gain. besides I might give up next week?!



You know? I should add a little about why I love studying Indonesian so much... so here you go, "Why I Love Studying Bahasa Indonesia"... and maybe you'll learn some too!

1.) The words sound so cool.. for example, gray is "abu-abu" ..sometimes is "kadang-kadang" etc!

2.) The litteral meaning of words are awesome... Fall is "musim gugur" or litterally "The Season of Wilting" ... "kupu-kupu malam" is something like prostitute but litterly its "Night Butterfly" which is somehow poetic... and you can say you are going to "eat the wind" ("makan angin") when you are going for a walk, but you say the wind entered you ("masuk angin") when you have a flu.... and the list goes on.

3.) Its not super complex, but its not over simple. In fact, the structure of the language is really cool.

And I could go on and on... maybe you've learned some Indonesian with me today, woo woo!



The cool new "next blog" function led me to a blog complaining about something that I hadnt noticed on the web before. Annoying ignorant stupid people sure do make the world narrow. Its kind of sad. Apparently there are endless links on the net about how the Beatles are Evil. Warning, the few I read were closeminded, racist, anti-everyone-but-us, and scary.. ..!! This one shows how "the lyrics are evil" (including references to masterbation being a sin and using drums being evil) and this one goes into explanations of why their "actions were evil." (Edit: I read the odd page at the base of the second article, and although I'm puzzled by most of whats on it, the author does say in an interview at one point that its good to respect that other people have other opinions, so if thats a true opinion, I shouldnt consider this second link too close minded I guess...)



tonight I will go see Tatsuya, the guy who let me stay with him my first time in Japan. Every year he has a firework viewing party at his place in Futakotamagawa.. I am excited to see him, its been over a year! Time passes fast, or actually it never passes at all, but my viewing of it shifts fast when I convinvce myself that it can have different speeds. Uhm. yeah. DAAG!



13:13:00 | permalink | comments (1)


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:-) First time here... And hey... you made me wanna learn Indonesian too.. And hey, its strikingly similar to some indian languages, including Hindi, marati and my own native toungue konkani... Will click in back again...

And I've got a blog too... www.dpradeep.com
Pradeep D

visiting c & m in kansai

Originally from an old server that is now gone. Reposted in September 2006.

and congrads to diego on new baby!


I want to first congradulate Diego on the new baby... Zoe looks like a beautiful baby girl, and I am sure she will make her parents proud. And now for the pic:

[[missing file]]


And now to some pictures of my own, its getting late over here in my part of the world so I guess I shouldnt update too much text about my trip. I just had a lot of time, taking some time off work. People down in Kansai are very different than the people up here in Tokyo, and I enjoyed the change. About the following pictures... me and kayo went to visit C & M, but we got to Kobe (in Kansai) to early so we went up in a cable car, and checked out the view of downtown (top pic) and later me, kayo, C & M, and their friend Al went downtown Osaka (Nanba distract I think? thats the middle picture) and even later we were in a train and I stole this picture of C & M (if they mind being on the net, I can take this picture down, just let me know.... I havent had time to post one of their friend Al or anything else at the moment)..

[[missing file]]

We had fun, trying out restraunts, going to a festival and taking purikura pictures... I want to write a lot about all the silly stuff we did and talked about, but I should go to sleep and continue my work cycle tomorrow...
SAMPAI JUMPA LAGI !!



01:18:00 | permalink | comments (4)


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Hey, that crab thing is in Kannai, Yokohama too. That's pic of "C" isn't very revealing anyway.
Aaron


Over time at the internet cafe, going to punch a whole in my pocket book. We`re trying to send out pics to everyone but damn if I know how. Yes scoff yes laugh and even chortle but we`ll see who has the last...erm...laugh? Had fun Dansen, come again anytime!
Trench


Cute baby!
Steph


Wow that's col Danses however I do find it odd that I get a picture of there location form you beofre i get it form them. Damn them.
Ted

summer sonic 2004!

08/09/2004
Originally from an old server that is now gone. Reposted in September 2006.

and my crazy 'hood


The battery on my digital camera (oops, was I supposed to not bring that into the festival??) died because I took a lot of pictures and sound, so I cant upload anything that I took of the music festival yet, maybe later, but I thought I would give a taste of what it was like... here is a collection of a few of the artists that me and kayo saw... I added their names to the offical pictures (which are maybe better than anything I took anyway) and present them here:



Jurassic 5 was great, a nice show, good lyrics and nice beats... N.E.R.D. won my award for most amounts of chrisma oozing off any of the bands there... and N.E.R.D. was cool, being the typical tempermental rock band, quitting in the middle of old hiphopish songs they didnt want to play anymore ("I just wanna rock!!" in the lead singer's words...) and doing strange covers of old songs by other artists... Schadaraparr wins the award for best audience interaction.. but maybe because they were Japanese and could speak with the auidence... they were really funny, and had some good songs. Beastie Boys finished the show... we ran from a small stage (where we had seen Schadaraparr) and back to the stadium... it was full.. the people undulating in waves, pulsing, wanting.. it was surreal.. . a big welcome for the Beasties... their concert was ok, for old dudes... the fact is they are kind of old and they got kind of tired, but they tried their hardest, and it was pretty good! Anyway, thats all from the Summer Sonic 2004 report for now...



In weird news... when I was going to work the other day, another train-jumper increased the sad number of people, on my train line, to 2 while I've been here. And then that evening I saw a big group of police scrambling up the steps at my station. They stopped an old man from buying a ticket and were saying something about how he 'did it' and they confiscated a nasty-long knife, wrapped in a bag, from his bag. Damn scary.



Anyway, thats all for now. "This brain was made for sleeping. And thats just what it'll do. " Uhm.. I'm tired. Thats all.... waaaaa... DAAG!



02:05:00 | permalink | comments (5)


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The Beastie Boys came here once and I remember some guy I knew saw Ad Rock in the street and said, "Hey, I'm sorry if I'm bothering you but can I get your autograph" and he said, "Well, don't!"
Tanya


hey, i still cannot find the kimchi-natto maki thing you were talking about at your k-tai diary ! where did you find it??
kayo


Hey dansen. I still read your blog. I just don't allways comment. :)
Ted


The Beastie Boys aren't that old--they're probably all still in their thirties. That's a little age-ist! Maybe they just kind of suck now, that's all.
Steph


Cool pics! I've been a fan of Jurassic 5 for a while now, they have some great sounds with that old hip-hop turntable style and different MCs jumping in and out of the song. They are really cool! I actually enjoy most of their songs and am now officially envious of you, yo!

Cool!
Diego

my friends from korea visited

Originally from an old server that is now gone. Reposted in September 2006.

and other thoughts


My friends from Korea just went home the day before yesterday... it was a whirl-wind week of doing all sorts of things and going all sorts of places... it was really fun to see them here in Tokyo, and to introduce them to some of my Japanese friends...


From left: Chige, Da Yeon, Yusuke, Tae Yeon, Chie, and Hiromi

(2nd, 4th, and 5th are the Korean people who came to visit...!)


I took litterly millions of pictures, and a lot of those can be seen on my korean page, and maybe I will post them here too if I feel like it (but thinking its too much work and space to load into this account.)



The turn of the new month blanked out the entry I put at the end of last month, so if you missed my thoughts about rain rain rain feel free to check it out... or any other entries, just navigate by using the calander on your left.



I think this picture of college students expereincing zero g in a dropping NASA jumbo jet is awesome. All the faces and ways the bodies are posed make it so classicallly cool. This is the future, someday college kids will be spinning around in space for spring brake?? (link is hi-res and will load super slow if you dont have a super awesome fast speed modem.)



I was doing some more VR research in my never ending quest for useless knowledge and found this interesting article about how video game characters/robots scare some people. I have never found lifeless beings annoying or "uncanny", I wonder if I could have a tea party with a group of mind eating zombies and not care?



Has anyone here seen The Swimmer? It came on TV last night at about 1 at night, and I should have gone to sleep but I was some how pulled in... its a really odd late 1960s movie about ... well, just watch it or read a review I dont think I can explain it good in a few sentences. But I have to say atleast it captavated me. I also saw the ending of some Japanese movie before The Swimmer which must have been made in the 1980s, and it had high school students singing in the rain and taking their clothes off (but you couldnt see anything, if you have a kinky mind) and then ended with some kid jumping out a third-story window. I would have had to see the whole movie to understand what was going on, I guess...



I am thinking about opening two more blogs. One in Indonesian, not because I am any better with that language, but because I'm not and I need some way to practice... and another in Korean, not because I can even use Korean yet, but because I found an awesome Japanese-Korean web dictionary that I want to use more. OK, first person to call me a language geek wins 10 points. Wooo woo. DAAG!





02:36:00 | permalink | comments (5)


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hello dansan!
its christina from pennsylvania. well, san antonio now.
2802 Goliad Road #A303
San Antonio TX 78223

send a postcard
im lonely over here ^^
Take Care
Christina


ok, lets not be sexist peoples, i have a lot of friends... female and male, and both are equally cool human beings. :) human equality yo! and yeah, Tanya... I am leaving, I am moving to Korea!! will go some time in late september or early october.. new post soon but i think i am too sleepy tonight to clearly right anything... aaaaaah...
dansen


I saw "The Swimmer" years ago and thought that the film was about a suburban man who has had a nervous breakdown after losing his family somehow. But, I linked onto the review, and maybe he was just dead or dreaming through the whole film. I don't know. Anyway, the movie was really weird and a little depressing.

Anyway, Diego's funny. You have dozens of girlfirends, huh, Dansen!
Steph


Hey Dansen you language geek (where's my 10 points?!). Actually I saw this really geek magazine at the store the other day. It had articles like, "How to talk physics, and still pick up". It think it was some yank mag because it was 15 bucks! Heard on the grapevine you are going to leave NOVA. Where are you going next? Another job? Another place?
Tanya


Two more blogs? You're too much! You need a girlfriend! Go procreate or something! I am afraid of your photoblog because it bogs down my browser - but I will be adventurous...


Diego

internet any day

Originally from an old server that is now gone. Reposted in September 2006.

murasaki ringo


Get ready, yes its coming to a few silly people who read my words. Yes its coming. I will have very fast internet, very soon. The result of this is 1) tons of useless updates 2) a massive stream of content you can browse to kill time... I will be uploading my pics and stuff to a new section of my website (trumpets!) "murasaki ringo" ... at the moment, nothing is there but that will change soon. Also I will have all sorts of other stuff there that maybe 1 or 2 people will look at?!


Some pointless links from the stratasphoogle: anyone want to join the green rabbit army? I was talking to someone at work about cockney rhyming slang, but little did I know you could do it automatic on the net! Wow, we can all be cockneys now! (and links from that page let you be any British accent for that matter wooo! and if you want to find a quick list of british slang, jump to this page that i got the cockney link from.) And finally please see someone's pet pig. Just like that y'all.
[[links missing]]

In other news, it has got so humid here in Japan. Its the liquid always slightly wet with sweat state-of-existance. Or if I am at work, the air conditioner is so strong that I am almost cold. Winter inside a summer. Of course if you are also here with me, you know what I am talking about. Cant quite remember the reason I sat down to updates this diary. Oh well. Pointless update number 257! and the beat goes on...

DAAG!



19:59:00 | permalink | comments (8)


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The link works Dansen : )
Steph


steph, the link should be working now... and i am still working on stuff, so its still in the process! thanks.. more to come!
dansen


Steph again, I watched your movies -- what a treat! "Drunk fish tank" comes up as "document not found" when I click on it, though, but it could just be my connection. What is a drunk fish tank?
Steph


I like your photos too. Weird grid though.
Diego


I love your new murasaki ringo -- I can see so much more detail in your photos now --how cool!
Steph


Singapore was always humid too. It was a little tough when it was hot and wet. Hope you get your interset soon!
Diego


I guess that over-cranking of air conditioners is universal because I've been suffering from the same thing here in NM. It seems kinda weird to lug a sweater around on a really hot day, but I've decided that it's better than getting a cold in the middle of summer ; )
Steph


Cool. It was probably me
Aaron

living in the rain and heat

Originally from an old server that is now gone. Reposted in September 2006.

rain rain rain internet?!


Last week we were hit by Typhoon Number 6... And honestly, I love rain. I know, I know, its annoying to get soaked on your way to work, but I really enjoy rain. The sound of it slamming down, and especially when it drums against the metal roofs of a station, the world lost in a blur of water. Or walking in the rain, yes, I like walking in the rain, as the streets flood and begin resembeling small rivers, small streams streaking down from clogged drains. I stood in the rain, watching, and trying fruitlessly to capture a picture expressing it. I ended up taking several hi-res videos of it (too big too upload i think) that was bairly able to capture the 360ﾟ sensory experience of being attacked by crying clouds.



I went to see "Lost in Translation" with Vicky last week, and I know a lot of people already said their thoughts about it (including an excelent review of it by Diego on June 22) but I thought I would add my thoughts to the pile... first, and I guess most important, I was entertained, I thought it was a fairly beautiful film. Honestly, however I thought, atleast from my point of view, Sophia Coppola gave a really twisted, distorted view of modern Tokyo. Partly because most of us wont be staying in multimilion doller hotels, or checking out fancy art-smash rich people parties, etc etc... but also through blatent racisim (or softly stated as stereotype closeups) used as movie content, because their was little else to add to this fluffy movie. I personally would have liked more abstract shots of tokyo, but that dosent sell to a bigger audience so the stereotype cloesups allowed Sophia to have content, but I think they also hurt her movie. And let me say again, only about 40% of that movie was the Tokyo I call home. Of course, nothing is wrong with a fresh view but living here it felt like watching a fake sometimes... like when I watched Austin Powers 3 (and I think even The Last Samurai did something like this) and they had Mt.Fuji in Yokohama, for most people that was a fact they might not have noticed, but for me it made the movie feel fake (ok, I know Austin Powers is totally fake anyway... maybe they tried to do that?!) Anyway, enough said.



I was reading the Asahi Herald Tribune, which is basically a reprint of the New York Times, and I found an article on the front page about work-place bullies (find a copy of that article in a different paper here), and they mentioned an anti-bully group in Bellingham (where I lived last) that I had never heard of before, it was called "The Workplace Bullying & Trauma Institute" ... I reaseached it, and they seem to be real? weird, you learn things about where you (used to) live all the time?!... hmm. yes. what? you didnt relally want to know that? oh.



Anyway, last cool thing to note... I should have internet in less than a week?!?! Finally! I am happy, and I really will update more often! Really! I think...







SAYA LUCU.....! TIDAK INTERNET?! SAYA MAU INTERNET !!



00:18:00 | permalink | comments (3)


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I kind of had the same feeling as you Dansen about "Lost in Translation". While I connected to some moments in the film such as the shots of Charlotte gazing up at the lights from the taxi and staring at all the buildings below and trying to take it all in. However, I felt the same about, not all of us stay in a ritzy hotel with room service. I did however appreciate the cinematography given the difficulties they probably would have had. I was amazed at the shot of Shibuya crossing when Charlotte is walking across. I doubt they would have been able to get the entire crossing free and to be filming in a very public place in the middle of the day with a lot of foreigners and a crew, I was surprised that they managed to get a shot where no passerbys looked at the camera. However, I thought the storyline was a little weak in some places and gave into too many cultural stereotypes. I also got the feeling that Sophia is a little egomanical at times. I've actually visited her store, Heaven 27 in Daikanyama and it appeared to be a little bit of a shrine to herself. When I went there they were playing the Lost in Translation soundtrack, which was also available for purchase in the store and there were photos taken by her everywhere not too mention select CD's, books and magazines that seemed to be carefully handpicked for being somewhat obscure and undiscovered. Then I came across a book monogrammed with "SC". I opened it up and it said in very minimalistic san serif print something like, "things I liked in 2002". Then there were all these pictures of her famous extended family, various movie stars and designers etc. and she was selling it (basically it was like a small store catalogue) for around 2000 yen. It was a little creepy but I guess everyone has obsessions. Just look at us posting comments to this blog. Anyway, I preferred the "Virgin Suicides" to this one.
Tanya


What do you mean they had Mt. Fuji in Yokohama. You can probably see it from there if it's a clear day. You can see it from parts of Tokyo to, such as the roof of Asia University or my old dorm.
Aaron


The Workplace Bullying & Trauma Institute in Bellingham? I've never heard of that either, but if any city is going to have an institute like that it would be Bellingham! Albuquerque could use a program like that!
Steph

Strange comparisons

Originally from an old server that is now gone. Reposted in September 2006.

cutting edge digital life


I was walking to the internet cafe tonight (still no interent at my place) and as I walked past the small group of prostitutes that always huddles infront of the station, a strange comparision came to me. The work of the prostitutes, in some ways, resembles my work as a conversation english teacher... OK, don't be a sick freak and start commenting about sex with students (I'll delete those comments if you do) I mean it in a simply logical sense. I am a teacher, but its not like a college teacher, its quick, direct, and to the point. They have sex, but its not like with a partner you know and trust, its most likely quick, direct, and to the point. They have a wage that is higher per hour than your normal worker, so do I. All of the prostitutes in front of my station are non-japanese, foreigners coming to work in a market where their basic skills are required. Me too. I could keep going, but I dont think I have to. Its weird, huh?



I also want to say something that isnt quite clear to me. But I was surfing along through this amazing cosmos known as the internet, and I slipped into a random stream of videos uploaded by random people. I am using a really fast connection, so I bounced along for awhile, and I came across this file. It seems so surreal to me, so perfect it almost seems like a short movie. In fact, I think I will now consider it a random short movie contained inside a random moment. Am I freaking out? Check it out and see what you think. (And any other videos if you want to bounce around, I cant say they are all safe, I have no idea.)



Anyway, I am enjoying my moments. Enjoy yours! DAAG!



00:13:00 | permalink | comments (5)


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I love your picture of the ramen!
Steph


Oh yea, and the videos... Are they all Windows media? Windows media doesn't stream very well. I don't like it...
Aaron


Did you see how much Gmail accounts are selling for on eBay now? About 5¢. They just reset my invites to 5 again too.
Aaron


Dansen, is everybody talking at you? Can you hear a word they're saying, or only the echos of your mind? Did you ever see "The Midnight Cowboy"? I don't think that you're prostituting yourself by giving fast-paced English lessons.
Steph


The videos are kinda bad, but it's an interesting concept. Comparing yourself to prostitutes is kinda strange, at first I thought you're talking about selling yourself out or something. Didn't you want to do a documentary about male gigolos? Dansen dansen dansen.
Diego

seeing sokichi and yuka

Originally from an old server that is now gone. Reposted in September 2006.

and also my new zealand album!


This post was orginally posted on June 16th, but it vaporized. The user Urth was smart enough to check google's cache (I guess thats what he did) and let me have the post again, all comments have been copy and pasted back in again. Its almost like new....?!



This evening I hung out with yuka and sokichi, i hadnt seen either of them in a long time so it was really great to see them... first me and yuka waited for sokichi to finish work, ate a yummy nikuman and stuff, and then we met him and talked about anything from japanese music (that was easy) to quantom mechanics (thats not so easy to do in Japanese, its not so easy in English!?) and then we went to Karaoke and they both sang great and i was stupid and screamed my way through several weird songs. The karaoke room was in this litteral "karaoke tower" ... six floors of karaoke rooms... we were up on the 5th floor and our room had a slightly dirty window that looked down on the busy street below... it also had a glass box that hung out over that space so if i crawled up into it i could watch the street 5 floors below me... freaky! it was cool hanging out with them....

I finally found a host that will let me upload my New Zealand Photo Album ... check it out and leave comments here if you wish. I had to upload a fairly low-reseloution version because i cant find anywhere that will let me upload my 14MB acrobat file. Anyway, I have work tomorrow and so I guess I should go for now. Still no internet in my house. When will they install it?
SAMPAI JUMPA LAGI !



22:34:00 | permalink | comments (5)


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diego.. .whats weird? tanya... i am doing the borrowing phone line thing so its even slower than renting a phone line, complicated and annoying...aaah!... and i couldnt find a host to put my big version of my album, when i get a chance I'll try to upload it somewhere were it can show bigger pictures.... vicky.. yeah, a karaoke tower! it was awesome! aaron.. i didnt MAKE her come to tokorozawa, and you should have came, would have been fun dude! thanks for comments everyone, anymore welcome too ^-^;
Dansen


I wanted to go too, but you make Yuka go all the way to Tokorozawa, and I didn't (and couldn't spend 2+ hours on the train to get there.)
Aaron


ohmygod! karaoke tower! thats so fascinating!! ahh i wanna go to karaoke~
vicky


Who is your ISP? I think mine took two weeks and that was ASDL I had to rent a phone line too. The internet in Japan is really fast compared to back here. Your album looked pretty impressive but the pictures were too small, I couldn't really see anything.
Tanya


Yeah, the flash album is kinda weird.
Diego

trying to get into the swing of it

Orginally from an old server that is now gone. Reposted in September 2006.

i love indie media


ok, so I still dont have internet in my place, it will be a few more weeks or something... but I was using the internet at an internet cafe near my house, so i thought I should post something to get into practice for my daily blog updates once I get the net!



i think i will miss coming to this intenet cafe, sometimes they call me by name (which is a little creepy because I never told them my name) and once the dude who always checks me out asked me if i could get home safely because it was late and there were no trains to my house (i gave a different address for my contact information when becoming a member of this cafe) so they must be looking at my info? a little weird, but friendly I guess. tears, I'll miss this place!



I love weird indie media... how about this chunk of pure digital-era entertainment. Someone over at the university of Arizon, decided to convert bad jokes into movie shorts. I love this about uber-indie stuff! woo! so, if you have a fast connect go see their version of this infamous joke (well, atleast I know I have told a version of this while drunk a few times...link source)



The weather has been freaky, which is classic for this season i guess. One day it will be hot and humid, almost melting me, and the next cold or rainy. And I have seen more bugs, which is a bit creepy, honestly, when they surprize you, even though bugs are amazing things, well designed little crawlers.



Piyo and Sokichi will visit my place together next week, so I am very excited. I havent seen either of them in months, so my excited-level is: yay yay yay!



Anyway, I should walk home and go to sleep. SAMPAI JUMPA LAGI



01:47:00 | permalink | comments (4)


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I'm definitely flying into Narita and will be in Tokyo Jul. 25-28 for orientation. Trench - maybe, don't know yet for sure. He might fly into Osaka later. We'll keep ya posted!
syrinx


I hope that you are only seeing bugs outside! :p
Steph


We'll have to slate time to do our own indie video/film stuff when I get there. Say hi to Piyo, I don't think she remembers me from our samui discussion. I may end up flying to Osaka, depending on what happens with JET. I ditto Diego's question? What did you think of Lost in Translation. I loved it. Aki and Yo (you met them at our house warming party) thought it was boring.
trenchcoat


Seems like you're some celebrity with the internet stuff! Sometimes you wanna go - where everybody knows your name...

Yeah, having internet access will be cool. Hey, what did you think of "Lost in Translation?"
Diego

hanging out with friends

Originally from an old server that is now gone. Reposted in September 2006.

on the edge of summer


Seth came and stopped by my "youth hostel" for a few more days but he left early this morning ... or its after midnight, so I guess, you could say he left yesterday. It was good to see him, I went with him and some other friends to a restraunt on the top of the tokyo metropolitan building. I hadnt ever really eaten somewhere that fancy before, they took our shoes for us at the entrence, and it was like on the 45th story or something, and our table was against the window, the floor of Shinjuku splayed out like burning dots of light. It was surreal, to me, those kind of things are like Nature in the city.... I mean, if you have ever hiked up a tall path and looked down at a falling waterfall cascading into a brilliant stream? Thats nature, right? Well, I think cities also have moments of "ooooh" transcendence, and I think thats too often forgotten. anyway... it was beautiful up there, near the sky.

Tonight, after work, I was going to go hang out with Yusuke and some of his friends, and I was taking the same train as one of my work friends Luke, so I invited him along and we all met and went out drinking. It was really fun for Luke I think because, Yusuke and his friends just spoke natural young Japanese, and Luke could have a chance to hear slang words he had studied before. Luke was doing a great job, just talking along with everyone, it was really fun, just hanging out, drinking and talking, across cultures (honestly, I still dont know a lot about Australian culture.. check out a picture of us drinking on my keitai page). After that we bought some big-beers at a convience store and walked to the park in kichijyoji. The night was perfect, it was still warm from the hot day, but a pleasent wind was blowing, and clouds were litterly rushing against the almost full moon. It was really pleasent mixed with my beer buzz. The park was littered with guitar players and people walking around talking, we finished our beers, and then each went our own ways...



03:16:00 | permalink | comments (4)


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Most things are pleasant when mixed with a beer buzz ; ) tee hee.
Steph


I think you need to say beer maybe 20 more times :)
Ted


when are you going to korea?
trench


That sounds very awesome man. Enjoy Japan!
Urth

train rider

Originally from an old server that is now gone. Reposted in September 2006.

and here comes a computer!


The other day, I was ridding the seibu-shinjuku train back towards shintokorozawa (you gotta love names that are long like that!) and I saw these two stoner guys were talking about something or other, and one of them accidently dropped some of his drink on the floor. It was coffee or something, and it slowly spread from around his feet. He said "shiiiit!" (in Japanese of course) and then, in typical stoner-style, he began slidding his foot around on the newly made texture of the train floor. Him and his friend just laughed about it, and it wasnt a big spill so thats all that happened. But this spill reminded me of a different spill I saw a few weeks ago, on the same train line. It was a fairly full train, and an old lady got on. She had just gone shopping I guess, or something, and she had a bag with her. She somehow ended up dropping her bag, which had a big container of milk in it. It spread all over the floor... everyone just watched, horrified, as the whole train-car began to be coated with little streams of milk. Its a big city, and in big cities people are slow to help others... I guess inside I am still a small-town kid, so I asked the guy next to me if he had any tissues (I didnt have any) and jumped up and started helping the old lady mop up her milk streams. A few other people felt guilty and tossed her some tissues... it was a surreal thing, mopping up milk from the floor of a crouded train, as it started and stopped at different stations.



I will buy a computer tomorrow!! And I hope to get internet soon after that, which will mean a lot of endless, pointless, updates for this diary. Also, I will be trying to expand the readers of this here diary, if you're new, welcome. If you are one of the "old timers" please know I enjoy people reading my random words, thank you!... More thoughts as they come to me later. Enjoy life... !





DAAG!



22:06:00 | permalink | comments (4)


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happy you all are glad to hear I'll be updating more frequently soon...! i will i will !! of course the OS is Japanese!!
Dansen


Yay! Now I will have something new to read every lunchtime! I've turned my office on to your blog too. Yes, we are all a bunch of geeks!
Tanya


Yeah! Computers are cool! Would it be a Japanese language OS?
Diego


Yea!! Endless pointless entries like me!!!
Aaaron

existing in the city as a neon sign

Originally from an old server that is now gone. Reposted in September 2006.

and other random rants for a blog


...being a minority in a big city gives a person a lot of reasons to rant and complain, but before I start let me explain that this has nothing to do with Tokyo being in Japan, this is simply a rant about being a "neon sign" (that shouts: not japanese!) and what it feels like sometimes, it has nothing to do with my current place really, instead it has to do with being a foreign minority... a situation others deal with almost anywhere you go, so here is my perspectives of being a neon sign, followed by an after thought.



I was walking back to the train station, from work, the night had already draped over the day, and I was a bit tired. As I walked past a drunk man, he said (In drunken Japanese of course) "So whhhere areee YO-uu comin' from?" I just laughed and said "Your drunk." and kept going. Near the station, a woman working for a host club said (with a accent that was clearly foreign herself, maybe filipino, but it wasnt a chinese accent [the biggest minority in Japan i belive, does anyone know?] because I can hear that clearly now because of all the chinese people I have met that are learning japanese...) "Goodevening, please take this." I looked up and she let out a shocked gasp, backed away, and said to her pimp (who was watching the three women pass out flyers) "He's not Japanese." It was one of those neon-sign moments. Yes, I know I am not Japanese. And now my after thought, before it even seems like an afterthought... both of these experiences are explainable, the drunk... well, he was drunk and curious, no hard feelings. The hostess was maybe told by her pimp (do you call the boss of a hostess a pimp? or a trainer? or boss? whats the right word?) to only give the flyers to japanese businessmen, so no hard feelings there either... I just think life as a neon sign is interesting.



Another rant before I disapear. A few days ago, on a whim, I decided to go to Nagoya today, to have lunch with Yamamoto. On the way there I forgot the name of the shinkansen station that was closest to Nagoya, so I went to the closest ticket window and asked. He said he wasnt JapanRail, which was true, so he couldnt tell me. I asked him if he could just tell me his personal opinion, and he said his opinion was I should ask JR... I asked again and he said he didnt know, I asked if anyone there knew because I am stubborn and didnt know why someone couldnt just tell me... his boss came over and said that even if they did know they wouldnt tell me because they werent JR, which I thought was silly, a perfect example of big city politics... anyway, I went over to the JR booth but no one was there, and so I waited... a JR guy came out of the backroom, I stopped him, asked my simple question, and then he continued to exit the JR booth... as I watched he went over and entered the booth I went to first, and he either took a turn at the ticket desk or atleast was hanging out with those not-JR people... if they can hang out together why cant they answer questions about each others train lines? It was strange... but yeah, thats life in a big city, what do you expect?



Oh, and that was funny, going all the way to Nagoya for lunch (an hour and a half on superfast shinkansen train). Yes, I know I am crazy, but sometimes you have to do crazy things to keep balanced, or anyway, thats what I think.



SAMPAI JUMPA LAGI



22:17:00 | permalink | comments (13)


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Dansen - I have an idea of how you feel physically standing out. I have often felt the same way here in New Mexico... people keep asking me if I'm Irish and saying how pail I am :p It's weird for me.
Steph


Thank you for the postcard Dansen, I love you
Diego


I guess what I meant is how do you feel, I know you went into it a little, mainly through your description of the events...does it effect you every day? Do you feel like people treat you much differently all the time or just on these particular occasions? You see I will be a neon sign with out much Japanese at my disposal, I will learn and I will love to do so but just bracing for impact so to speak. I have tried like hell to start a few convesations up out of the blue with some Japanese students out here but my Japanese isn't good enough and they stare at my like I am attempting to murder them. Makes me feel like an arse and quite stupid as well. If I must feel like that everyday in Japan I want to be fore warned. I am going to Japan regaurdless, it is an adventure I would not soon pass up and I want to experience the neon sign phenomanon, I guess I am just mining you for information. So on that note and with out any real clarity of what I was trying to say, I better get back to work.
trench


I've had some experience in being a minority, and still am. I think that in Japan, the discrimination is out in the open, very direct and obvious, sometimes not even bothering to hide it. In American, it's very subtle, under the radar, and hidden. Sometimes I don't know which is better.
Diego


Difficult to put into words what I mean. I can't get onto JAN JAN anymore, I keep recieving an "Internal Server Error". Any way. Hope to see you soon. July. I will be in Montana after June 14th so my internet access will be limited.
trench


trench... experiences? did you miss my second paragraph?? :p its all about two experiences I had!! and Tanya (one of my ex-coworkers) gives a great experience of being gaijin in tokyo (in these comments, scroll down) if you want further, you'll have to wait for another post in the future! woo! :) ^.^;
Dansen


I guess am an fishing for information, experience and anecdote. I too will soon be a neon sign so I am a bit rabid over information or your take on it.
trench


First off, Aaron... Korean-Japanese arent what I meant, they are an important part of Japanese society, and could be considered a minority, but I ment Foreign Born nationals, being born in Japan qualifies you as Japanese in my book... and of us foreign borners, I think Chinese are the most? I'm not sure. Tanya, I have also had situations of being with Asian-American friends and (i speak enough japanese) have met the situation you explained, its one of those things, no hard feelings for anyone, I guess its just the way things are sometimes... Trench.. what didnt I relate? You expand and I expand... and Ted, what are you talking about? Oh, the train thing? Yeah, I understand that, it just seemed like he could help me... but i guess I was annoying. Aaron, you have brown eyes? I thought hazel.. no? anywaysers, yeah, i had a little student telling all about "foreigners" and what they expect which isnt really fair... because thats why I like to point out there is a wild rainbow of cool foreigners here! woo! anyway, peace, thanks for all the beautiful comments, any more are welcome too.. peace! ^-^
Dansen


I had some kids the other day telling the teacher about how I have blue eyes because I'm a foreigner, and the teacher was like, "What? He doesn't have blue eyes!" and just kept talking about my blue eyes, so the teacher said, "look at his eyes, they're brown, just like yours!". It was interesting.

But usually, I don't feel any more like a neon sign here than anywhere else. I think that it's actually more quite and peaceful. I can't understand most of what people are saying unless they are talking directly to me, and I can't read most of the advertisements, so the people talking just turns into white noise, and the advertisements, even though the are so much more prevalent than in America, turn into a mass of colors. I had a hard time dealing with all the noise and everything the first time I returned to the states after a year in Japan.
Aaron


I have been a minority MANY times in my life. I just seem to fit into waht ever situation I am in though. I understand about the guy not wanting to answer your question. They prob get upset about all teh people who come up and ask them about stuff that they are not reesponsible for. It seems like a simple thing that they could just give you the answer and it really is no big deal to others, but if you work at the place and constantly get asked a question about somewhere else it would prob begin to gratee on you
Ted


Elaborate. How do you feel being neon? You related your expereinces but not fully what it made you feel. I am curious.
Trench


Well, Dansen I had the opposite problem. I felt like a fake, a phoney, a wolf dressed in sheep's clothing. When I wen out with foreigners that know more Japanese than me and said "Nihongo wa amari hanase masen" they completely ignored the foreigner next to me and kept talking to me in Japanese. I don't mind so much but usually the person next to me gets really pissed off.

Then in voice they used say stuff like, "We are glad to have you we feel more comfortable because you are like us". Then I used to question why and they would say stuff like the first time they meet foreigners they're really nervous and are surprised and shocked by their blue eyes and blond hair and they can't believe that there's an actual foreigner in the room like they see in movies. Then it's strange for me because I used to have to try and tell them they should really look beyond that yet I could sort of understand that it is a strange thing for them.
Tanya


The biggest minority in Japan is Korean.
He's a pimp.
You're crazy.
It not really hot today, but it was soooooooo humid.
Aaron

doing nothing is something

Originally from an old server that is now gone. Reposted in September 2006.

summer is coming this way


It was (and will be when he stops by again) fun to see Seth, but after a week of being a host again, I found myself needing some alone time. I didnt make any plans, and just woke up early. The warm pre-summer sun was shinning outside the window, life was alive; kids making noise, cars passing, neighbor's music. I laid there for awhile thinking about nothing important. My new hobby is playing around (I cant play it) on a slick black guitar... so I woke up and played a little noise, stopped and opened my window and listened to life somemore. I finished most of the book (in English, Seth gave it to me) "Lost Japan" if you didnt read that book, you should check it out, a lot of deep thoughts about old japan stuff.... recently, my opinions of being here have evolved a little. I used to never really feel like I was in a "foreign" country, and no matter how weird this sounds, I still dont really feel like that... but recently, I have been feeling a little bit more awe for old stuff. I'm not really someone interested in samurai or geisha or anything, but I am slowly thinking about history and is implications on now. history makes the us that is the now that is the us that we will become. or something like that, more on that when I cook my thoughts further.



today while i was walking around doing nothing i took two pictures and captured them in the little box known as my falling apart digicam (I dropped it several times while in New Zealand, and now only tape holds it together). I shared these captured moments here:


[[missing files]]


teman saya.... DAAG!


01:35:00 | permalink | comments (8)


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aaron dont be getting jelous and bombing me or something... ^.^;; anyway, anyone who comes here looking for you will find me and then you so its all cools.
Dansen


Googlefight
http://www.googlefight.com/cgi-bin/compare.pl?q1=getoutfast&q2=neonvirus&B1=Make+a+fight%21&compare=1&langue=us
Aaron


Someone did a search for "getoutfast" on msn, and your site comes up first, and mine is fourth!
Aaron


tanya, here mentions that topic at the end of his last book, I am going to try to have to read... i do disagree with a lot of what he says though, but he is interesting! Aaron re: imgspot.com... its kind of weird that the images go to a site with no control, what if you want to delete them or something? and that wouldnt work for keitai (i solved my keitai problem for the moment) .. why should i get trackback? and diego, your " i like to hear children playing thing" was cool, made me think "wow, he is a daddy now" and then the next kinkywinky remark made me think you still arent THAT matute (phew! i was worried!) ..best regards to all
Dansen


The second Alex Kerr book "Dogs and Demons - the rise and fall of Modern Japan" is quite good too. It kind of goes behind the politics of how Japan ruined a lot of it's beautiful nature due to politics and the government. It is kind of strange how you can get mobile phone reception almost anywhere in this country except for an izakaya located in a basement, but you can be in the middle of a forest and still used your phone.
Tanya


Take a gander at http://www.IMGSpot.com/
Aaron


You should get trackback from Haloscan.com
Aaron


Don't drop the digicam, man! I love the sound of children playing. So carefree and wonderful. Brings me back to childhood when I used to hear children play in the distance.

Alone time, eh? Use lotion.
Diego

seth is here and cellphones

Orginally from an old server that is now gone. Reposted in September 2006.

time is buzzing past me


Well, Seth got here! He has been sleeping on one of my thin futons for about a week now. (I feel sorry for him! I like thin futons, but most people think thats uncomfortable I guess.... I hope he survives!) On my off days, I have been taking him around Tokyo area, and introducing him to some of my friends... its been good for me to get out and see parts of Tokyo I dont get to that often! (and we saw an awesome sunset near the Rainbow Bridge, see a low quality picture of that in my "japan" album!) The sun was so perfect, the light golden and crispy, and the air was lush and soft....Seth will finish visiting me someday soon, and continue on his journey.... (for a day, Aaron was here too, that was three people in my one room appartment, it reminded me of when Evan and Nick visited my "youth hostel" !!)



The other day I was walking home from my train station, with Seth, and we walked past this car that had a ringing cellphone under it. There was a man slouched down inside, and the phone just kept ringing. I couldnt help my imagination... I thought it would have been funny to pick up the phone and answer it (in Japanese of course):
Me: Hello?
Caller: Hello?? Satoshi??

Me: Oh no. He threw his phone under his car, you must have pissed him off... do you wanna talk to him?
Caller: [crying] give me satoshi! satoshi!
Me: [nocking on the window of the car] hey, someone wants to say hello...

OK. That was stupid, but something like that really did come into my head. Anyway, in the morning when I was walking to work I saw the cellphone and it was smashed to peices in the same place... he must have got tired of hearing the phone ring or decided never to talk to the caller. Awww.. such is life.



Anyway, thats about all I have to say for now. Belive in peace. DAAG!



23:54:00 | permalink | comments (1)


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Running into situations like that are for lack of a better description, the spice of life. You catch a fragment of someone elses life and you build a story around it...I am going to put your experience in a short film, it would be a cool series of shots....
trench

summer starts to crawl this way

Reposted from other source in 2013.

.

.

So I am reading this "scary" book in Japanese called "Monster Cat Restraunt"... and yes, it's only a middle-school book... I know a lot of people can read kanji better than me, don't make fun of me, but anyway, its nice to read just for fun. Let me explain chapter two to you, its a fairly weird book. So theres this guy who has the hots for this girl (he really likes her) and they see each other a lot, but she says to him "I like hanging out with you, but dont come over on Fridays!" So, like a dork, he gets the urge to see her one Friday night and decides to go over. Its one of those creepy moonlit nights, and when he gets near her house, he crosses a bridge... and on this bridge he sees a huge group of cats dancing and singing. He thinks its kind of creepy, and one of the cats comes over to him and starts meowing, and he thinks its annoyingly noisy so he pulls out a sword (that he just happened to have with him??) and he cuts off the cats leg! The cat screams in pain, and runs off. He thinks its kind of cool, so he picks up the severed leg and puts it in his pocket. He takes his time, but eventually gets to his lover's house. He opens the door and she is laying in bed groaning. He is worried about her so he rushes over, and (lets not think he was being horny at a time like this!) he pulls back her covers to reveal that her leg has been hacked off!! He steps back, startled, and reaches in his pocket to pull out the cat leg but instead he pulls out her leg!! (this is where the story lost me, how could you have a woman's leg in your pocket and not notice?!) Anyway, in a morbidly cool way, these stories are fun. (Its a collection of short, shocking, stories...) I also bought Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn (in Japanese of course, but I havent started that one, a 100YEN at BookOFF!) I also saw Little House on the Prairie, but for some reason it was translated "Little House in the Big Forest" ... is this just a different story in the same book series, does anyone know? I was thinking maybe it was hard to translate prairie into kid Japanese, since there isnt really any places like that here... hmmm. (I looked it up, in Japanese it looks like the word for prairie also means moor which totally makes no sense in the context of the story I guess? Anyway, something like that. woo woo)

On Saturday I went to Yuco's birthday party. It was an all-you-can drink party, and she had invited a lot of people from her So-So club. I went to one of their parties before (remember hearing about that last Christmas?) and its always so fun... its like a frat-party with drinking songs. I was working the next day, and for some reason I am a responsible teacher, so I didnt drink that much... but some people drank so much. Whole bottles at a time, beer seeming like water... well, I couldnt even drink water that fast. The atmosphere, was very international, people from all sorts of countries speaking Japanese and English. Aaron is in Japan now, and I saw him there! (He looked genki as ever, and so did Yuco...!) It was a warm, interesting party, even if I had to leave early because I was working the next day.

Summer is getting closer, and so I guess the Matsuri festival season is coming...? Today I worked in Irumashi (sometimes known as Iruma) and they were having a big festival... a lot of cool old, traditional-style, drums and at night they had the cool chochin lanterns... it was cool. I put some pictures of it in my "day-to-day Japan" album, and I'm going to try direct links on my page today, groovy! (click below)

.

.

Other than that, nothing much new to report. My life is alive. With the sound of music. Heeee haw! ..... Belive in peace. DAAG!