Category Archives: Random

The Snow on the Plain Mainly Stops the Train

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One of the things the English teachers in Niigata discovered their first December in Japan is that it’s awesome.

They arrive during Hell and enjoy the temporary relief of Awesome, but then discover why their new home is nicknamed “Snow Country” when they sky turns grey and falls for days, and even throws in some lightning and thunder.

By the time December arrives, they been through one phase of culture shock, are in a second, and are desperate to get home to see loved ones or desperate to get to Thailand to, well, yeah. On the way, the one’s heading home, arrive in Tokyo and discover it is bright and sunny and relatively warm. Tokyo suddenly becomes their favorite place to visit in the world during the season of Static.

This winter, thanks to the recent  El Niño, has been an extension of Awesome. In fact, until last weekend, it had been light Jacket weather–note: my colleague from Hawaii strongly disagrees with that description. Normally it’s cold, but sunny with a rich blue sky. Then suddenly, in January, it isn’t. Today, especially, it wasn’t.

This doesn't seem like much, but it was enough...

This doesn’t seem like much, but it was enough…

Last night it started raining and when we woke up, we found four inches (10 cm) of snow on the ground. The news reports also had lists of trains that had been delayed and the one I take was on it. The train problems occurred farther up the line in the foothills and mountains but several train lines in the flatland were also having trouble. That sent me to the computer to discover that the start of classes had already been delayed an hour at the school where I work.

Our youngest’s school had been delayed two hours but our oldest’s was still on schedule. (Being a teen she, of course, went to school with no winter coat or muffler.) Then, after more updates, my train line was shut down completely.

I ended up working at home–although the reasons for this are complicated–as I used the opportunity to do some re-planning and lesson planning.

At least that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

 

Cheesecake and Making Ready to Write About Stuff

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I spent part of today smearing ink with my fingers. Just to be safe, I did it on two different pieces of paper. I also took a lot of pictures.

As part of my occasional quest to, on occasion, appear productive, I spent the afternoon taking pictures of a few things I plan to review. For a future ink review I had to track down a quote from This is Spinal Tap. That, of course, led me to spend some time watching clips from the movie.

I call this “research.”

After a half-hour or so of research, I then had to write out the quote on a piece of paper, and then draw a few lines and see how many seconds it took them to dry. The lines didn’t dry quickly and I ended up with inky fingers.

That prompted me to try a different piece of paper and then to dribble water over parts of the pages to see how the ink held up to water.

Luckily, no one in my family saw me do this so I didn’t have any ‘splainin’ to do. (Although part of me is curious to know what the reaction would have been so there may be more “ink testing” in the future.)

I now have to edit the pictures I took and decide what day I’m going to write the actual review.

Then there were pictures of pens and a valiant but ultimately failed attempt to catch up on a few daily projects I’ve been neglecting. Yeah, I know that catching up on daily projects in a single day means they are not, technically, daily projects, but I want to catch up on them in order to keep up with something resembling a habit.

The day ended with homemade cheesecake as we finally had a full day to finish celebrating our oldest’s birthday (we had the celebratory dinner yesterday. More on that in another post.)

Now I have to get to bed because I’m working tomorrow. Perhaps I need to double check the definition of “weekend”.

 

 

Probably Breaking Up is Hard to Do

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One of Japan’s most popular boy bands is apparently breaking up. More or less.

This week Japan was rocked, more or less, with the news that four of the five members of SMAP would be leaving Johnny & Associates (run by the 80 something Johnny Kitagawa) to join with a new talent agency.

I remain skeptical (but more on that later).

For those who don’t know, SMAP, which stands for Sports Music Assemble People (and NOT, much to my surprise, Satan’s Minions Are Popular) have been one of the hottest pop groups in Japan since 1991. They are primarily dancers and entertainers not singers–in fact, Masahiro Nakai, the “leader” of SMAP is a notoriously bad singer–but as a result of their popularity, and Japan’s quirky way of integrating popular groups into television, they also dominate Japanese television as emcees and actors. (Nakai is a terrific emcee on all three of the TV shows he hosts.)

However, as the members approach their mid-40’s, some of them seem to be seeking a new talent agency. Only Takuya Kimura (whom I’ve dubbed “SMAP Boy” for various complicated reasons I won’t explain right now) plans to remain in Johnny’s, but he’s also the one that’s been granted the most favors, including permission to marry.

Note: Japan’s entertainment industry operates like a version of the old Hollywood studio system crossed with the military. Members of an agency like Johnny’s are expected to work under salary, with bonuses based on their popularity, and are often ordered not to date and/or get married. Violating that rule can get people kicked out.

What makes me skeptical about all this is that four are leaving. If only Nakai was leaving, or perhaps the less popular Goro Inagaki, I could understand, but having four leaves seems like a publicity stunt to me. SMAPs been around 25 years so, and have been nearly replaced on television by a group called Arashi. and there are some rumors that this “break up” might be a ploy to see if SMAP has any fans left.

Either way, it will be interesting to see how this all plays out. If they are actually breaking up, it could signal the end of an era. More or less.

 

Drawing the Jumbo With Arrows

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As much fun as it is to play with balls, it’s a lot more fun to shoot arrows at stuff.

With all the high finance involved with the latest Lotto America (aka The Clever Tax on the Poor) I thought I’d mention Japan’s way of doing the lottery.

Japan runs four lotteries a year, called “Jumbos” and gives out about 1.4 billion dollars a year between them, with the largest amount being handed out in the New Year Lottery.

There are a couple things that make Japan’s lottery intriguing.

First, there are multiple first prizes of around 400 million yen (3.39ish million dollars US) and dozens of secondary prizes worth thousands of dollars. The money is given out in a tax free lump sum and there are limited numbers of numbers making the odds of winning something slightly better than TCTotP.

Second, and even better, the winning numbers are chosen by arrows. At the big drawing, several spinning targets with numbers are set up several feet from machines that shoot arrows. Next to each target is a cute model dressed like an airline cabin attendant who, after a countdown, presses a button that fires an arrow at the target. Numbers are then called out and some people are happy and some are still hoping.

This is a lot better than watching balls roll out of an air machine. Although, in defense of balls, the arrow drawings do go on a long time.

Although I’m eligible, I’ve never played the lottery. (I have more fun things to waste my money on.) I did have a ticket once, though, when a restaurant I ate at with my karate sensei gave us a free ticket because we ordered either whale or sake. My sensei handed me the ticket and told me we’d split it 40% (him) 60% (me) if we won.

We didn’t win, though, but it was fun watching the arrows.

 

Hearing the Piano Without Sound

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For over a half hour or so I heard strange sounds in our apartment.

They were one part soft thumps and one part something that sounded like the water backing up in the drain behind our house. Because our oldest was taking a bath, I thought she might be messing with the water. The problem was the thumps weren’t accompanied by the hiss of running water. This made me afraid the toilet might be having issues.

Then the sounds stopped and our oldest entered the variety room still in her day clothes, which meant she hadn’t taken a bath. She was flexing her fingers, though, and I realized what I’d been hearing.

One of the creepier things our daughters do is play the piano without sound. If you don’t know they’re doing it, it’s especially creepy. The piano is a Kawai digital piano (similar to this one). It has proper keys and levers that make it feel like a proper piano (which we can’t own in this complex) but it can by silenced by plugging in a pair of headphones.

The girls mostly do this kind of practice at night when the sounds of the piano would disturb the neighbors or when one of us (usually one of them) wants to watch a show at the same time the other is practicing.

Even when you’re sitting in the room with them, it’s kind of odd. It’s a bit like hearing the bass part of a song leaking out of a pair of headphones. Watching them is like watching a less-than-sane person play a broken piano.

This, does, though, leave me with a dilemma. Should I be proud of our oldest for practicing or mad at her for not taking a bath and going to bed as she was supposed to?

I suspect the answer is “yes”.

 

Eat Food, Get Gas

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One of the things I liked about Mississippi was that it’s acceptable for a young gentleman to take his date to a gas station for a meal.

The funny part is, I never took my then girlfriend to a gas station for dinner. Instead I got her catfish in the back of a grocery store. I also tried to convince other people to go there.

As I understand it, this a common phenomenon in the South and stems partly from the fluctuation in oil and gas prices, the need for income diversity and an exploitation of the Southern love of automobiles.

Oddly, when I was in Oxford, I never went to a gas station for a meal and I consider that a terrible mistake. I was more prone to get fast food rather than go next door and get ribs and an oil check.

My favorite place, though, was Taylor Grocery, which is outside of Oxford, Ms and is accessed by a creepy tree-lined road where you keep expecting to see an in-bred kid playing a banjo and Bill McKinney telling you to “squeal like a pig”. (Although, technically, that’s the kind of thing that happens in Georgia.)

At the back of the tiny grocery store is a restaurant that serves terrific catfish and hush-puppies and, if I remember correctly, allows you to bring your own wine but not your own beer. You might have to wait in line and at some point are expected to write on the walls.

I also tried to convince Mom and Dad Two to try it, although that suggestion was met with skepticism. Mom Two is from Cape Cod and considers mushy fish to be either a form of bait or a form or garbage. Eventually they went and said they’d liked it.

Now, in Japan, the closest I get to a good meal in a gas station is a coffee shop in a gas station and the rest areas on the expressways.

It’s not quite the same, though.

 

The Parade of Fashionable Approval

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Today I got to put on a fashion show which is not something I usually do. I also got to play fashion critic which, as a dad, is part of my job description

Today was our day to, at long last, go out and go shopping. After the weight loss, I needed clothes that fit, rather than clothes that made look as if I’d grabbed large sacks and bound them them to my body with rope. Mind you, when I’m at home that look doesn’t bother me much. It also doesn’t bother me much when we’re out shopping, but it doesn’t look the best at work. She Who Must Be Obeyed was getting her Christmas present and our youngest was getting “the Christmas Presents That Suck” (clothes, socks, underwear, etc.)

However, before we left, she dressed up in a short skirt and our oldest’s knee socks which became thigh socks on our youngest. I went “that skirt’s too short” and SWMBO went “those stockings are too sexy” and I went “The stockings wouldn’t matter if the skirt was longer.” In the end, over my protests, our youngest got to keep the skirt but had to change socks.

Our oldest was staying home “to study”.

We went one station away to go to a large Uniqlo which offers clothes that meet my basic clothes requirements (especially for work clothes): 1) cheap, 2) boring, 3) no logos. If you want me to wear your logo, you can pay me to do so, not charge me more for the “privilege” of being your unpaid billboard. (Note: if anyone is interested in making me their paid billboard please contact me here.)

After shopping, we all made our own way home (ping pong was involved; long story) and I told our oldest to take a break from studying. (Ha ha ha. Not really. I actually ended her long break.)

Once everyone was home, we underwent the traditional “parade of approval” where we put on and showed off our newly acquired wares and made ready to take things back if they didn’t receive enthusiastic approval.

Oddly, all my clothes received approval. They must be more boring than I thought.

Only a Fool Like Me Goes Twice

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There is a Japanese saying I heard once along the lines of “He who climbs Mount Fuji is a wise man; He who climbs it twice is a fool.” A similar thing can be said about visiting Graceland.

I of course, have visited Graceland twice which means, well, yeah, pretty much.

The first time I went to Graceland I went because I felt it was something I ought to do. I lived in Oxford, Mississippi and had friends from Albania (Mom and Dad Two) who lived in Memphis and they agreed to drive me to Graceland, but wouldn’t go back inside. Instead Dad Two sat in the cafe across the street (which served Elvis specialties like deep-fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches) and drank coffee whilst I went inside.

I visited the car museum and the planes (both of which are worth a visit) and then crossed the street to the mansion.

A couple things struck me about the mansion. First, except for the jungle room, and some random leopard skin, it was less gaudy than I was expecting, or at least I was surprised by how it all seemed to work. Also, I remember how bored the room guides were. They weren’t tour guides, instead they were human tape players who waited in a room and recited the same speech many times a day and had grown bored and robotic about it all. When the young woman explained how Elvis saw the jungle furniture and decided to build a room around it, she could have been a text to speech computer.

The second time I went with my father and step-mother. That time the bored human tape players had been replaced with actual tape players (with headphones) and Priscilla Presley’s voice guided visitors through the mansion and the museum of Elvis guitars and jumpsuits. There were two problems with this.

First, many tourists followed the tapes so exactly that when Priscilla Presley told them to move they moved. She didn’t tell them to look though, so I got stepped on and bumped into a lot.

Second, the recordings couldn’t be hurried. You moved at Priscilla Presley’s pace and no faster. If you weren’t interested in the subtleties of the American Eagle jumpsuits from the Aloha Via Satellite from Hawaii concert, you were out of luck. You had to listen to the explanation before you got to move to the Mexican Sundial jumpsuit.

I ended up just letting the tape run and moved along at my own pace. This though, proved rather creepy, as I found myself surrounded by people who moved silently when Priscilla Presley told them to. I also got to visit a back building that had been closed the first time I visited.

I recommend everyone visit Graceland once, mostly because Memphis is worth visiting. Graceland is in a rough neighborhood, though, and don’t go in mid-August around the anniversary of Elvis death unless you have a place to stay. That’s when all the Elvis fans and Elvis impersonators do their annual hajj to Graceland. It’s kind of fun, but you’ll never get a room and you never, ever, criticize Harum Scarum.

 

 

Watching When I Eat After Not Watching What I Ate

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One of the hard parts about going to the in-laws, especially when you’ve changed the way you eat, is they still treat you as if nothing has changed, even if they comment on the results.

The other problem is, you pick up bad habits again.

After a week at the in-laws I can say I gained just over two kilograms (about 4.4 pounds). The main culprit was beer. Even though I cut back what they usually try to to serve me, there was still more than I’m used to drinking.

There were also a lot more carbs than I’d gotten used to the previous 140 or so days. For that matter, there was a lot more food. They commented every time I ate carbs without noticing that carbs was all I’d been offered. My choices were carbs or not. One morning I didn’t even get that choice when I got handed handed a bowl of ozoni with a rice cake in it.

I kept up a token daily exercise routine, but because there were always people around, and my usual workout space was being used in its official capacity as a family shrine during the new year, it was hard to follow a regular schedule. Also, my usual sleep pattern has been disrupted which messed with my physical state as well.

That would have been fine, but the last thing that contributed to the weight gain was a combination of boredom and easily available tasty sweets with no healthier alternatives. The boredom came because we didn’t do much this time. We usually go shopping a couple times and then go skiing once, but none of us were in the mood to ski. This time, though, I was mostly just sitting around watching people watch the various new year’s marathon relays whilst Mother of She Who Must Be Obeyed handed out sweets from gift boxes. Unfortunately, this is the first year they didn’t have pile of mixed nuts available and, because we didn’t go shopping, I didn’t have a chance to grab any. This all led to bored eating which didn’t help me maintain my weight.

All this threw off my new eating habits. I now find myself, even when I’ve been working on something, trying to track down easily available sweets. This is complicated by the fact I haven’t had a chance to go shopping and pick up some healthy alternatives.

Today was better, but I found myself reaching for cookies and chocolate more than once. Luckily I only picked them up once.

A Sudden Loss of New Rhythm

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I was oddly out of rhythm today even though I hadn’t been out of my old rhythm that long.

One of the odd things about being away at the in-laws is that the first day back is a day of trying to find my old rhythm. I’ve got my real chair back, I’ve got things to do that I planned at the in-laws (especially this time as there wasn’t much to do), and I’ve got clothes to unpack and put back and a lot of dusting to do.

Today, though, I couldn’t find any rhythm at all. I started to do a few things but quickly side-tracked myself. The list of things I’d made to do suddenly seemed distant and I had to remember where I’d put it and then had to remember what a certain list item meant and why I’d put it there. What’s odd about this is we were only there five days. However, we didn’t do much, which I think put me in a lazy rhythm.

I managed to get the coming term planned and tried to figure out when I need to be a the company I work for so that I can attend the latest in a string of useless compliance tests, er, “training sessions taught by people with less experience than I”. The resentment from that didn’t help motivate me the rest of the day.

Eventually I realized that the girls–who are still on vacation–needed feeding which reminded me that I needed feeding. Unfortunately, there was nothing in the house to cook. After that issue was resolved–She Who Must Be Obeyed had plans but neglected to tell us before she went to her part time job–I went back to ignoring the list.

Now it’s late and I have dishes to do. I also need to think about getting back into my usual work sleep pattern. I can do that tomorrow, though. Or is it today? Time all runs together this time of year so I’m not actually sure.