Curse is over?
August 16, 2008
Maybe it’s a bit early to announce this but I think my curse is over.
I mentioned a few days ago that my camera is being fixed. That’s one good piece of news as of late.
On Monday, wifey and I hauled the dead laptop, dead camera, and a bunch of Haagen Dazs gift certificates out to Yodobashi Camera. I recently noticed a repair center in the basement and thought I’d give it a try. What would I have to lose with a dead camera and computer already?
For one thing, I would lose my life savings. To fix the camera, the dude gave an estimate of 18,000 yen. No way guy! Again, reading some forums online, Fuji is repairing this problem for free. Hence we made our way to the Service Center.
Next, we went to the computer repair center - it’s in the same place but they have an individual counter for computers. The guy did a quick looksee. He plugged in the AC, tried turning it on, and then turned it off. What the heck? Just from that he said it was probably a motherboard problem. Oh yeah, he estimated that it would cost about 60 to 70,000 yen. I can buy a new laptop for that.
Actually he didn’t say “motherboard” exactly, he said, and I translate, “It’s a foundation problem”. OK. A computer’s foundation can mean anything. For me, the fundamental component is the motherboard but to my lovely, hardware-illiterate wife, it just might well be the nice shiny plastic box or case. Unfortunately I also thought the same but I made my guess by opening up the laptop and testing stuff out piece by piece.
The vast quantities of ice cream consumed after helped sooth my frayed nerves. I was hauling my very heavy laptop in the hottest time of the year, oh and with a big sunburn on my back. Ice cream saves all. Whenever I feel my temper flaring, I will think, “What would Ice Cream do?”
Wifey tried to console me on the loss of my laptop. I, however, would not give up so easily. Coming home, I opened up the laptop and examined each component down to the dust particles. I noticed a couple of things: a screw holder thingy had become very loose - it was hanging on by millimeters of metal. It came off completely as well. Since the issue was power, I guessed that maybe this little metal thingy was somehow shorting out the board. Out it went. Then I noticed some melted paint near some transistors near the video card. The video card gets really hot and probably melted it a long time ago. I wasn’t sure how the melted paint might affect things but I scraped it off.
Slapping everything back together and plugging in the AC… hmm… no amber light! Power on… Yup. It booted up. Whatever it was, it wasn’t the motherboard. I had won. I wanted to go back and spit on the guy who didn’t even bother looking at my computer.
I just hope it stays alive this time. I’m writing this update on the laptop watching some George Carlin as I speak. I hope that only George rests in piece and my laptop continues to work, albeit very slowly, for another few years.
I Hate Banks in Japan
July 19, 2008
Back in March, for whatever it was I did, I got a money order from the ELI when Maki came to Japan for an Alumni gathering. I was reluctant to take it because I really didn’t do anything that I felt needed compensation. Regardless, a few weeks later, I received a mail order for 8,832 yen. It’s not a huge amount of money but it’s enough for 4-5 days on my spending habits.
Well this year has kept me rather busy and I put off cashing in this money order until last week. This one little trip to the bank has reaffirmed my hatred of Japanese banks.
First, after a bit of a wait, I get to the regular teller window and the bank girl has no idea what it is I’m holding in my hand. She actually starts turning it around in her hand, ie. turning the paper upside down so that the print is upside down, and turning it back over in a perfect 360. It was like watching a toddler handle a book or a caveman handling a PDA. She starts asking the girls around her and then finally calling what must be the resident answer girl.
The resident answer girl seemed to recognize this financial instrument and told me to go over to the foreign currency area. There, the older seemingly less-intelligent woman now handles the money order. Just as before, she inspects this piece of paper with a very puzzled look - her eyebrows were furrowed, her lips puckered, and her eyes were squinting through those very coke bottle glasses she was wearing. She then goes and asks some boring guy in a suit about it and to see whether or not this bank can continue this transaction.
A bit of a side note.
This money order is from HSBC, the 4th largest bank in the world, (Wiki) not exactly some shitty credit union run by radish farmers. Next, the money order is endorsed by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, the 5th largest bank in the world, and incidentally, the VERY BANK I’M IN! I’m no financial expert but this piece of paper had all the legal requirements to make it a legal financial instrument. In all practical purposes, this is just like a check.
Back to the story.
Well, finally, the older seemingly less-intelligent woman must have gotten clearance to continue this and starts collecting application papers. Yes, to cash a money order you have to fill out an application form. While I’m doing this, the woman calls another branch, presumably head office and asks questions. The one question that stuck in my mind was, “Can we receive these?” You fucking idiot. You work in a bank, remember? I finish the application form and she goes over it and makes another call and asks a few more questions.
Just as I feel a bit better for finishing and hopefully leaving the bank 8,832 yen richer, she starts explaining administrative costs. Shit.
Anyway I’ll cut to the finale:
- I couldn’t receive the money that day because it would take 2-3 days, possibly a week before this would be done. It actually took two days.
- I end up being at the bank for just over an hour.
- The administrative fees would run between 1,500-4,000 yen. The END RESULT: 4,000 yen fee. 1,500 transaction fee, 2,500 currency exchange fee.
What a fucking joke. Of my 8,832 yen I receive 4,432. That’s almost 50% gone because of this fucking bank. Can you imagine paying 40 bucks to get a money order done in your country? What really drives me mad is that when the ELI purchased this money order, they paid administrative fees. Furthermore, the money order was made out in YEN - WHY is there a currency exchange fee? Are they exchanging the yen to Indian Rupees to bushels of wheat and then back to yen?
I can understand that Japan does not use money orders regularly but to have the biggest bank in Japan not know how to deal with them, and then take up 40 bucks to get it done, is just a joke.
I hate banks in Japan.
divine providence
June 24, 2008
Divine providence has been two words on my mind a lot recently. But what exactly does it mean and how does it affect us, more to the point, me? I must ponder on this some more. Or maybe I won’t have to, maybe it will just come to me.
Lost and Found
April 15, 2008
It hasn’t been a secret that I have gotten back into martial arts with the one that started it all for me: Wing Chun. I was thinking that I’m glad that I found WC again because I’m beginning to see some progress and benefits in just five months’ of training.
I’m beginning to lose some fat and getting into better shape. I’m probably in the best shape I’ve ever been in Japan actually. More importantly I’m beginning to get back into the mental condition needed. I’m a bit calmer, a bit more confident, and I’m beginning to regain some persistance.
On thinking that I’ve found WC again, I also know that I never quite lost it. I remember starting the path when i was 14 with Sifu Lee Man Kit in Vancouver. It was two 1.5 hour classes back to back every Saturday at Chinatown. I stuck at it for about two years. I remember I was one of the first students in the class and I welcomed and bid farewell to many other students during that time. That training and the self-training then changed me forever.
In addition to WC I began to look at other things but none of the other arts ever appealed to me. I took a bit of Hung Gar kung fu, Tae Kwan Do, Kickboxing. They all had a different take on many things. Moreover the one thing that really drove me away from them was the commercialization of the art. The thought of the rainbow belts and prices for just about everything really disgusted me. I understand that these are businesses in addition to the teaching of the art but it got a bit out of hand. The only other art that I stuck with was Yi Chuan, also taught by Sifu Lee. It complemented WC so well plus it taught me relaxation (and brought me many weird experiences actually).
Although I didn’t continue the class around the age of 16 or 17, I did continue to keep training some things by myself. Unfortunately I forgot the WC forms, save, Sil Nim Tau which I still practiced. I forgot the entire wooden dummy movement and am relearning it under Sifu Steve. I am beginning to start some of the Yi Chuan training again at home along with the other supplementary training.
What drives me is not to best the other students but to beat myself - I am seeing the progress I’m making little by little and in many ways it’s a huge addiction. I am finding my limits with Sifu Steve, especially when I’m the only one sometimes, and I feel the burning drive to push those limits each time. I’ve been putting in about an hour of training each day at home and I will definitely keep it up.
It’ll all pay out in the future with interest.
Comparing Apples To Oranges
January 29, 2008
Incidentally, it has almost been four years since I’ve used the word “apples” in a blog entry.
Yesterday a clip from the National Geographic’s Fight Science, one of the cooler martial arts documentaries done in a long time, came on a Japanese show. The clip showed the “science” behind comparing different punches, kicks, and attacks of various martial art styles.
The kung fu guy punched a meager 250 (I forgot what the measurements were… maybe lbs/sq inch?) while the karate guy a lot higher, and the boxer a 400. Sadly the kung fu guy’s punch was pathetic - it was delivered with only the upper body while the boxer really leaned in and used the whole body’s weight on that punch. Oh yes, the kung fu guy looked tiny compared to the boxer as well. During the segment, I don’t think the measured force to weight ratios.
Upon watching this I couldn’t help but notice that the show’s intent was to then draw conclusions on the data. The boxer hit the hardest, therefore it is the best. The Kung Fu guy threw a baby kitten punch, therefore it is the worst. I’m sure The Woman had this thought. If anything, it only proves that that kung fu guy threw a meager punch and that boxing guy hit harder.
Then, the pure measurement of these punches mean nothing unless they actually neutralize their target. I would gladly take a 400 punch to my arm than a 250 punch to the nose or solar plexis.
Anyway, the point of all this is that the art, is after all, an art. An art is an expression of the self and thus there is no right or wrong, no good or bad. So many times do I hear practitioners say that their art is superior to the rest. That, this and that art are crap and that this art can beat that art anytime anyday. That’s ridiculous. The art in itself does not fight, does not complete. We do! The human does. The human can win and lose, regardless of the art. The best student of art A fighting the worst student of art B does not demonstrate which is better.
The only judge of anything is yourself. The only thing you can always compare is your present results with your past. Work towards punching a little faster, a little harder. Working towards this goal is the true art,
so says I.
Let’s wait and see
January 23, 2008
Lately I’ve been thinking about my late teens, about a feeling I used to have. I could never put into words what this feeling really was but it was like a warning. It felt like something was going to happen and that I really need to prepare for it. That was it. I had not a clue of what was going to happen nor how I should be preparing for it.
Then, sometime around my second year of university, I remember suddenly realizing, no, realizing would be the wrong word. I remember suddenly having a new feeling given to me: the time had run out for me to prepare.
To this day whatever was supposed to happen may or may not have happened. I don’t know. I don’t suppose that it was any sort of earth shattering event as nothing of the sort has happened.
Now, the kind of feelings I get are quite different. I just have this feeling that things are not what they’re supposed to be. Things seem to be wrong. The state of world affairs, the political, societal, environmental, and now economical woes just seem to shout it’s not what we’re supposed to have. People treat each other like shit. No one seems to care about anyone or anything anymore.
I think whatever is happening or will happen is something more profound than anything that has been seen before. I’m not talking about biblical or mythological prophecy, it’s beyond this I think.
I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
Spinning Around
December 30, 2007
Yesterday I went to my very first ever figure skating event. You can imagine that it was not my idea and the option of going or not was not quite an option. I don’t care what people think about it but I’ve never once enjoyed watching figure skating on TV.
2007 All Japan Medalists On Ice
All I ever notice is that aside from the costume and uniform changes, everyone does the same spins, kicks, twists, hand gestures, and even facial expressions. I don’t see the self-expression involved and thus I don’t enjoy it. Furthermore, the scoring systems always seem so arbitrary. I’m going to avoid commenting on the skimpiness of the costumes completely.
I wish I could say that watching figure skating live changed my opinion about it. Certainly, watching things live are much more exciting but it was still the same stuff. Luckily, skate routines are short, maybe 3 or 4 minutes in length, so boredom is limited to short spurts. Listening to many children shout out their favorite skater’s name was quite interesting; it’s something that you can hardly ever hear on TV.
Now the thing that I will give credit to is that although I personally don’t enjoy watching figure skating, I can easily see the training needed to perfect it. The fitness, flexibility, and strength needed to just hold your leg up almost vertically against your body is tremendous. I totally respect all the hard work that these very young people are putting into something that they love. It certainly is a beautiful art.
NOW WHY CAN’T I ENJOY IT?
I Am Alone
December 27, 2007
We watched I Am Legend last weekend and I really liked it. In fact, I think this was the best Will Smith movie I have seen. He actually made a convincing performance as Robert Neville. I think he pulled off the act well and balanced a character on the brink of insanity, living in Manhattan all alone. The movie was much better than I could have hoped. And yes yes, the movie went a very different road than the book. In this day and age though, a movie about vampires just won’t cut it unless it’s a Whitewolf movie.
It did get me thinking about being alone. If I were completely alone in Osaka I would give myself at most 6 months before I went absolutely bonkers I think. The first few months would probably just be spent securing supplies and ensuring a certain standard of living. I would probably derive some entertainment from breaking into stores and then homes and rummaging through peoples’ lives for survival and to meet that social need. In absence of real social interaction I think holding and looking at things that remind us of interaction is a good substitute. (That’s why we carry photos of loved ones and reminisce of mom’s cooking).
The routine that was portrayed in the movie was probably something that could keep a person alive and going. Without the routine there would be no point in living. In the movie, Neville had his overriding goal of curing the disease. In my isolated life, there would be a need of some hope - perhaps meeting other people given X amount of time. Or perhaps knowing that people were alive at some certain location. Barring this, a bullet through the head would probably look very tempting.
For survival I would probably relocate next to the big department store near my house. There are many stores in the vicinity and it would be a central location for people to cluster around. Hell, I could probably live in the department store - there’s a sporting goods area that already has tents on display. They sell nice beds and lots of video games too.
Food would not be an issue in the first month or two - there’s a big supermarket at the basement. The biggest problem would be to preserve all the food that will spoil. Securing power generators will be important but considering my very limited experience with hardware like that, it would be a challenge to keep even evening lights on.
Entertainment would not be limited to video games and porn videos from Tsutaya. I think I would take up golf, like in the movie, only hitting golf balls off the highway onto houses. Hunting would be interesting but again, the lack of experience with firearms will certainly hinder that. Plus, there would initially be very little to hunt in Osaka, save for some rats and maybe some tiny songbirds.
I think the best part of this would be when I start going bananas due to the lack of social interaction. I think I’ll do what Will Smith did in the movie, start creating voices for inanimate objects. Punchy The Punching Bag would be my arch nemesis, Stickman the Walking Stick would be my sidekick and bail me out in times of great need, Flick the Switchblade would be my go-to-guy. The climax would be when I finally realize that Flick has been backstabbing me the whole time and Stickman jumps in front of the flying knife to save my knife. The end scene will be me fighting Punchy at the top of a buddhist pagoda.
Banned!
July 04, 2007
As Doug reported, apparently, my little webpage is blocked in China!
This site (Thanks Dennis) confirmed it. Dennis is also blocked too!
This is one of my greatest accomplishments ever.
This is justice
June 09, 2007
Screaming Paris Hilton sent back to jail
God I really hate her.
The Future Of Food
May 07, 2007
A great video about genetically modified food, the Monsanto corporation, and the plight of farmers. The Future Of Food.
Use Your Common Sense
April 16, 2007
The death of fellow Nova teacher Lindsay Walker sparked a big media response in England. It got the attention of media in Japan as well and the company had to release public statements and also internal memos relating to the case. The suspect is still at large.
A new article on Mainichi has a few anecdotes of private teachers and students having terrible experiences with creepy assholes. I don’t doubt that these stories are real and/or there are other similar stories like them.
To all foreigners thinking of coming to Japan I only have these words: use your common sense. To all students learning English from foreigners: use your common sense.
It is true that Japan’s crime rate is very low compared to most western countries. I feel very safe when walking at night in dark alleys. I think people are more scared of me than I of them since I always walk like I’m about to mow someone over. Regardless of this, use your common sense.
Don’t walk around at night alone. Don’t visit the homes of people you hardly know. Don’t leave your valuables unattended. Don’t go out with your students/teachers (whatever happened to professional distance). Don’t let someone touch you or if they do, raise hell and make sure they pay for it. Don’t sleep with someone unless you have the same idea of what kind of relationship the other person wants. (Trust me… there are some scary scary stalking / angry girlfriend stories).
Do let someone know where you will be. Do meet students/teachers in public places. Do get references or ask to speak with other students/teachers that this person is teaching/was taught by. Do be on guard.
Foreigners have a bad name in this country because of the actions of a few dumbasses. Having met my fair share of them I can only hope that the image of our countries isn’t tarnished too badly. Trust no one. The truth is out there. United we stand. Divided we fall.
Fuitadnet.com is horrible
February 07, 2007
You now begin my account of the horrible time I had with the webhosting company, Fuitadnet.com. Warning: it’s one big giant angry rant. Ready?
I strongly discourage anyone from ever doing business or acquiring any services or products from Fuitadnet.com. They are horrible.
Not my fault
November 22, 2006
OK let’s give this whole updating biz another shot. One thing that’s always bugged me about people is that there’s this percentage who can’t own up to their own faults. When approached about any sort of negative feedback they blame external factors. It seems like in their mind they themselves could never be wrong, could never do wrong, and ergo, it’s someone else’s issue.
Jeez it feels like deja vu writing this. I’m sure I’ve written about this before but I’m too lazy to make a quick search through the archives.
The biggest problem with this percentage of people is that it’s not their job or the people around them or their surroundings. It’s them. They generally are their own enemy. Because of this inability to acknowledge self weakness, they isolate themselves from the world. The characters I have in mind now are notorious for being difficult and no one wants to deal with them.
The second biggest problem and this I can only assume is that if I think I’m never wrong, then I assume that I have no need to do anything different and ergo I will never improve. I will continue going along my path because, well, it’s working right? The ones I have in mind will suck, forever, until they realize they need to wake up and smell their ineptitude.
I, not being a hypocrite, will acknowledge that perhaps I am wrong in this view. There’s always the remote possibility that everything I need to pass on to them is not their fault. Even so, if it were me I would at least fathom the notion that I may have done wrong and acknowledge future care to prevent the matter, even if I’m sure nothing was done wrong. But that’s just me being crazy.
Coming out of my shell
March 30, 2006
In my three and a half years in Japan, I’ve been out to restaurants for dinner with friends an uncountable number of times. On the other hand, I’ve been to maybe 5 or 6 people’s houses for dinner. In Japan it’s not common to entertain guests at home as most homes are too small for more than a small or casual dinner. Even so, having people over for dinner does happen, just not very much for me.
A few weeks ago, the lady and I were invited over for dinner to her coworker’s house. Along with this being a rare event, this was also one of the few times I’ve been invited to anything involving the lady’s friends. It’s weird but we’ve generally kept each other out of our social lives. I agreed mostly because I was curious how it would go and because this friend had come to Hawaii for our wedding.
The friend and her husband don’t really speak English. I bet they understand more than they let on but I was ready for a night of me being quiet and just nodding and smiling. I figured I’ll behave so that the lady would have a good time. For this one occasion I was wrong (a true rarity). I actually ended up having a great time, possibly a better time than the lady.
For one thing dinner was awesome - the lady’s friend must’ve spent awhile preparing so much food. I also got to have okonomiyaki at someone’s house for the first time ever and it was good. The beer never stopped flowing and it seemed for one night and one night alone my Japanese ability blossomed and I was able to understand and be understood most of the time.
The lady’s friend’s husband (I really have to start using names) was a crazy fellow who opened up and let loose conversation. In stereotypical Osaka-style, he displayed a flair for exaggeration and colorful antics. People in Osaka are just ��?�?�ゃ interesting. It was great because he filled every silent moment. No need for me to go scrounging around for topics to kill awkward moments - he did it for us! We stayed a bit later than we had planned but I’m glad I went.
Now I feel obligated to return the favor and for once I actually DO want to return the favor. And I think we’ll try to start a new trend of not just spending time with each other. We’re moving into a new apartment in a fortnight and this time we have room! I am hereby inviting all of you to future social gatherings here. No parties, shindigs, keggers, or beerblasts, but there’s room for nabe, okonomiyaki, yakiniku, tea & coffee, darts, and Mario Party parties.
You think you have it bad
March 21, 2006
Read this story about a child bride in Afghanistan and then re-evaluate your life. I dare you. I will never complain about my childhood again.
Watch Your Tongue
January 07, 2006
An orange is an orange. Unless someone else tells you they think it’s an apple. Then to you, that orange is an apple. Or was it?
One thing that I hope my friends can attest to about me is that what I say and what you see is what you get. “I think you’re treating your puppy badly,” will mean that I think you’re treating your puppy badly. I don’t hide secret messages. For the sake of not hurting people’s feelings, I tone down my messages but I would never imply things I wouldn’t say to you. I don’t work like that.
Sometimes I forget that not everyone is like me. Sometimes people read hidden messages in my words that aren’t there. It’s really annoying when that happens because then I have to explain that I did not try to hide any messages. “I like your hat,” becomes “I don’t like your head or your shirt or your pants”. Somehow things are inferred that were completely out of my thoughts. While I can understand how such conclusions were reached, it’s not in my character to do such things. When words such as principles and morals are thrown into my face, it makes it even more frustrating as my principles and morals are so rock solid that I would never consciously do things that were somehow inferred from my words.
While I honestly can understand how this comes about, the net effect of all this is that once I learn you’re the kind of person who would doubt my character and project your own weakness in thinking onto my own messages, it just makes it so much harder for me to communicate with you. I will now have to watch every word that comes to my mouth and screen it for all possibly controversial signals. In effect, communication with you is no longer true as I’m NOT saying what I really mean now. I’m holding back and it’s going to cost us in the long run.
Perhaps I should become more diplomatic and considerate of all angles, no matter how absurd they can seem to me. Or perhaps we should all throw away our old hang ups and pettiness and take words for what they are.
The Dress
November 23, 2005
Wow. Wedding dress companies are evil!
So here I am at this company waiting for the woman as she gets her hair done to try on some dresses. The lady helping us seems nice but after trying to sell us the merits of buying rather than renting (you get a stupid carrying bag if you buy a dress) I can’t help but despise her a little bit.
Failure
November 15, 2005
Taken from Gaijin Salaryman:
google failure
1- Go to www.google.com
2- Type in “failure”, without the quotes.
3- Instead of hitting “Search” hit “I’m feeling Lucky”.
4- Look at it and laugh at what comes up.
5- Tell your friends before the people at Google Fix it.
Children at work
November 06, 2005
Take a look at my picture. Do I look like your fucking mother?
When I go in to work in the morning I find empty bottles, half-drunk coffees, newspapers, magazines, scrap paper, and all variety of junk in the booths. This pisses me off to no end. I find myself thowing more of other people’s junk away in a day than I throw away from my apartment in a week.
What kind of asshole leaves their garbage in a booth? What kind of asshole can’t be bothered to bring their garbage they brought in to the garbage can that’s no more than a 10 second walk away? I know the answer: these assholes are children.
Children don’t clean their rooms. Children need their screaming mothers to harass and threaten them to do their chores and put away their toys. Children don’t have the discipline, nay the common sense and courtesy to put their shit in a fucking garbage can. Therefore the assholes who do this at work are children.
I’m not the only one to be pissed off by this. A fellow in my group came to me and said, “You know I think trainers should try to enforce the rules more and get people who leave garbage in the booths”. I completely disagree with him. I am not their fucking mother. It’s not my job to make children do their chores. It’s my job to ensure development and training and evaluations and enforcement of policy. There is no policy that says, “Don’t be a fucking child”. If I have to make sure these children throw away garbage, then I should be able to discipline them like mothers. I should be able to ground them or take away their TV privileges or abuse them with chinese feather dusters (ahhh… memories). “Don’t be a fucking child” is an implicit policy that should be written into the constitution or the ten commandments or be permanently etched on these idiots’ foreheads.
Here’s what I’m going to do. I am going to find out who these assholes are. I am going to collect a bundle of garbage and I’m going to stuff it into their lockers. If their lockers are already filled with garbage which I suspect is the case, I will find a time and stuff the garbage into their backpacks and then take a piss in it.
You can litter in your apartment all you want. When you enter a place you share with countless others, don’t be a child; put garbage in its place… asshole.
Hankyu Concourse
November 02, 2005
The story’s been posted before and written better than how I would’ve. So posted with permission from blogger Robert Brady:
FAMED OSAKA CONCOURSE TO BE DESTROYED BY HANKYU
We all know how insensitive big business can be, especially when it comes to beauty in public. That seems to be particularly true in Japan, where the taste of bureaucrats and executives who can’t even choose their own neckties determines how whole cities look. Take for example what they’re doing to once elegant Kyoto, whose new train station has acquired the nickname “Stalin’s Headquarters.”? Beautiful.
Speaking of beauty, Osaka had a lot less going for it in the looks department than Kyoto, having been almost completely destroyed in the war, and postwar cram-rebuilt by businessmen and bureaucrats into the ugly duckling of Japan’s large cities, so you’d think they’d be sensitive about that at every turn, and do something in keeping with all their PR-brochure-chatter about “advancing into the future” and “making the city more attractive to tourists and residents.”
Now word comes that one of the few last bits of architectural splendor to survive the war, the Hankyu Concourse, a long high-ceilinged (in Japan!) arcade built in 1929, with chandeliers, mosaics, stained glass windows (all rarities in Japan, especially from nearly a century ago), the only oasis of genuine ambient beauty amid all the warrens of Osaka’s Umeda station (the hub station of the city), is to be destroyed by Hankyu Department Store and Densha businessmen, and replaced with an inexpensive imitation of what profiteers think is beauty, perhaps a la Disney, maybe a double-layered mall of minishops selling Hello Kitty and lesser items behind plasterboard facades with a little recycling fountain that plays relentless songs about the magic of new possessions…
As to the public who in that high, cool, elegant concourse can yet find some aesthetic relief from the general tawdry scrunch, who cares what you want?
(Website dedicated to saving the Hankyu Umeda concourse)(Japanese)
http://blog.livedoor.jp/hankyu13/More photos, info & news (in Japanese)
http://www2.ocn.ne.jp/~norimi/hankyu1.html
http://www.alpha-net.ne.jp/users2/curoka/hqumed.htm
http://www.asahi.com/kansai/news/OSK200508100055.html
http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/nak_suzume/11243936.htmlWith thanks to Ron Andrews
Before they tear down this very interesting place which gives Osaka a bit of architectural deviance and spirit… with stained glass, I took a picture for my own keepsake. The Japanese people I’ve asked seem rather indifferent to all this. They look at me as if there was nothing ordinary about tearing down something that both has architectural appeal and pre-war historical significance.
Maybe Robert’s vision of shops selling Hello Kitty stuff won’t be too bad. It’s either this or more pachinko parlours. We don’t need any more stinking pachinko parlours.
PS. I don’t know Robert other than from a quick email but his blog is way more insightful and covers more important stuff about Japan than the drivel I write about.
Old man
September 28, 2005
While returning home from the Thai Food Festival at Tennoji park we stumbled onto an example of a human being who can only be described as garbage. This pathetic man not only was taking up at least 4 seats by lying down on it, he was smoking in the train. Smoking on a train platform is bad enough but this parasite on society had the gall to even smoke in the train. Smoking is prohibited in all train stations but often there are still assholes who disregard this.
Sadly no one mentioned anything to him. Unfortunately for everyone else people in this culture rarely speak up against public nuisances such as this man. I would’ve done something but he got off at the next station. I have to admit I’ve been more hesitant in speaking up against these leeches. As he was leaving I could tell by the look on his face that he was drunk. Who is visibly drunk at 3pm on a Sunday afternoon? As angry as I am with this loser I’m sure he will get his just deserves. What goes around comes around.
The incredibly selfish man
You’re a dick, Ishihara
July 13, 2005
Tokyo’s governor, who also happens to be the biggest bigot ever, has come out with another lovely remark:
Tokyo governor sued for saying French ‘fails as international language’
Twenty-one people including the head of a French Language school in Tokyo have filed a damages lawsuit against Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara over his comment that “French fails as an international language.”
The group of plaintiffs, which also includes French language researchers, is demanding that Ishihara publish newspaper advertisements apologizing for the remark and pay compensation of 10 million yen.
Ishihara made the controversial remark while speaking at a meeting in support of the establishment of the Tokyo Metropolitan University in October last year.
“I have a feeling it is aptly said that French fails as an international language because it is a language that can’t count numbers,” he said.
The governor apparently made the comment on the basis that French counts “80″ as “four twenties.” The lawsuit, which was filed on Wednesday, objects to his remark.
“French can count numbers and it is used as an official language in international organizations and many countries,” the lawsuit says. “(The governor’s) false comments stain the reputation of people who are researching French and speaking it as their native language, and they obstruct the business of language schools by diminishing the desire of learners of the language.
A secretarial representative for Ishihara declined to comment, saying the legal complaint had not yet arrived. (Mainichi)
From Mainichi Daily News.
Incidentally in Japanese, 80 is, “8 tens”. That guy is just a dick.
Shedding Clothes: Road To Change
June 20, 2005
June 20th. With the end of June comes a few new habits. I no longer go to work with a coat and on the way home, I undo the top button and tie my tie a little looser than normal. Unfortunately I work for a company and live in a country which upholds fairly conservative dress codes. While I heave and nearly undress in the elevator ride back to my apartment (sorry for that mental image), I’m reminded of the Cool Biz campaign.
This campaign is a move by the government, namely Prime Minister Koizumi and members of the cabinet, to have government officials shed ties and jackets during the summer in an effort to reduce the use of air conditioning. It’s a small move towards compliance with the Kyoto Protocol I guess. Read more about this campaign at the Japan Times Online site. So far only one official has broken rank on this campaign.
The way I see it, it’s more of a small step towards losing the conservatism that has gripped this country since post-WW2. Department stores are offering summer gear for the salary man with short sleeve shirts, ties with this rubber cord holding it together, and a more stylish selection of clothes for office use. I’m hoping this will be a catalyst for change - change that should be embraced - by this growing population that reminds me of oh so many 50’s movies.
First, lose the ties and jackets, then instead of fearing the growing number of non-Japanese people in Japan, adapt and work together with them. Instead of holding on to so many customs and traditions to choke the frail minds of those learning the culture, simplify. One day, one day, our young Japanese work force will know the meaning of Casual Fridays. Until that day, take it off, salary men!
Disease
June 14, 2005
At what point does complaining become so infectious that it becomes chronic? When does it become so consistent that you are deemed negative? At work, especially on my floor, there are those who are so negative about their job that it sickens me to hear it day after day. It used to be harmless bitching that promoted a sense of community but after so long now, it’s just old.
When the best part of work is when you’re not doing it, and when you’re faced to do what you’re paid to do all day, you become so upset and at times visibly angry, I think it’s enough. Why they punish themselves I don’t know. I hear the same thing: “It’s easy money” or “This is the easiest job I’ve ever had” and yet, when faced with a full schedule, it becomes ugly. I hate to break it to you but you chose to be here. You are responsible for this. Many times they blame it on them. They shafted me. They screwed me over. Why punish yourself so badly when you can so easily leave by resigning and finding something better?
I find it very immature that people don’t own up to the consequences of their decisions. I choose to be here and hence, I choose to accept the results of my decision. There will be things out of my control and because they’re out of my control, I choose to not let them affect me to the best of my ability. I won’t feel too bad that I wasn’t born handsome nor intelligent - these were out of my control. However I choose to make the best of what I have amd try as much as I can.
I’m beginning to realize that negativity is a viscious cycle. Negativity breeds negativity. I don’t think I’ve ever seen people from this group ever break out and make their lives better for themselves. They talk about it, they say they can do better, they have some very good and very feasible plans. All, however, is for nought.
I’m planning to avoid this group as best as I can now. It’s like a toxin that will one day affect me for the worse.
Respect & The Unbelievable Body Display
May 23, 2005
Yesterday we went to a more peculiar attraction than usual. At the Kyoto Cultural Museum was a great exhibition of 人体�?���?��?議展 or loosely translated, “The Unbelievable Human Body Display”. It’s basically a small exhibition of preserved human bodies arranged in a way to show different organ systems.
Something like a more morbid wax museum, people could see the nerve systems, muscle groups, cardiovascular, respiratory, and digestive systems up close in gory detail like never before. This exhibition has been touring Japan and we luckily caught the very last day of it. I found it interesting and fascinating. Because I used to read books on the human body as a kid (I was a weird kid) and because I watched The Learning Channel enough, I had a good clue on what was going on and why certain things looked in certain ways.
Maybe it was the last day of the exhibition or maybe the weird factor was high but the place was packed! We had to line up around the block in the rain to get in but it wasn’t too long a wait. What was annoying was actually in the museum, people were crowding around displays and pushing and shoving. I without fail become angry in these situations so I tried to see things from afar. My temper held.
What made me angry were the comments from some people. They were saying things like, “Ewww” “It stinks” “That’s ugly” etc. out loud. While I do agree that preserved corpses aren’t the most beautiful of items to see, I felt they should’ve respected the dead better. They donated their bodies for scientific pursuit and gave these onlookers a chance to see something they’ll almost never see. For this, they should not get disrespectful comments.
That’s my two cents.
If you’re in Kanazawa or Niigata, this display is coming! I’d try to catch it… and if it’s anything like Kyoto, go on a weekday morning to avoid the crowd. Go check out some of the stuff on display at the picture page.
Play the game
April 28, 2005
I give people the benefit of the doubt. I think people will do good if left to their own devices. Sadly, I’m always let down by some.
Unfortunately for all, my company has set arbritary rules that punish the group for the misbehaviour of the few. I’m certain this is not isolated - I’m sure companies do it all the time. As part of my duties, I am to reinforce and uphold these rules. I personally think most of them are ridiculous but it is my job and I will do it.
It’s very easy dealing with me. All I need from you is to hear the words: “You’re right Jerry, I won’t do it again. I’m sorry.” I’ll even take, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know about this rule but it won’t happen again.” Say the words. Let me hear them from your lips. Maybe there was a good reason for the situation - explain it to me: “Sorry Jerry but this happened because (reason).” Whatever it is, I don’t care if you’re bullshitting me or if you’re sincere. Say the words and I’ll be out of your hair. Just don’t do it again. When I’ve walked away, feel free to laugh and joke about what a crock of shit you just said. Doesn’t matter, it’s all about the delivery of those words.
It helps to be respectful. I show everyone a certain level of common courtesy - all I ask for is for you to show me the same level of courtesy. Again, I will give people the benefit of the doubt but when people respond to my courtesy with rudeness, sarcastic remarks, or just stupid responses, it ups the level on my part.
It’s a game. It’s just a fucking game. Like every game, there are rules. Play the fucking game, follow the fucking rules. Simple as that. It’s not worth standing up to make a minor point. It’s not gonna pay off to make smart-alecky remarks when I’m still within earshot. No matter how stupid a rule is, it’s still part of your fucking job - you agreed to abide by company rules.
Some others will be vindicative and find twisted ways to extract “revenge”. I won’t. I don’t have the time for it because I’m swamped with work. You’re not worth my effort. I will however remember you on my ‘list’. When I choose between two people for something good - one of whom I don’t know and one of whom is on ‘the list’, I will choose the one not on ‘the list’. When I need to give something bad to the same people… who do you think I will give it to? I’m not being vindicative - I’m being normal. I will treat those whom I like better than those I don’t. Being a sarcastic prat isn’t going make me like you better.
Sigh. Sometimes I think it’d just be easier if I were to treat everyone like shit. Fucking principles get in the way.
Well, duh
January 13, 2005
2004 US Election results listed by average IQ.
Here in case this link ever gets broken.
Successful Blogs No More
December 23, 2004
You know those really famous blogs that everyone visits and reads and drools over? You know, the kind that make a name out of themselves by having a purpose, cutting edge design, and opinions that seem to be so popular with everyone. They were the ones everyone emulated. Their designs were partially, or wholly stolen. They can get away with PayPal and Ebay donations even though they don’t sell anything. Yeah you know these guys.
Well, after years of reading and jumping around to the different sites, I’ve concluded that I really don’t care what their opinions are! I don’t care what they think of the American public now that the election’s been done with. I don’t care which independent bands they’re listening to on their orange ipod. I don’t care! I’m finding that the people who do care, care too much. Instead of following and listening so closely, why not go out and do your own thing? I am going to stop visiting their pages from now on! I quit! I’m deleting the cookies that store my personal settings on their pages.
I’m enjoying the posts that my friends write, about what they did over their weekend. I’m interested in what movie they saw and how good or bad it was. I’d rather read about what I’m missing being so far away from them. I’m into the details now rather than opinions about issues that I’d rather discuss over a cup of coffee instead of such an anonymous medium such as the internet. Those issues they tackle are still important but to get a reply from someone who goes by RainbowCloud1524@yahoo.com is just a bit insulting to my intellect, and yours.
So? A long time ago, I changed my writing style to be more to the point and focus on minor issues. I’m writing about minor things on my own page thinking maybe I’m not the only one who feels that way. I like including pictures whenever I can because as the old cliche goes, a picture has more words per square inch than normal… uh, words… or something like that. Personally, having owned a blog for a good 5 years and having a couple opportunities to read through my old writing, I’m more interested in how I thought about things like school and certain people. I think you’ll have noticed I write a lot less about politics than I used to.
And as for focus, my page will never have a focus because just like in my life, this page goes all over the place. Perhaps a focus would be that this page reflects everything that I do and think about in real life… that is, going about trying to satisfy every minor need and appetite that comes up.
Note: I nor anyone I know has ever contacted RainbowCloud1524@yahoo.com, but can you really see a quantum physicist with that address?
listening to speech
November 24, 2004
Lately, I’ve been focussing on my own speech. I’ve been listening to what sort of things I say and what kinds of words I use. I’ve come to a fair conclusion: I talk about myself too much.
I know I don’t mean to do so but I have a nasty tendency to drag some sort of anecdote about myself into the conversation. The conversation will make a sharp turn because of my vocal driving. Perhaps the people I’ve been talking to have been getting pissed that I’m hijacking their message vehicles and taking them for a personal joyride.
I’m pretty sure I do this because I think I have something interesting to add and that I want the other person to pick something up without having to go through what I had to go through to learn the lesson. It’s also probably true that I think my stories are just more interesting than what’s being said. I’m sure the ones that know me well also know this little vice of mine and will forgive me for it. Nonetheless, I think it’ll be for my own benefit to try to change this habit. I’ve been trying to just listen more and not inject anything but it’s so damn hard to keep my big mouth shut. I think people will be able to trust me more.
Don’t point out the hypocrisy of me speaking about how I speak too much about myself on my webpage. It is MY webpage. In fact, I’m trying to do most of the Me talk here and leave room for the You talk in real conversations.
In listening to my own speech, I’ve also listened to people around me as well. It’s interesting how personalities really show when words are looked at. The woman uses “but” and “can’t” more often than I’d like her to. I’m trying hard to use more, “and” and “why not” to balance this. I have a self-confidence surplus while she may be in need of a bit more.
Some people sure love complaining - they’ll complain about anything even when things are generally looking quite positive. I like hearing some of their rants but it sure gets boring when that’s all they ever talk about. Some people speak about the most superficial topics… sadly, these people don’t hang around long in my life as I need more depth to relationships. Some people use too much sarcasm - it may be fun for a while but it just gets annoying when you approach them something serious and they reply with yet more sarcasm.
Some people deserve to be beat up
October 25, 2004
From Mainichi Daily News:
American sues optician who refused him entry to shop
OSAKA — An American filed a suit against an optician on Monday for refusing him entry to his shop.
The 40-year-old African American, who is a designer from Seika, Kyoto Prefecture, visited the optician in Osaka Prefecture on Sept. 5.
The owner refused him entry, saying he disliked black people.
Several days later, the American, accompanied by his Japanese wife, visited the shop and asked why he was refused entry.
The owner told the American that he had received a complaint from a potential customer that he could not enter the store because the American and his friend were in front of the shop, according to the indictment.
“Let me run things my way, this is my shop,” the owner was quoted as saying.
The American said that this was the first case of direct discrimination he has experienced in his nine years in Japan. (Mainichi Shimbun, Japan, Oct. 25, 2004)
————————-
Sigh. Yet another story of the very old fashioned, politically incorrect, backwards thinking, asshole mentality of some people in this country. I hope that optician gets a swift punch in the face with a swift kick to the groin area.
As a Canadian of minority descent, maybe I’m just too sensitive to racial issues. Or maybe it’s that ever since highschool, I’ve noticed my visual minority more? Who knows. Color should never be an issue.
Meeting New People Sucks
August 16, 2004
Hey whatever your name is. The hardest part of making small talk is trying to act like I care. I mean really, if I were really into you, I’d be hitting on you. Otherwise, I’m just talking to you because I feel like I have to or else I’ll come off rude or, gasp, antisocial. I have enough friends.
Listen to what you’re speaking about. You’re talking about nothing. Look at these words coming out of your mouth; they have no value at all! Don’t you have something better to do? Don’t you have your own real friends to talk to? I sure do! You’re depriving me of time from my real friends.
After this “conversation”, I’ll go home and forget about you. I’ll probably never ever see you again. Suits me fine. Like you give a damn either. I don’t care what you like. I don’t want to tell you what I like. I don’t care what language you can speak. I don’t care that you think whatever is cool.
Don’t talk to me please. Go grab your food and drink, turn away, and walk away. Leave me with my friends. Don’t even look at me. I don’t want to look at you. Don’t talk to my girlfriend about me when I’m in earshot - that’s rude in all cultures (I don’t care if you weren’t saying anything bad). I don’t care that we have things in common.
If we do become friends, it will happen gradually and we won’t need this moment to cement our friendship. You know what, don’t even greet me. I gain no benefit from your salutations. When you leave I’ll say goodbye but I won’t mean it. I won’t miss you. You’re not my friend, why should I miss you?
You’re as faceless as the thousands of people I see on the streets and on TV. I will forget you as easily as the comic strip from last week’s paper or that joke I thought was funny for a moment. I can read you like a flyer.
Just go away.
Dedicated to 90% of people I’ve “met”.
old people suck
June 28, 2004
After reading Why So Many Old People Are Stupid at Dyske.com, I’ve come up to some of my own conclusions.
Old people suck.
Here in Osaka, although Japanese people in general tend to be polite towards each other (but not necessarily towards foreigners), the older population behaves quite erratically. They seem to hold themselves to a different standard and demand the younger generations treat them with undeserved respect.
Personally, age means nothing to me. Age leads to experience but not necessarily effectiveness - intelligence and adaptation leads to effectiveness. Adaptation I find, is not one trait that is common amongst the old. In fact, I dare say a LACK of adaptation is one of the biggest problems facing old people when dealing with younger people. Many fear new technology and reminisce about the Good Ol’ Days. Some bore the youth with pointless stories of poverty and starvation (I mean, what lesson is it to sadden the youth? Do the youth not know of the value of money?). Perhaps they would like to remind the youth that they have things much better but guess what? Progress has been around for a long time: the old people had it better than the old old people, who had it better than the old old old people. In time, the youth of today will be thinking that conditions are much better than when they were young.
That is not to say that old people don’t know anything relevant to today’s society. Many of life’s hard lessons are learned from experience. Virtues such as patience, self-respect, and tenacity are sometimes are fine wines which develop over time. I enjoy talking to jubilant, positive senior citizens as I learn a great deal from them. I hope I can take the easy way out and learn what they learned without going through the burden and hardship.
The most disgusting things that some old people do in Japan (and probably Canada) are the behaviours in public that counter all social rules of etiquette. In Japan, a blanket non-smoking ban was legislated not too long ago (yes you could smoke on train platforms before). As a former smoker, I agree wholeheartedly that people should not smoke in an underground, poorly ventilated area. Since the ban, the majority of the people have stopped smoking. I still see some middle aged business men and uneducated-looking types smoke but on the whole, they’ve stopped. However, it’s the old, scrappy looking senior males who continue to persist. The most alarming thing is not that they sit next to no smoking signs and throw their butts on the floor. No. The most alarming thing is that the train attendants continue to let them smoke when it is their duty to stop them. This society fears confrontation.
Some other general disgusting things in public include the very explicit and obvious loogie hocking. Everyone’s hocked a loogie before - we do it when we’re parking alone or when it’s late at night. The old men, again, have no qualms about blasting full volume when they hock one up. It’s rather unappetizing after hearing them.
Let’s not let the old woman off the hook too. The old woman ride their bicycles expecting right of way. On narrow side walks, when they ride up behind you, they’ll start blasting their unforgiving bell until you move over to the side. I cannot remember the number of times I’d wished to just clothesline the old bitch as she crashes by. The advent of that bicycle bell downgraded social politeness. No more do people say, “Excuse me” or “Sumimasen” to strangers when they need them to move aside.
Also, the old birds seem to love to cut in line at fast food restaurants and stores. I’ve had to hold back barrages of punches because some bitch blatantly cuts right in front of me. They don’t even seem to be in such a big rush as when they reach the counter, they order very very slowly and delicately.
This report has reached the final word on old people: they suck.
Defining My Friends
June 09, 2004
A few days ago, I was thinking about all the people I call “friend” and I was trying to think of what kind of people I find to be good friends. The ones whom I completely trusted in and enjoyed their company day in and day out are so different in their respective walks of life but I was sure there were some common features that they all shared.
Here are some things that all my good friends are:
They must be secure, well adjusted individuals
I take pleasure in friendship because of mutual support and mutual emotional benefit. I don’t like having to carry other’s emotional baggage. This is not to say I won’t a friend in need but the friend must want to help himself before I can help.
They must be wicked funny
Let’s be honest. I’m not the wittiest person you’ll ever meet. Very few people get my jokes and the good ones I come up with are rare indeed. Still, I like a friend who can understand some of my jokes and we can spend hours laughing at just about anything. They should be slightly twisted so that not many topics are taboo either. The funniest shit is the stuff no one else touches.
They must not be pretentious
The only person truly worthy of recognition is me. It’s a well known fact. So? They get no recognition from me because if they truly were awesome, they would know it and would never have to show it. I will very rarely openly compliment your coolness because… you know… that’s weird and uncomfortable for guys.
They are not vapid, boring people
They are interesting and always have interesting things to say. They find interest in many many things and never run out of ideas. I will like hanging out with them on any occasion because they can turn a dull party into a great conversation.
They’re honest with me
During my waking hours, I am a moron. I do many stupid things and I have a very dualistic way of thinking (ie. everything is black and white, right or wrong, beautiful or ugly). I know my way of thinking puts limits on many things. My friends have always been there to nudge me in the right direction with very direct, honest advice. I hate bullshit, especially from those I trust. If my shirt is ugly, I want it said to my face. I rarely get mad so what do they have to lose? I appreciate their honesty.
They’re not competitive
They’ll never make me feel like they’re out to win. They’re not trying to show me they’re better than me at something. They don’t care. I don’t care. I have strengths and weaknesses much like everyone else so why count score. It’s lame.
That’s it. If you or anyone else you know possess the preceding qualities, submit an application right away and I’ll send you your own Befriend Jerry starter kit. If you possess some of these qualities but you’re lacking some, that’s ok. You can be my B rate friend. If you lack many qualities. Well… you can be the guy who tags along.
On Being Happy
March 15, 2004
Being happy is a choice. I choose to be happy. To be truly happy, you must do these things:
You must innately love yourself and accept all your shortcomings. If you hate your weaknesses, you will not be happy. Instead, embrace and improve or improvise.
You must be able to be happy with everything that your are, no matter how much you think they are weaknesses. You must be happy with nothing before you can be happy when you possess something.
You must be happy being single and alone before you can derive happiness from others, no matter how much you love them. Happiness is found in oneself, not another.
You must find happiness from what’s inside you… be it your soul, your heart, your spirit, your guts and blood, before you can find happiness from external sources. Materials bring happiness only when there’s nothing inside you to give you happiness. Do not equate this to a poor person rationalizing his poorness. You must be happy with what you have instead of being sad about what you don’t have, when compared to others.
You must be happy in the long term and accept short term losses and sorrow. Sadness is a normal part of life but I choose happiness whenever I can.
You must find happiness in small things as well as big things. The first breath of morning mountain air is just as satisfying as reaching the peak of the mountain.
You must love being happy and strive to bring yourself more through self improvement and mental and spiritual development. Don’t become a stagnant person.
Responsibility
March 09, 2004
From the Mainichi News website that I visit daily: Poultry farm chairman hangs self over bird flu.
In case you’re too lazy to go there and read the article, I will give you a brief summary.
About 2 weeks ago in Kyoto, someone tipped off the police that a local farm tried to cover up the deaths of 10,000 chickens. The authorities raided the place and found the crazy bird influenza in some of the birds and even in some crow carcasses around the farm. The chairman and later his father the previous chairman held a press conference to apologize because, “(they) caused great trouble.”
The reporters jumped on this opportunity and grilled him with questions about the former chairman’s personal responsibility, what happened, who’s to blame, and all sorts of questions. I watched some of the footage and all the 67 year old said was, “Shirimasen. Shirimasen” (I don’t know / I don’t understand). In the article it even said that he leaned over and asked his lawyer for advice on what to say.
Personally, it seems like a crock of shit that he didn’t know anything. BSE, Bird Flu, and SARS have dominated the airwaves in this paranoid country for months now. When your poultry suddenly die off in massive numbers, you can’t just hide behind a veil of silence and possible criminal negligence (I believe hiding so many deaths is against some sort of Poultry Farm law here).
The kicker.
He hangs himself.
To mine eyes, this just cements his guilt in this whole case. It’s like an admittance of guilt in front of a supreme court judge. He couldn’t accept the outcomes of his actions and ran away in the only way he knew. He, and his wife, hung themselves. Apparently in this culture, to kill oneself is an honorable thing. You’ve seen The Last Samurai when the general guts himself before the enemy. I see CEOs, education workers, Politicians kill themselves in face of social and legal accusations.
Running away never solved any problems. There are still 10,000 dead chickens with an infectious disease and someone must be held accountable.
I feel sorry for the guy, I really do. He was doing what many people in his position would’ve done - he protected himself, his family, and his business in a way he thought most appropriate but unfortunately for him and fortunately for the general populace, someone saw that this was wrong and called the cops. Now, his son faces the press and the authorities alone.
Way to go, dad.
A Hello Goes A Long Way
January 26, 2004
I have become one of those guys at work who say hi to just about anyone. I’m not picky. If our eyes meet for even a glance, I will in a formal or casual way greet you. My favorites include, “Heya”, “How’s it going”, “Good mornin’ sir”, “Hey”, or a very breezy headtilt if I don’t really know you. I take pride in the fact that for the first time in my life, I know and acknowledge a lot of people.
Back in the day, I would only greet my fellow friends and thrust an air of cold vanity to others. I would shower my loved ones and chums with witty anecdotes and sarcastic put downs. I would piss strangers away with nary a glance.
I have few good friends in Japan but the ones that are here, they’re here for good. I have no fear that they’ll one day abandon me into the shadows of loner-land. There are many people I know at work whom I wouldn’t really call a friend. I seldom have conversations with them and we’re more on hello/random chit chat terms. Mostly, we’ll talk about how some aspect of work sucks and have a fake laugh over it. These people can tell me they’re going home in a week and never coming back and I’d wish them fake good luck and cry some fake tears. They have no value in my life.
I’ve come to equilibriums with many of these people - we won’t become good friends out of a lack of common interest or we won’t become worse acquaintances simply because there ain’t much to lose. I like this equilibrium because it gives me a false sense of social standing and gives me more outlets to complain about the last shitty student I just had or how (problem) caused (duration of time) of (negative emotion).
Today I experienced what I will call, “Highschool Emotional Rollercoaster Syndrome” (HERS). This is when one day you’re saying hello to someone and the next, they walk by you as if you never existed. You may have even said hello to them only to have them walk by (or even through) you without even acknowledging your meager little existence. I’ve experienced HERS many times in highschool and hence its name. While I will not cry you a river over this HERS incident, I am disconcerted over this phenomena happening to grown up adults who sometimes show signs of HERS once their friend’s usefulness is used up.
Granted. There are many people at work who are fresh out of college and haven’t had a real full time job before (like yours truly). Their mental capacity is really that of a parent-leeching, class-skipping, happy go lucky who think they should get their way all the time. HERS is very evident in this social group. I pride myself knowing many consider me to be ages ahead in terms of maturity compared to these peers.
Anyway, instead of ranting on and on about some (expletive) who didn’t return a “heya” today, I’ll just warn you that the next time you show signs of HERS, I will spit into your mouth and make you swallow my tobacco soaked loogie. Goodnight.
Scourge
September 17, 2003
It’s 20 to 23:00 and I’m all set to go to bed when I decide to do a real update about the sorry state the world is in.
Let’s see, where to begin…
Opinions from old chocolate making Europe apparently do not matter to the current American administration. Iraq is this century’s Vietnam. The war on terror shifted from a hunt for Osama, to a hunt for the Taliban, to a hunt for weapons of mass destruction, to a hunt for Saddam, to what’s next? The UN has proven itself (again) to be nothing more than talking heads sent by their respective countries and are incapable of actually doing things in the world. The WTO hit one of its biggest setbacks with the cancellation of this round of meetings after pissed off developing countries couldn’t get rich first world countries to realize they’re assholes with the whole subsidized farm issue. Anti-Bushism is still considered Anti-Americanism to many (that is so not true). America is slowly beginning to wake up and smell its “president” and its new astronomic deficit. Iran is itching to be the next Iraq by resisting and then ok’ing inspections as Mr. Bush screams and speaks. All the while, the other “Axis” country, North Korea, has been trying to get everyone’s (America’s) attention with its more than aggressive stance and its publicly admitted nuclear ambitions. Japan wants to get back into the world theatre by modifying their constitution so that they can have a real army instead of this self defence label.
And that was just about politics. Now what about good ol mother earth?
The ozone hole above the chunk of ice called Antarctica is probably as big as America’s new deficit. Heat waves have claimed thousands across Europe. SARS is reappearing??? Maybe it’s time to cancel all life because of SARS. Hurricanes, tropical storms, cyclones, typhoons are occurring in record number and strength. Forest fires have ravaged our little wine making BC interior. That problem everyone was worried about, what did they call it? Oh yes, Global Warming, it looks like it’s finally here as a lot of people in distinguished scientific circles have made note of dramatic changes.
I blame all these problems squarely on dumb people. Dumb people have ruined it for everyone. Dumb people should not be voted into positions that affect a lot of other people. I just wonder will we ever know who’s really pulling the strings behind certain dumb people.
So, do you think the world in the past few years has taken a turn for the worse or do you think it’s normal, that nothing has happened that was very extraordinary?
Business Ethics 101
May 28, 2003
While covering the Iraq war, a Japanese newspaper war correspondent picked up an object which he believed was ammunition that was no longer live. Unfortunately, it was still live and it exploded in an airport in Jordan, killing a Jordanian and injuring several others. While this incident has been judged accidental, the reporter is still being held in trial. The reporter’s employer, Mainichi Daily News, has come out publicly about this accident involving its employee. The president even made a visit to Jordan to express his regrets to the victim’s family and to the Jordanian King.
In my humble opinion, I think here is good business ethics wrapped up in a golden frame. The president of the newspaper made no attempts to distance the company and the poor reporter who now has to live with the taking of a man’s life. He even accepted responsibility and has punished many top executives when this accident was pretty much caused by that one reporter. He apparently has made no attempt to hide any sort of information. He went out of his way to accept the problem and has actively tried to find a solution. Many people would’ve made a scapegoat out of the reporter and pretend it never happened. If only more executives act more like this president. This story will go into my books.
Here’s the press release if you’re interested.
The Smell of Sweat
May 06, 2003
You can tell by the title this update will be lovely.
Yes.
It is becoming quite hot.
It was 30 degrees two days ago.
That’s right. It was 30 degrees in early May. Vancouver barely hits 30 in the peak of summer and here I am in early May rolling around in sweat at night because I can’t sleep without a blanket over me. The people who have been here awhile tell me the worse is yet to come. Really? Oh that’s just great. My body is tuned and geared to battle cold weather. I wear shorts and t-shirts in winter. Well, I guess Vancouver winters were never lethal as they are in say, Siberia, but it does get chilly. Ok… the winters in Osaka are colder than Vancouver but that just proves my point - the weather is fucked
I am starting a new schedule with a late shift followed by four earlies. Earlies start at 7:30am so I wake up at 6:00am. That’s right. I’m waking up earlier than I did in highschool. What sort of drug persuaded me to do this you ask? Well, it was LOVE! This way, I get to see Eri more since she works a normal 9-5, Mon-Fri job. Furthermore, my old schedule motivated me to sleep at 4am and wake up at 12, sometimes 1pm - leaving me free time only from 11pm-4am. You can’t really do much at those hours. Now, I can see daylight after work, buy groceries on the way home, and take up things I wanted to do. I am planning to get a japanese teacher very soon. I’m juggling the idea of learning a martial art or teaching part time elsewhere to pick up some cash. I got lots more to do now and time to do it. It sure was hard trying to sleep early though. I slept about 2 hours and had a full schedule yesterday. Today was much easier. I think things are going to be good
Prior to this, I had my 2 weekends and got to hang out with Daniel from Vancouver for a couple of days. It was good to catch up on all the news from the ELI. I really miss that ol’ place. It really was an enjoyable place to be. I’ll be in Tokyo in about a week to hang out with some students from last summer too. It’ll be great. Oh yes, on May 15, a worldwide earthquake will kill us all! This is according to Panawave Laboratory, a cult as fucked as those dudes who thought there was a space ship hiding behind that Bopp comet. By the way, they think microwaves are evil and a Bearded Seal named Tama-chan is the cause of the cancer growing in the founders’ lunatic body.
SARS deathtoll: about 500. Annual worldwide death from the common cold: 250,000
I am in dire need of sleep.
Almost Christmas’d Myself
December 23, 2002
Christmas has come to a halt for me this year, partly because it’s not such a big thing here, and mostly because of something that happened this morning that I don’t care to speak about at the moment. Don’t worry, it’s nothing about Eri or myself but it will take her attention away from Christmas I think. I’ll fill you in maybe in a few days when things sort of return to normal. Even so, today I had an experience that almost brought the whole meaning of Christmas back.
The past four days have been very busy at work. The reasons are two-fold. Fold 1: many teachers have taken holidays early this year and being the oppressive slave drivers that they are, the company didn’t get anyone to take the slack - leaving us no-holidayers to fill up the gap. Fold 2: many students’ lesson points expire around this time so they are busy filling up every slot with lessons to get the best bang out of the buck, er yen. Result of these two folds is that most if not all have had 8 lessons. I’ve had 8 for four days and 7 before that. Although technically I’m still quite new and therefore get more lessons usually anyway, I felt quite frustrated. It wasn’t all bad looking back now, of the 39 lessons, only 1 went horribly wrong but it was because the student was an uncooperative bitch. Too bad punching someone through the internet is unfeasible… yet. I’m looking into it.
I digress.
During my break today, I finished the lunch that Eri meticulously packed for me and as delicious as it was, it was not nearly filling for my ravenous hunger. I went downstairs to the convenient store to buy my favorite snack - a danish like pastry the size of a small domino’s pizza that is covered with sugar icing. Total cost, 105 yen after tax, roughly $1.30. Total value after everything, roughly REALLY GOOD. After the transaction of which I answered iie (”no”) to some question the girl asked, I was hit with a decision; Should I go back upstairs to the break room where all the chairs have most likely been taken or should I bear the merciless winds that will no doubt rip the already dry skin off my beautiful, youthful demeanor? I chose the latter. I had my comfy coat anyway.
I sat down on a stage where we usually sit to eat. I started opening my good-value-pastry. Suddenly an old man dressed in shabby clothes started talking to me. I couldn’t make out much but from the few words I understood, he was just trying to talk to me, asking me something about Christmas and something about beer (he showed me a can of beer, that’s how I knew). I didn’t really know what to say because it was apparent this was the Japanese equivalent of one of the schizo’s in downtown Vancouver. I could’ve said wakarimasen “I don’t understand” and then just walk off but for some reason, I spoke to him in English.
“I’m sorry I don’t speak Japanese”.
I think I expected him to look at me blankly and then sort of scuttle away in fear of THE GAI-JIN (”foreign person ~ kind of a demeaning term”). Instead, he surprises me by first saying a Japanese sentence that probably meant, “Oh fuck! This guy’s not Japanese”. Then he SPEAKS ENGLISH TO ME!!! Well not really, he only said, “I am homeless”. He then extends his sullen, stained right hand to me. I really didn’t want to shake his hand. If this were Vancouver, I would’ve told him to get away from me and/or I would leave. I actually shook this poor man’s hand. Afterwards, I thought this would end the conversation as I turned away and started to open my pastry (avoiding contact with my now contaminated hand, mind you). The guy starts speaking some more to me, using his not-so-extensive English vocabulary. Something something Christmas. Something something eigo-sensei (”English teacher”). Something something I am homeless. I just smiled and nodded. Occasionally I understood something and I replied in the affirmative.
He saw my pastry and said something. He then offered me the same can of beer (again). My empathic abilities (I am a world-renown psychic) told me he wanted me to recipricate and offer my lovely pastry to him. Another decision: should I just act like I would and just walk off, possibly even telling him to go blip his bleep or should I offer this guy my pastry? Strangely, I chose the latter. I ripped it in half (I was still hungry you know) and offered him one of the pieces… the smaller half. He accepted it delightly and kept thanking me. I didn’t really care at the time. I did it not out of selflessness or charity, but I think I did it because he kind of expected me to do so. I know most if not all others would have ignored him. I took no joy from this nor did I feel spite. I was nothing.
As he was happily munching the thing, he started talking about being homeless again. I felt really sorry for this guy. He even showed me his cruddy wallet which contained exactly 1 yen… roughly NOTHING in any currency. I think at this point I felt he wanted me to give him money. Here was where I felt it. I was something.
I was thinking, should I give this guy maybe a thousand yen and hope he enjoys it or should I not do anything at all? Although I’m quite financially insecure right now, I could probably spare that 1000 and not starve to death while this guy would probably enjoy it more than me. I thought it was almost christmas and the spirit of christmas was about giving, and about love, and about caring for humanity. It wasn’t about presents and wrapping and turkey and fat flying men and sales and boxing day returns. It was about the essense of what connects you to me and me to the next person. I really wanted to give him the money. I almost did. But almost does not achive results. I stood up and walked away. I became more of something.
For the rest of my shift, I had this horrible regret-like feeling that I did the wrong thing. I usually don’t believe in hand outs as past experience has shown any charity money given to panhandlers will eventually end up in an intoxicating or banned substance. This man was different. Sure, he had a beer with him. Sure, he smelled like shit. Sure, he was annoying me and he ate half my pastry. Sure, he would result in nothing and will probably die a lonely, hungry man. He was nothing. He will be nothing. Nothing I could’ve done would probably have changed this fact. It’s just that if I’m not willing to help this one man, how would I be able to help others? How can I help myself? I thought if I had done that one good thing, or maybe even go farther and get him a real, hot meal, maybe I could’ve made a difference in this man’s life and. I started to feel nothing again.
Sadly, I discovered tonight that I am not the saint I made myself to be.
Merry Christmas.
Holy Wars
November 12, 2002
Brother will kill brother
Spilling blood across the land
Killing for religion
Something I don’t understand
Fools like me, who cross the sea
And come to foreign lands
Ask the sheep, for their beliefs
Do you kill on God’s command?
A country that’s divided
Surely will not stand
My past erased, no more disgrace
No foolish naive stand
The end is near, it’s crystal clear
Part of the master plan
Don’t look now to Israel
It might be your homelands
Holy wars
Upon my podium, as the
Know it all scholar
Down in my seat of judgement
Gavel’s bang, uphold the law
Up on my soapbox, a leader
Out to change the world
Down in my pulpit as the holier
Than-thou-could-be-messenger of God
courtesy of Megadeth
A Different Kind of Update pt 2
October 31, 2001
Following up on my last update, if someone chooses a job they do not feel passionate about then the only thing that motivates them is fear. Fear that they can’t pay the bills, fear that they can’t buy the latest software or hardware or clothing or food, fear that they will be looked upon as not successful, fear that they will be looked down upon by others who choose they path. They may strive for the money but will they be good workers?
Other than the minimum, why would they choose to work more? Is it for the promotion? Is it for the 2% pay increase each year? A company can throw benefit after benefit in efforts to motivate their employees so that they become more productive. You have pension benefits, insurance, company picnics, company cars. All these things add up to something like 25-50% of labour costs I believe. The goal is to motivate their employees - does it work?
I will argue that they do not. If you don’t feel passionate about the work, why would throwing in some more money or benefit make you think otherwise? Read Rich Dad, Poor Dad. That book explains a whole lot better what I mean that people work out of fear.
The other side of the yard is that if someone feels motivated about what they’re doing, there’s no need for the benefits - well, actually, the benefits make the job even better. But the person is doing the job for its intrinsic value, not economic value. The difference is if a person loves their job, the extra incentives create a positive value for the worker - that is, the numerical value of their happiness increases. If a person does it for pay, they only tolerate the job up to a certain value - adding incentives only makes a negative value less negative. I guess in this model it is possible to create a positive job given enough incentives - who knows. I’m not a model modelist.
Do I sound like a raving madman? I feel that I’m speaking the unspoken or the opposite of all that people hold true.
I’m not bashing any particular field of work either. What I don’t like may be the driving force of passion for another person. That’s what makes this world great - diversity. Otherwise, everyone would would want to be astronauts cause you know that is the best job in the world - or out of the world.
The old people driving issue
April 06, 2000
It’s on Justin and Dennis’ sites now so i’ll put my thought onto it. The elderly do tend to drive like well, grandmas. They tend to follow the rules more or less and putt putt putt along in their 1975 Chevies or Fords.
Well the issue is that an elderly lady killed some woman while driving and didn’t know it. So they took her license away. Well, I agree with Justin in that if you hit anything, be it a lady, a dog, a tree (haha sorry, had to say it), you will definitely notice. I also agree that going 50kph, ANY car is very destructive.
Dennis has good points too: these things cannot be prevented. I think it can be prevented, but at a cost of our freedom and rights. Harsher penalties for the elderly isn’t plausible since in our law system, you cannot segregrate any group and give them different punishments (minors excluded). What I suggest is that when having driver licenses renewed, there should be more tests that are more strict that would eliminate all the dangerous drivers. Fuck, if you drag a person in a car for awhile, oblivious to their screams, you definitely should not be on the road.
My thoughts: the lady should be charged to the full extent of the law regardless of her age or past record. A crime is a crime and be it an 80 something or a twenty something, the outcome should be the same. Personally, I feel most sympathy for the kids. Having a mother killed by a freak accident like this.
That reminds me of a rather heartwrenching story I heard awhile back. I heard on the radio maybe half a year ago, that a single mother died from diabetes. Her 6 or 7 year old girl didn’t know what happened and went through the night. She microwaved leftovers, watched tv, and then slept next to her mother’s body.
Authorities found out when the girl was crying in class, telling her teacher that her mom was dead. Her fucking idiot of a teacher said not to say stuff like that, that it was inappropriate.
When I heard that, my heart shuddered and I imagined what it would be like had I been that little girl. There was no one for her to turn to and I doubt she has anyone right now. This world is plagued with crimes and hatred and violence and I don’t care. But when I heard this, I cared. Death is a natural thing and usually I disregard deaths I hear on the news but for some reason, this story really got to me.
Whatever. I sincerely hope the little girl has better days and that no other child will go through what she went through.
I’ll leave now all depressed. Huzz… whatever…
New webpage update
I got home today and looked at the design and felt it was missing something. So I had to recreate the whole design. But I worked at it all afternoon and