The Bawdy Cloister

My Thursday

Yesterday was uneventful.  I mostly sat at the computer hitting the refresh button as Senate election returns came in for Montana.  Now that the Democrats have taken both houses of Congress, folks here in Japan are pretty gloomy.  They know as well as we do back home that the Democratic sweep means the Terrorists have won. (snicker, snicker)

Today was fun.  Mrs. T and I took the Acolyte out to Malera around 10:00 this morning.  Nekio caught up with us around 12:00 and we continued shopping till about 5:30.  We don't get over here often, so when we do come we buy a lot.  T and I spent nearly 2 hours in the bookstore alone.  The Acolyte is now the proud owner of the most extensive Japanese children's library outside of Japan.  I love Japanese children's books because they're written at my reading level.  Mrs. T stocked up on some classic tales while I grabbed an entire set of six Anpanman picture books.  Who is Anpanman?  Only the coolest super hero ever.  I also grabbed a couple Barbapapa books.  I loved Barbapapa as a kindergartner living in Germany, but when we arrived stateside he was nowhere to be found.  Then, when I moved to Japan in 1997 I discovered him on candy wrappers and school supplies.  There was much rejoicing that day I can assure you.

After the bookstore, it was off to the toy store to get a giant plush Anpanman and a plush giant Baikinman.  There were other items purchased too, but you'll have to wait till Christmas.

At any rate, we're exhausted and dinner is about ready....

My Tuesday

The Acolyte met his great-grandparents yesterday.  Grandma was particularly excited to see him.  Lucky for us, he stayed pretty chipper for most of the visit.  We took quite a few pictures, not just of the family, but also around the old neighborhood.  The grandparents live in the old homestead about 20 minutes from where T's folks live.  All of T's highschool haunts are closer to her grandparents' place.  Much to her mom's dismay, we took the Acolyte out to the neighborhood temple for a photo shoot.  Mom didn't want us going because a cold front had blown in and the wind had gotten pretty chilly.  We were all well-layered and bundled though. 

After an extended run with the family, T's sister, Nekio, took me out to the new mall to decompress.  This wasn't just any mall though, it was Malera, the LARGEST MALL IN JAPAN.  And it's just 10 minutes from the house.  We spent a couple of hours walking about, sipping coffee and checking out baby goods.  I'm lucky there wasn't anything like that when I lived here or else I'd never had saved a dime.  I didn't do much shopping this trip though, later in the week I'll go back with T and load up.  Last night I just walked away with a bag of groceries from the import shop.  I got just enough corn chips, salsa, cereal, candy and Vietnamese beer to last me a couple of days.

Later in the evening T and I went to dinner with her parents and younger sister, Punky.  We had yaki-niku, one of my favorites.  The Acolyte went too and spent most of the time sitting on my lap chewing on his knuckles while I tried to grill my beef tongue with one hand.

Today we have a lighter schedule.  T is going out to get her hair done and later an old high school friend is coming by for a visit.  I might hop on the bike for a little more exploring... we'll see.

Family Vacation Update

Yesterday was a bit rough.  Mrs. T and her youngest sister (Punky) left to renew their drivers licenses which took about four hours.  That left me and her middle sister (Nekio) to tend to the Acolyte.  He wasn't bad for the first six or seven minutes, but then screamed bloody murder about the rest of the time.  It made for a very, very long afternoon.  When T got back, I took an hour-long nap, then Nekio and I headed out to a bar for a well deserved drink... or three.

Nekio is the sister that's getting married this weekend, so we didn't head to just any bar.  She gave me a sneak preview of the wedding reception's 2nd party venue.  It's a dim, but very clean and stylish, Soul and Blues club.  The proprietor (Kool) is the husband of a teacher I used to work with.  Nekio didn't know that when she made the arrangements, but it was pretty funny when Mr. & Mrs. Kool discovered that Nekio's brother-in-law was the legendary Rowdy-sensei.  It's not like this is some three-family village, it's a city of almost 300,000 people, so the odds were slim that I'd have some relation to the bar owner.  Although, during my three year tenure over here, I did my best to establish a relation with as many institutions of higher drinking as possible.

Today's overcast and the winds are gusty.  Nonetheless, we're going to venture out and introduce the Acolyte to his great-grandparents.  Lots of pictures to be taken today.  It should be pretty eventful.

On a completely different note, we're 15 hours ahead of the States over here which means we'll have today's American election results before folks back home do.

Well, folks are making their way out of bed, so I better break away from the computer and get social.

News from our Happy Island

The flight from Tokyo to Nagoya was only about 45 minutes long, but we got bumped up to business class.  The seats fully reclined, so T and I both caught a much needed power nap before disembarking.

The Acolyte travelled surprisingly well.  During the 12 hour trans-oceanic flight, he was fussy a grand total of 20 minutes.  I had dreaded that flight, but we ended up getting compliments from other passengers for having such a good baby.

Now that we're here, we have a pretty packed schedule.  Lots of family and friends to meet up with and not a lot of time to do it.  Yesterday I had the chance to bicycle around my old neighborhood.  Quite a few changes.  Most noticable was a new housing complex next to my old apartment.  Used to, you'd walk out my front door and look to the right, there'd be an old garage and a chicken coop.  All gone now.  Instead there's a dozen 2-story houses.

My old video rental store (or, "Culture Convenience Club" as its sign read) is closed.  Pushed out by new competition.  Lots of new stores, a new mall and an outlet mall too.  Still, the town is recognizable.  The schools, apartment buildings and the rice fields haven't changed.  Speaking of rice fields, it's the end of the harvest, so lots of farmers are out burning the fields and turning the soil.  A lot of smoke in the air at night... I always loved the autumn here.  The whole town smells like a camp fire.  It's still warm though, about 22 degrees.  Long sleeves are smart, but a jacket isn't necessary just yet.

Probably won't have much time to post between now and our return, but when we do get back I'll have some great pictures to share, so stay tuned.

Sake to Namida to Otoko to Onna

Kawashima Eigo is one of my favorite Japanese singers.  He died a few years ago and I remember seeing this tribute performed on that year's Kohaku.  There wasn't a dry eye in the room when it was over....

As most of ya'll know, Mrs. T is Japanese, but we don't dwell on Japan too often.  We speak English for the most part and cook American.  Through experience we've learned that the best way to avoid homesickness is to completely immerse yourself in the place you're at.  But for the past few weeks, we've allowed ourselves to get a little nostalgic since we're fixing to head back there in a couple of weeks.  Mrs. T's sister is getting married and the family is anxious to meet the Acolyte.  My Japanese is pretty rusty, but it doesn't take long for it to come back once I get over there.

We moved to the States in 2000.  T has been back twice and I've gone back once by myself.  This will be the first time we've gone back together which makes it even more exciting.

The primary purpose of this trip is to visit with family, so we're not planning much of an itinerary.  We'll be sure to get out though and see how the place has changed.  I'm a year late to visit Pokepark, it was only open for six months during the 2005 World Expo.  But I'm sure other surprises will be had.

Q&A

I occassionally check the key words folks have used to find this site.  Generally they're not that great, the most common include "R2-D2 Cake", "Hoopz" and "Juju Chang." 

I remember last October my buddy McPan wrote a post and at the end of it she noted that someone found her with the search "Anderson Cooper Tanning Picture."  She called whoever did it "completely wrong and deviant." Not to be out-devianted, I thought I'd go on Technorati and see if I couldn't hit her site with something just a tad bit worse.  And I did, with "Anderson Cooper threw up in my mouth."  It got a response from her too.

Now, I can't say recent keyword searches to my site have been particularly bad.  But this new batch included some that were absurdly long and specific. I couldn't just ignore them.  So here they are:

• did kenny die on the cosby show?
• making japanese games compatible american ps2
• song quote if you've got the money honey i've got the time
• why did the Ramsey brothers create the buzzy bee
• email contacts of all the hole evangelical churches in japan

Sorry I didn't have answers for these inquiries earlier, but I'll fix that right away...

• No
• Just buy a Japanese PS2, they're not that expenisive and you can watch Region 2 DVDs on it as well.
• "If you run short of money I'll run short of time, you got no more money honey I've no more time"
• To make children happy
• You would think someone would compile all the emails for the churches in Japan, afterall, it is the Land of the Rising Son.  Unfortunately you'll need to find someone else for that little project. I'm too busy collecting all the addresses of all the Burger Chefs that ever existed. 

Kogepan

I've never been a fan of cutesy Japanese characters like Kitty-chan, Relax Bear or Momobuta.

   

But I will admit to liking one....

His name is Kogepan.  If you're prone to cry, I suggest you don't read his story.

Week in Review

Item!

Mrs. T. and I purchased an early Christmas present this week, an American PlayStation 2.  I say American because we already owned a Japanese PlayStation 2.  The games are not compatible though, and I was dying to play....

  and .  The Star Wars game is an absolute blast, you play as different characters and walk through the first three movie episodes.  The NBA game is quite fun too, we enjoy recreating last year's Spurs championship win over Detroit.

Additionally, Mrs. T got

, this is the game you play on a dance pad and jump around like a maniac.  She thought it would be good exercise.  When she's playing this, I crack open a beer, watch and giggle.

Up till now we've been content with our Japanese PS2.  Our favorite game on it is called "Mosquito 2."

In it you play a mosquito that has snuck into the baggage of a Japanese family who flies to Hawaii for a home-stay with an American family.  Your goal is to suck blood out of folks without getting thwacked.  The earlier stages are easy since the Japanese family is still jet-lagged and can't put up much of a fight.  When my Evil Little Brother is in town, the first thing he ever wants to do is play this game.  It's hilarious.  Check out this video trailer for it, and listen to the disco music, the song is in English and it's all about the joys of sucking blood.

Item!

J-Go announced on his blog that our buddy Guy just published an article on .NET Developer's Journal entitled The Composite UI Application Block.  Having read it, I can honestly say once again, I have no idea what Guy is talking about.

Item!

93 year old Studs Terkel appeared on Nightline last night.  And all I can say is that I am so happy Ted Koppel is retiring from the show next month.  He really is a jerk.  His interview with Terkel focused very little on Terkel's politics and ideas and more on his physical condition and appearance (at one point calling Terkel's walking cane "hideous" because it was topped with a carving of a fish.)

Run, Don't Walk, to the ODK!

For a hearty laugh head over to the Octopus Dropkick...we're talking hours of fun.  It features many great Japanese television commercials.  After I saw this one with Brad Pitt, I was hooked.

EXTRA EXTRA!

三日午後七時三十五分ごろ、瑞穂市本田の市道を歩いていた男性が路上でワニを発見し、１１０番通報した。北方署員が駆け付け、近くの水田でワニを発見、通報から約四十五分後に捕獲した。

That's Japanese for, "an alligator was caught walking across the street exactly where Rowdy used to ride his bike to work." 

Mizuho (瑞穂) is not a big town to begin with, and I covered every inch of the place on my bike at one point or another, but Honden (本田) is the precise neighborhood where I rode my bike daily to work and passed through the little half-acre marsh that this thing crawled out of.  But turtles and frogs lived there, not gators. 

Apparently I'm not the only one surprised.  Indeed, the entire nation was alerted yesterday as the story appeared on Yahoo! Japan's front page.