Friday, June 20, 2008

Japundit Posts

This will likely be my last post for close to two weeks. I'll try to post stuff from Hawaii shortly after we return. In the meantime, here are the two Japundit posts from this past week:
.
George Takei to Wed (BBC)
Elder Porn (Time Magazine)
.
George Takei, better known as Sulu from Star Trek will take advantage of the opportunity in California to wed his partner of 20 years, Brad Altman. Don't be surprised if in November the voters of California overturn gay marriage which was allowed by a recent California Supreme Court decision based on the state's constitution. As for the Time Magazine article on pornography featuring the elderly is entertaining but also insightful.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Weekly Japundit Posts

There was a lot of news in Japan this week. It started with a killing spree in the busy Tokyo district of Akihabara and ended yesterday with a huge 7.2 earthquake north of Tokyo but which we felt all the way down in Yokohama (south of Tokyo). Even though the rocking we felt was mild, I had a feeling it was a big earthquake because it
lasted so long. Several people died and there was widespread damage including landslides.
.
There were other, less sensational stories in the news including a story in the Los Angeles Times about four Yakuza (Japanese mafia) members who received liver transplants at UCLA medical center and then donated $100,000. I find the story on Japan slimming down very funny
but also very insightful.
.
Yakuza Health Care (LA Times)
Akihabara Attack (NY Times)
Hibakusha Artist (NPR, All Things Considered)
Sumo Abroad (NPR, Day to Day)
Northern Japan Rocked (various)
Japan Slimming Down? (NY Times)
North Korea Agreement
(Washington Post)
Tokyo Sky Tree (Japan Today, Mainichi Daily News)

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Tim Russert

It seems that every media outlet has reported on the untimely death of NBC Washington Bureau Chief and Meet the Press host, Tim Russert at age 58.
.
He was my favorite political reporter. Before moving to Japan, I used to regularly TiVo only two programs: The Daily Show and Meet the Press. Here in Japan, those are still the only two TV shows I watch (over the internet).
.
What I really liked about him was his love of politics, his enthusiasm, his incredible preparation, his lack of arrogance, and tough questioning. Until I started reading his obituaries, I didn't realize that he started out in politics working for two prominent Democratic politicians: the late NY Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (a distant relative of my former landlord in Belfast), and NY Governor Mario Cuomo. It is not difficult to glean the political leanings of some radio and TV hosts, but Russert was not one of them. He questioned everyone vigorously (but respectfully), Democrat and Republican alike.
.
I knew that he was from Buffalo (he often ended broadcasts with "Go Bills"), graduated from John Carroll University (which is a 10 minute walk from my childhood home) as an undergraduate and Cleveland State law school, but I learned other things about him in the past day or two including the fact that his father was a sanitation worker. Maybe that's why he always came off as genuine and down to earth. His death is a huge loss for journalism in general and political journalism in particular.

Monday, June 9, 2008

A Fitting End

On Friday, the middle school and high school (all 15 students) had an all-day, end-of-the-year picnic at a nearby beach which was a lot of fun. They cooked out on a grill, swam in the ocean and played frisbee and other games on the beach. It was a nice reminder of what a nice group of kids I have and what a good job I have. Incidentally, Yumi works very close to where we had the picnic, so at my students' urging, I got her to join us (the kids were really excited to meet her).
.
This has probably been the craziest year of my life (moving to Japan, Ph.D., engagement, wedding, etc.) and without a job which was so laid-back, accomodating, and reasonably drama-free (one incident notwithstanding), finishing the Ph.D. would have been impossible. I'm looking forward to next year and I've already started brainstorming new ideas to make things better.
.
Without further ado, here are a few pictures from the day.
.

Friday, June 6, 2008

Weekly Japundit Posts

It's been a slow Japan-news week. Here are the few articles I posted over the past week:
.
.
The last post is the new David Sedaris book. Sedaris may be the funniest man on the planet. This book takes place, at least partly in Hiroshima (where he went to quit smoking).
.
I very much enjoy having an outlet for sharing the articles I read and hearing other peoples' opinions, but I am bit disillusioned with some of the right-wing commentariat on the site, including the owner. First there was a discussion of the word 'Oriental', which got a little heated and was prematurely cut off. Then he censors my comments including defending NPR and the New York Times after they were attacked (in comments which weren't censored), and then another quip was censored (about Bush's 32% approval ratings seeming downright popular next to Fukuda's 20%) and then he turned around and posted something about dumb Obama fans in Japan.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Triumph of Advertising

Yumi got a gift of Israeli Gamila soap from a friend. Yumi was very excited so I looked it up. It's a specialty item, available only at selected stores and retails for about $35! THIRTY-FIVE DOLLARS for a bar of soap?! And people get excited about it and buy it? It reminds me of the dialogue from Pulp Fiction about the $5 milk shake. In any case, I can't imagine that this special soap does much more than my 50 cent bar. I guess it shows that marketing and advertising do work. Hmmm... what can I put in a pretty container and sell for 100x what it's worth? Damn! Bottled water already exists...

Joy of Language

Thanks to Uncle Jerry for sending this along to me.  I googled these words and found many sites with them and most sites attributed the contest to the Washington Post, although I did not succeed in finding the original material on the Post website.  Nevertheless, this is great fun.  Funny and intelligent.  Quite a good combination.  Enjoy.
.
Part I: Supply alternative meanings for common words.
1. Coffee (n), the person upon whom one coughs.
2. Flabbergasted (adj), appalled over how much weight you have gained.
3. Abdicate (v), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.
4. Esplanade (v), to attempt an explanation while drunk.
5. Willy-nilly (adj), impotent.
6. Negligent (adj), describes a condition in which you absent mindedly answer the door in your nightgown.
7. Lymph (v), to walk with a lisp.
8. Gargoyle (n), olive-flavored mouthwash.
9. Flatulence (n) emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over by a steamroller.
10. Balderdash (n), a rapidly receding hairline.
11. Testicle (n), a humorous question on an exam.
12. Rectitude (n), the formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.
13. Pokemon (n), a Rastafarian proctologist.
14. Oyster (n), a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.
15. Frisbeetarianism (n), (back by popular demand): The belief that, when you die, your Soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.
16. Circumvent (n), an opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.
.
Part II: Take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition.
1. Bozone (n): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.
2. Foreploy (v): Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.
3. Cashtration (n): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period.
4. Giraffiti (n): Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.
5. Sarchasm (n): The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.
6. Inoculatte (v): To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.
7. Hipatitis (n): Terminal coolness.
8. Osteopornosis (n): A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)
9. Karmageddon (n): its like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.
10 Decafalon (n): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.
11. Glibido (v): All talk and no action.
12. Dopeler effect (n): The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.
13. Arachnoleptic fit (n): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.
14. Beelzebug (n): Satan in the form of a mosquito that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.
15. Caterpallor (n): The color you turn after finding half a grub in the fruit you're eating.
And the pick of the literature:
16. Ignoranus (n): A person who's both stupid and an asshole.