"May I Eat This Cake?"

Listening to:
くず
「くずアルバム」

Or as one of my students said today:

"May I eat this cock?"

On occasion, this job is the greatest in the world.

TOKIO - 「雨傘」

If nothing else, TOKIO has always been the most talented of the Johnny's groups, but「雨傘」is probably the first song of theirs that I've really been into.



This damn track has been stuck in my head since I've been in Japan, and I've just found out that the song was written and composed by Shiina Ringo and Tokyo Jihen. That explains a lot.

OH, NO WAY!!!

Cro Cop is still kind of a big deal here in Japan, so they were showing highlights from his DREAM.6 match the other night on television. His fight with Alistair Overeem was eerily similar to his fight with Cheick Kongo, as Mirko took what seemed like a thousand knees to the groin before the match was thrown out. I guess opposing fighters have decided that the best way to avoid Cro Cop's head kicks is to clinch and repeatedly knee him in the junk. What's crazy is that trainers ringside were reporting that Mirko had taken a low blow so hard that his right testicle had gone inside his body. Now, I'm no doctor, but I didn't realize shit like that was even possible. The injury is supposedly a lot worse than it sounds, but as far as injuries go, a disappearing testicle sounds REALLY BAD. It's kind of sad how Cro Cop has gone from being the most feared striker in the business to the guy with the giant bullseye on his crotch. As a fan, I'd certainly like to see him return to his former glory, but maybe it's about time for Mirko to hang up the gloves.

My "Moped"

Okay, it's not really a moped.



Its horsepower is just comparable to that of one.

My Moped

Not to discourage anybody from ever visiting me, but...



I can't haul too many people in my whip. ;-)

EVA 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone

Watching:
ヱヴァンゲリヲン新劇場版:序

This thing has been out on DVD in Japan for a while now, but I finally caved and bought the LE version the other night. The DVD comes packed with 5 frames of animation from the actual movie, which is pretty darn cool, and as R2 releases generally go, the packaging itself is top notch. The feature is a spectacular visual piece, and though there really isn't much new from a storyline perspective, it's definitely worth watching for the new storyboards and the CG bits. The Ramiel battle (which serves as the climactic scene) has been totally overhauled, and should be pretty breathtaking stuff for fans of the show. No Asuka here, but the trailer for 2.0 looks pretty incredible. Can't wait.

Milk & Eggs > Kicks

I found a local store selling the low XX3 in black that I'd been ogling for months. Those things are stealth.



BUT I really don't think I need a third pair of XX3s, and that's a hefty sum of money that I could throw at groceries instead. Decisions, decisions.

See You Later...

It's Respect for the Aged Day here in Japan (which I honestly had no idea existed until I played Persona 3). My grandma, whom I loved dearly, passed away last week, and it really hit me hard that I wasn't back home with her when she passed. I was seriously considering flying home during my second week on the job, but my aunty sent me the following in an email:

Her ashes will be scattered at Kuhio Beach on Saturday morning. Part of the reason is that her first son drowned there. She also did not want people to have to come back to a specific spot to pay their respects to her. The idea is that all the earth's waters eventually connect, so wherever we are in the world, we can place some flowers on the ocean, or in a river or stream, etc. and think of her. So, after Saturday, you can pay your respects anytime that you're near a body of water - even in Okinawa.

You know what? I like that.

Who Needs Weekends?

Listening to:
木村カエラ
マスタッシュ

The other night, some of the teachers from school invited me to a mid-week drinking party of sorts. I initially thought that I had misheard, but I accepted the invitation anyway, assuming that we would be getting together for a few casual drinks. Instead, people were hitting the glasses hard and getting absolutely crushed. We all had classes to teach in the morning, but that didn’t seem to matter particularly much. It was all good and fun, but I guess I'm just not used to that type of display on a Wednesday night. Still, everyone showed up the next day on time and looking spry, and I suppose that’s the most important thing. As it turns out, I had actually tapped out early, as some of the other male teachers were apparently out at 3:00 a.m. ordering steaks.

They don't sleep much out here.

One Month In...

Listening to:
GIRL NEXT DOOR
偶然の確率

I've been in Okinawa for just about one month now, and it's easily felt like the longest month of my life...but not necessarily in a bad way. The weather hasn't been much of an issue (as of yet), and I feel like I'm adjusting decently to my new workplace. One thing for sure, it feels nice being in an environment where people harp about how young you are. I'd been having a quarter-life crisis of sorts, so being the youngest teacher at the school definitely does my mind some good.

I printed out pictures of famous people with ties to Hawaii and showed them to the kids at school. For better or worse, it ended up turning into a frenetic quiz game of sorts. Some of the more popular answers:

Michelle Wie - Tiger Woods, Maria Sharapova
Brian Clay - Tyson Gay, Usain Bolt
BJ Penn - Bob Sapp, Mirko Cro Crop, Kamehameha
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson - Will Smith, Brad Pitt, Kamehameha
Barack Obama - OBAMAA~. Japanese kids LOVE Obama and go bonkers whenever they see him. I'm not yet entirely sure why.
Angela Aki - "Piano Man" (lol)
Yuna Ito - my sister, my girlfriend
Israel "Iz" Kamakawiwoʻole - Akebono, Konishiki, Wada Akiko