Michael Jackson and the Flying Slipper

Though I've laughed at and told many jokes about him, I've always been a fan of Michael Jackson. It wasn't until recently after he died though that I actually realized how big of a contribution to music, dancing, and the world in general he made. I still don't realize all that he did, but as I learn more about his life, I will.

Since his passing, I've seen some people on the internet that have been mad because everybody's making a big deal of this, because there are so many people in Africa (or wherever) that are dying everyday, so why should we make a fuss. Those people are fricking idiots. Nobody knows those other people who are dying, and those people have never done anything to affect our lives. Michael Jackson has done a lot to affect people's lives. Not just through music and dance, but also through contributing to causes, organizations, etc. Sure, people should be sad when people die even if they don't know them, but it doesn't affect them as much because well, they don't know them. Wake up, crackers.

Anyway, the floors at my JHS here in the Japans are slippery enough that when walking down the halls or just walking around in the classrooms, I take a couple of big steps and do a slide. This sliding ability provides plenty of slide to enable doing the moonwalk, and that's what I've liked to do sometimes over the past 3 years (though doing it in slippers can be tough and might not look as cool...).

Recently, my kids have wanted me to do impersonations of Michael Jackson, because they love it. So one day when I was in a classroom waiting for them to get lunch served up, etc, (they eat at their desks in their classrooms) some of them wanted me to do an impression of him. So I started singing and dancing, and kicked my foot up in the air. Well, you don't wear shoes at schools in the Japans, you wear slippers. When I kicked my foot up in the air, my slipper flew off and headed to a group of tables. It hit a couple of times, missed the first lunch tray, barely missed the second, landed on the second (without touching the food), then fell bottom down on a girl's bowl of rice and fried fish..... I was kind of shocked that it would land in her food that perfectly. Immediately after that happened, another teacher came in the room, but I down-played it as I had already got it back on my foot, and then quickly exchanged her food for mine. If the teacher knew what happened, I don't know, but all of the students erupted in laughter and I heard some of them telling others and the teacher all the details. It wasn't quiet for a few minutes after that. Needless to say, I apologized with a dogeiza.

Fuggin

I commented on Reuben and Clarissa's blog, and the captcha it gave me was interesting...

Pure Loogie Awesomeness

I've been kind of sick for the past week or so. I'm kind of starting to get over it, but I still have mucus that I have to spit up throughout the day. This morning while driving to work, I sucked together all the loogie goodness from my nasal and throat and hocked it out the window. To my pleasant surprise as I looked at it fly out the window, the clear part (spit) quickly flew backwards, while the green part (phlegm/mucus) continued on a straighter path. I have never before seen such awesomeness as this in my short life. The complete separation of spit and mucus from my loogie... I about had an accident in my pants...

Accepted to Grad School

I applied for the Asian Studies master's degree program at the U of U, and was accepted for Fall 2009. I've got my schedule worked out and have signed up for my classes. 4 of them will count for the major, and one of them won't because it's just a 1000 level class that I'm taking to better prepare for grad school at Hawaii. Yuko will also be going to school at the U (assuming we can both get residency tuition... if we don't, the milkman will make his strike). In fact, all 4 classes she is taking are 4 that I'm taking too. So she'll be able to take all of her classes with me. Score 1 for us against the textbook Nazis. Suckaz!

We'll go to the U of U for a year, and then I will (hopefully) go to Hawaii for 2 years to get master's degrees in Japanese and Anthropology. After that, I want to get a PhD in Anthropology. Right now, I either want to do that in Hawaii, or I might be able to get it (or do part of it) through Hawaii while going to a school in Japan and doing research. That's still 3 years away though, so who knows what will happen.

Florida Video

So I finally got the video for our trip to Florida (July 2006) done. I was planning on editing it right after I edited our trip to California when we got here in the Japans in late 2006. But after I got done with the video for California, I looked everywhere for the Florida tape, but it was nowhere. The only place I thought it could be was in my camera that I left home. So I had that sent over, and we got it open by taking it to an electronics store here (they didn't send the power chord with it, because they had no idea where in the frick it was). Anyway, it was in there, and I just finished editing it. I put it up on youtube, but the audio was disabled almost immediately. Those nazis are getting pretty quick with that stuff. So you can check it out either on Facebook, or the video page on my website (under 2006).

Nabana 2008 Video

This is the video from when we went to Nabana no Sato last year.



Better video quality here.

Sumo

I went to see sumo this past Wednesday. It was SOOO awesome. Your butt starts hurting after awhile, but it's well worth it once you get into the last 2 hours. On the tickets, it says it starts at 10:00am, but we got there about 9:20am, and they were already going at it. Very few people were in there already. There were however, really annoying gaijin (foreigners) that would yell cheers for sumo wrestlers, etc. How in the frick do they even know these guys in the first matches I wonder... They're never on TV or anything. These people must be completely infatuated with sumo. Sumo otaku nerds.

Anyway, me and Yuko's grandpa were on the 6th row from where the wrestling took place. It was so close I felt I would get a shower when they ran into each other and sweat spewed forth in all directions. Before the popular guys started coming on, I went out to the entrance to try to get some of their autographs. I saw three guys, and got one autograph. I guess it's pretty rare to get an autograph from the more popular guys, but I managed one from an ozeki. I also saw Hakuho (yokozuna), but no signing from his ace.

Some people say that if you want to go to sumo, then just buy the cheap nosebleed seats, and you can still sit close in the morning when nobody is there. That's fricking stupid. Why would you be satisfied with sitting close to see wrestlers you don't even know, and for the guys that you do know, you are so far away you can barely recognize them? Stupid people and their stupid thinking...

For the last 3 hours, they bring out the baskets of salt that the wrestlers throw onto the ring. These last 3 hours are also televised. We were on TV many times. In fact, Yuko's grandma was watching it and was very surprised to see me. She didn't know we were going. She was jealous that grandpa went with me because she would have liked to have gone too.

One cool thing about sumo is that when they come in, they walk through the same place that you walk. There are no underground entrances or whatever. So anybody can be up really close to any wrestler as they walk in or out. You're not supposed to take video in the wrestling place, but I did. Nobody said anything, so I didn't stop. When I tried to take video of my favorite guy as he was walking in though (Asashoryu), security stopped me and said I couldn't take video inside. Whatever. At least I got to see my guy. Suckers.

The video for this is going to be awesome. When I get done I'll post it on here. But first, I've got to finish Nabana 2008 (basically finished it yesterday) and Florida.

A Present From The Turds

Two weeks ago, I stayed home from work for the entire week (doctor's orders). On the Friday before that week (January 23rd), as I was driving to the elementary school, I was feeling pretty beat. As the day went on, I started feeling really cold and just crappy in general. Directly after work, I had a kanji test to take at my junior high school, so I drove my butt over there and took that, which drained me even more. After that, I picked up Yuko from work and we drove 1.5 hours through the mountains to her home in Sakurai. I was pretty beat. The next day, we helped a family friend with cleaning and other stuff related with her moving out of their house. Great stuff to do all day when you feel like crap. I did however, talk to her about sumo tickets, and she hooked me up. I'll be going to sumo in March and I'll be sitting on the floor. Can't wait to see thousands of pounds of pure sweaty flesh in nothing but big g-string things. AWESOME.

Anyway... after that, we went to eat sushi. I couldn't even turn my head at all to look at the sushi on the conveyor belt. If I did, my eyes would start to KILL. I went to bed early, and woke up in the middle of the night sweating. We took my temperature, and it was at about 104. I went to the doctor the next day, and it sucked having to get up and walk around to get there. They had free masks at the receptionist window, so me and Yuko both got one. There was some kid behind us, making noise and bumping into the back of our seats. I was sooo ready to scare the crap out of him and tell off his dad because his dad was doing nothing. Actually, he was tickling him and encouraging him to bounce around. If I could have turned my head and eyes even somewhat without pain, from then on, anytime they would even see a foreigner, they would drop everything in their pants. Lucky for them, I couldn't.

My turn finally came, so we were sitting outside of the room. We heard the nurse and doctor say, "Oh no... What should we do??" I was the first foreigner they had ever had there, and they didn't speak English, so they were pretty nervous and worried about what to do. I wonder how they thought I got the medical papers filled out that they gave me...? When Yuko walked in with me though, they were relieved. He stuck a long Q-tip up my nose and twirled it 20 times, and then tested it. It came back positive that I had the flu, and he said that I got a nice present from my students. Those pricks.

We went back home and I went to sleep. I woke up to watch the last 30 minutes of sumo though. It was the last day of it, and it was to decide who won the tournament. My guy (Asashoryu) won after having a playoff between (and winning) the other grand champion (Hakuho). Fricking awesome. I went back to sleep and woke up to eat some dinner and to watch the Japanese historical drama that is on every Sunday. Then, feeling like complete hell, I drove 1.5 hours back home through the mountains in the dark.

The next day, I stayed in bed all day. Yuko came back from work at about lunchtime. I got up and sat at the table to try to eat something. I got really light headed and fell down to my hands and knees, because I was starting to black out. I didn't faint, but I felt soooo completely out of it for a minute. I've never done drugs, but I can only assume that it feels something like that. I could hear what Yuko was saying, but had to work so hard to answer. After this passed, I got up to the table again, but it happened again, so I got down and just laid down on the futon for a few minutes. Then Yuko spoon fed me while I was laying down. I finally was able to sit up against the wall (still on the floor) and she spoon fed me some more. I could barely open my mouth. It was pretty rockin'. The doctor said to not take a shower that whole week because it weakens your body. So what happens? I get a damp washcloth bath from Yuko, all over my body. Awesome stuff, I tell ya, awesome stuff. I had that privilege for the next few days. I wonder who enjoyed it more, me or her.

I was pretty out the next day and most of the day after that. Thursday was the first day that I actually put the futon away during the day. I wore a mask the entire week too, trying to not give Yuko the same thing. She didn't get the flu, so I guess she was either lucky or it worked. During the week, I would sweat many times while sleeping, day and night. I have never changed clothes so much before in my life (they would be drenched every time I woke up, and I was in bed all day, so I went to sleep and woke up many times per day). We even had to blow dry the sheet I was sleeping on sometimes because it got so wet.

Anyway, that's pretty much my flu experience. Over the week before that, and the week I was home, more than half the school was gone every day, due to the flu. I was in the middle of one class, and they just sent them home because of it. I didn't have to use my days off, because I got sick days though. Woohoo!! The Japanese teachers can't do that though, they have to use their regular days off. Oh, the privileges of the gaijin...

Yoshino Video

This video is from when me, Yuko and her mom went to Yoshino National Park in April 2008 in the Japans. There are literally thousands of cherry blossom trees and they're all over the place. We timed it almost perfectly, since when we went, the blossoms were just falling off the trees near the bottom, and the trees near the middle and top were in full bloom.



Better video quality here.

Too Tired To Brush

On New Years Eve, we stayed up a little while afterward, watching TV. I went to get our toothbrushes, and I guess Yuko was really tired. I gave her her toothbrush, then went to drain myself. I came back, and she was still laying under the kotatsu, but was sleeping... with her hand on her toothbrush in her mouth. I thought that was hilarious. I woke her up then went to finish brushing my teeth. She continued to brush. I came back and she was asleep again. This time though, both her hands were also under the blanket of the kotatsu, her toothbrush hanging out of her mouth. Interesting...

All My Videos

This post is to update my blog with all my old videos and montages. Why I never thought of putting them here in the first place, who knows. These are all in the same order on my website, so you can go here to watch them. If the title is gray, that means I'm not done with it yet. Anyway, starting with 2008:

2008
Okinawa 2008 - Trip to Okinawa (July)
Mameya 2008 - All natural food restaurant (June)
Nabana 2008 - A place with lots of flowers (May)
Yoshino - Famous cherry blossom place (April)
Ichigogari 2008 - All you can eat strawberry farm (April)
BBQ - Barbecue after the ichigogari (April)

2007
USJ - Universal Studios Japan (December)
Christmas Party - (December)
Nabana no Sato - Lots of lights and flowers (December)
Kyushu - Trip to Kyushu (September)
Nagoya - With Corey in Nagoya (July)
Mameya - Natural food restaurant (June)
Okinawa - Trip to Okinawa (May)
Akame Falls - Hiking at Akame 48 Waterfalls (May)
Ichigogari - All you can eat strawberry farm (April)
Sakura - Cherry blossoms (April)
Toba - Trip to Toba (February)

2006
Reception 2 - Reception in Osaka, Japan (December)
Florida - Honeymoon (July)
California - Honeymoon (June)
Reception 1 - Reception at the Devereaux (June)
Ceremony - Wedding ceremony (June)
Bridal - Bridal video at temple square (June)
Pics - Pics from growing up to our wedding (June)


2003-2005 (photo montages)
Kansai Gaidai - Study abroad in Japan (8/2004-5/2005)
Nagano 2 - Summer study abroad in Nagano (May 2004)
Nagano 1 - Summer study abroad in Nagano (May 2003)

2008
Hakusan CMs - Commercials made at Hakusan JHS

2005
Gaidai CMs - Beer Commercials we made at Kansai Gaidai

This post will always be current, as I will continue to add to it as I make new videos.

Mameya Video

I guess what I really should have been doing in the 2 year posting absence I had on this blog was posting the videos of trips and shiz that I've been making while here. Whoops. I'll make an update of all the videos from the past couple of years on the next post maybe. Anyway, here's the most recent one. It's of when we went with Yuko's mom and friends to a restaurant called Mameya, south of Matsusaka. A bunch of old ladies live down there and grow their own food from the surrounding fields and use only that food there. Even the tofu that they have is made from the beans that they grow. It's a pretty nice restaurant with lots of traditional Japanese food. And next to the restaurant are their ajisai flower fields, which are pretty sweet. Those flowers are in bloom from May to June though, so you've got to go then to see them. During one season (can't remember which) though, in the absence of ajisai, they have a huge couple of fields of sunflowers. That's pretty sweet too. I'll see if I can find a picture of that later and post it here.

Anyway, here's the video:


Better quality can be viewed here.

As for the sunflower pics, I put 2 of them here.

初詣

初詣 (hot sue mow day) is the first trip to a temple or shrine in the new year. This year, we went to Omiwa shrine again, since it's about a mile away from Yuko's house. It's the oldest temple in Japan or something like that. There are tons of food shops, etc, along the road to the shrine. Everybody goes to throw coins in the box in front of the temple, and to pull omikuji. This year, both me and Yuko got kichi. Thousands of people go, the traffic sucks, and it's cold, but nonetheless rockin'.

The Nabe

Nabe is a Japanese food which has a TON of variations. The one we ate with all of Yuko's family on January 2nd (this is traditional, we do it every year) was a water base, then you put all kinds of stuff in it like vegetables, mushrooms, meat, crab, fish, other seafood, etc, etc, etc.... It's pretty dang good, and is awesome when it's cold outside.

New Years Day Breakfast in the Japans

There is a traditional breakfast that families prepare and eat on New Years Day. I'm calling it breakfast, but we ate it at about noon. As you can see from the pics, it is a bunch of different kinds of foods separated and put neatly into those plastic box things. The big fish is a "tai". In English, I don't know what it's called, so chill. All you need to know is that it's fish. Everybody takes their chopsticks and picks at it like vultures tearing apart a carcass. It's pretty rockin'. The person who is the same sign as the current year gets to pick at it first. This year was the bull, so Yuko got to go first. In the soup, there is mochi. Without eating mochi, your new year celebration is fake. We'll continue to eat all this stuff over the next couple of days until it runs out. There are reserves in addition to what you see in the pics, so it lasts a while.