The Cloud's Silver Lining.

Yesterday it was really pissing down, so I decided to walk to work. En route home, I walked through our local Temple, the 薬師堂寺 (Yakushido). I pedal past this place periodically, but never stop
to smell the maple.









One of those really cool sights that only happens in Japan. This shrine, which I believe is a tribute to children who have passed on, has gathered a motley mix of tributes.
















The entire Peanuts gang gets in on the action.
Cans of coke, coffee and more toys than I have (not really.)

























These guys have seen better days. How long have they been there? (That Mickey is really creeping me out!)

A very awesome and spooky looking tree.

On the way out, I passed this Japanese Maple tree and liked the shot, so I took it.












Here's a little write-up of the history. Why transcribe, when I can photoshop it?

I may have to walk home more often, who knows what I may discover?

Expensive Toilet Paper!

You can find all kinds of strange things or people in a Men's room, but someone has upped the ante and offered a flush fund to those in need. So next time you're hanging around the John, you might just find a little bonus!

Stuff I Found Interesting While Surfing.

I haven't done a News link dump in awhile, so here's some choice articles for you to check out.

ANA (All Nippon Airlines) is now providing bidets in its Boeing 787 flights. There are more bad puns in going potty than you'll find in any of my average posts!
(Note: this link is good, the rest of the ones on this page are defunct!)




When you want to write dirty words, but are a pg site, it's best to use symbols to express yourself. This $&!?=#ing site will give you the scoop on some of our more interesting Marks.




If you're a real blockhead you can order some of these. It certainly is the coolest block set ever
but MAN is it freaking expensive! It'll cost you close to 700$ when each word is about 100 bucks a pop!




























I haven't seen the latest P of the C extravaganza yet. At their request, I showed my English Club students Pirates 2 and, having already snoozed through it last year, spent the 2+ hours emailing during it. In #3, Chow Yun-Fat portrays a Chinese pirate hanging around Singapore (much to the chagrin of the Xinhua censors complaining of the stereotype.) It's nice to see some enterprising real-life Pirates of Singapore pillaging some Japanese cargo ships. Pretty lame buccaneers though, they arm themselves with knives and steel pipes. What's the matter with muskets and cutlasses?

There's a blight on the Coral Reefs of Okinawa for the White Syndrome Disease that has been terrorizing the Great Barrier Reef, et al. has struck there.




Alas, there hasn't been any progress in the search for the killer of Lindsay Ann Hawker so a campaign has started hawking Hawker t-shirts. Let's plaster the face of this nasty killer on our chest and maybe someone will be able to point the cops in the direction of this bastard.

And finally, you don't tug on Superman's cape, and you don't mess around with Ichiro. When Oakland starter Joe Blanton tried to retrieve the ball near the Seattle dugout, he shoved Ichiro, who had scored on the play. A brawl then broke out so that'll teach them!

The Real Magic Monkeys.

I saw a movie the other day, and while at the theatre, clicked a few pics of these posters. It appears that one of the SMAP (Sports Music Assemble People...kind of Japanese version of the Monkees) boys, 香取 慎吾 (Shingo Katori) is starring in a new version of the Monkey Magic saga. I don't know too much about him or the other SMAPpers, but I have seen him on a few tv shows, mainly a Quiz show about English phrases. He also portrays a cross-dressing Chef named Shingo-Mama. I just now discovered that it is this character that provided me with the greeting mode I use when I see my students, "Oh-Ha". I use it quite often, much to the amusement of those I greet, but I never knew who I stole it from. (I thought I stole it from a Morning Musume song.)






Back on a secant*, the Monkey Magic Movie which opens next Saturday has the theme song and another song sung (Around the World) by none other than our Monkey Majik pals. Blaise once told me that he was commissioned by the SMAP guys to write a song for them. He later told me that it fell through, but another project was in the works. I guess this is it! If you want a few more details about the original tv show, you can always check out my post from about a year ago.

When we saw the guys in concert last week, they did a Live version of the song especially for the Sendai crowd. It had only been tried out in the studio prior to that. We got to see history in the making!

ps. A congrats goes out to the SNOTS who tied the #1 undefeated team today 5-5. Alex & Nori got 2 goals apiece and Blaise picked up two assists. Lazy me didn't get my beauty sleep this afternoon, so I was too fatigued to trek out to the Arena to watch them.

*You see a secant is the opposite of a tangent, so when you go off on a tangent, to get back on topic, you have to go on a secant.

A Blaise of Glory.

Tonight was the second last game of the Summer hockey season for the Snots. Kudos to the guys for winning 3-1.











The first goal and a later assist went to Blaise Plant (of Monkey Majik fame.) After a 2-month tour of Japan promoting their latest album, he was a little slow on the skates for his beer belly is like jelly. But he performed admirably. See below for their latest hit.














Nori of Echophonyk promotion fame also did well with a goal and assist of his own. The other goal was scored by Gori, the puck hog.












Alex Mokugohan Hutton managed to squeak off an assist when his breakaway patented wrap-around the back of the net shot was stopped and then rebounded in by Blaise.









They were up against the "Ladies Rabbits". Their team is comprised of all young does (female bunnies) and like their namesakes are very swift. (And unlike Japan's indigenous rabbit species, 奄美の黒兔 or the Amami rabbit, they are not endangered.) They piffled a goal through the legs of the excellent Snots goalie, and though speedy, couldn't put the puck on the net often enough to score again. There was no "warren peace" in their own net for their Doughy Doe of a goalie prevented many a Snot slapshot from entering her hutch.


I do love their logo, a Winking Bugs poking out of a puck.

























A bit more trivia for you: Japanese believe that there is a "Rabbit in the moon" who spends his time making 餅 (mochi=rice cakes). This is much like the pareidolia of our "Man in the moon" belief but this guy doesn't make rice cakes.



They have another game tomorrow, and I have yet another Monkey Majik tale to recount, but now it's bedtime.

Tanabata.

The Star Festival takes place today in all of Japan (except Sendai, we celebrate next month.)

Here is the history of the Tanabata Festival as recounted in my favourite Japanese Lessons online:
The Star Festival finds its roots in a Chinese legend (Kikkoden) about the love between the weaver and the herdsman (represented by the stars Vega and Altair). As a result of their great love for each other the weaver neglected her work on clothes for the gods, and the herdsman neglected his cattle. As a punishment the emperor of the heavens moved the stars to opposite sides of the Milky Way and stated that they should only be allowed to meet once a year on the seventh day of the seventh month. On this night a flock of heavenly magpies use their wings to form a bridge that the weaver can cross to join her lover. The magpies will only make the bridge if the seventh is a clear night; if it rains the lovers must wait another year.

During the festival poems are written in honor of the two separated lovers, and women pray to the weaver that they might acquire skill in weaving, music, poetry, and other arts.










The Tanabata song goes like this:

笹の葉　さらさら (Sasa no ha sara sara)
軒端に　ゆれる (Nokiba ni yureru)
お星さま　きらきら (Ohoshi-sama kira kira)
金　銀　砂子 (Kin gin sunago)

The bamboo leaves rustle, rustle,
shaking away in the eaves.
The stars go twinkle, twinkle;
Gold and silver grains of sand.

If you'd like to write a wish click away. I hope it is granted!

MMMM. Choco-burgers.

We interrupt our regularly scheduled blog for a commercial message. Aquaman's lovechild, Laura desires these little Chocolate burgers. They were BoingBoinged, so they gotta be good!
















I bought some last night, but I think I got an inferior brand. There were tasty enough for a チョコクリームサンド (Chocolate-Cream Sandwich) but they don't look as yummy as the ones in some guy's blog.









While I was in the スパ (supermarket), I snapped a few pics of some other weirdly-shaped choco-treats:

Some kind of weird conch-shaped thingies called たけのこの (take no kono). I liked the little Kokeshi-like dolls in the corner.











I've had these mini-mushrooms before and they are a very common snack amongst the natives. But don't expect to have a trip.











But the wackiest has to be these choco-tree stumps starring a stoner-lumberjack on the package.

CA-NA-DA!

Yesterday was the annual "Student's Sensational Singing Showdown."

I got up on stage. Greeted by much hooting & hollering (not sure if they were cheers or jeers), I belted out a version of a perennial Canadian favourite from my youth. Nobody under the age of 40 has ever heard of this tune, but if you were 8 and it was Canada Day during Expo 67 (Canada's Centenary), you were inundated with it. I haven't sung this song since 1967, and some of my lyrics were a little off, but it's not like my audience would notice. (Full disclosure time...I also sang this tune last year, so it was the 2nd time in 40 years.) I was filmed by some of the AV nerds, so I'm going to try to get footage of me up on YouTube!

Meanwhile, get ready for some true Canadian Cheese:



Happy 40th Anniversary to Bobby Gimby's song.

A bonus YouTube for you Hockey Night in Canada Fans. Back at Expo 67, there was a Documentary called A Place to Stand. Ontari-ari-ario was the theme song for it. (It was written by HNinC composer, Delores Claman.)
If you thought Ca-na-da was cheesy, this is Limburger!



Back in our Curtain Call days, Uglahoma spoofed this with these lyrics:
"Give us a place to study
with a dimlit room,
And we will start ...
A baby boom.
Facs girls, Vets and OAC, who really needs the U of G?"

Happy Anniversaries.

A tip of the hat to Canada's southern neighbours and a belated nod to our birthday last Sunday.

It's Un-Canny!

My favourite Aquaman site has linked to ecdysis (the moulting process undergone by most arthropods, especially crustaceans. Very well written article which makes the whole process easy to understand.

This in turn inspired me to photograph some of the carapaced-creatures I've collected over the years. These two 蟹 (kani which means crab in Japanese) were acquired with bottled water purchases.

This crabby fellow is named Ganime (ガニメ) and he showed up in 1970's Yog, Monster from Outer Space (or Yog, The Space Amoeba).







Since it isn't a Godzilla movie, I actually haven't seen it often, but it's good for a lark. Sorry, I don't know if Ganime gets a chance to moult in this one. (Gani or Kani means crab and if you look closely, he more resembles a lobster than a crab. But don't quibble please.)

Here Godzilla is helping エビラ moult by chowing down on one of his claws. Ebira (ebi=shrimp/ ra or la is a common Japanese monster suffix) never does get much chance to moult in this one for he's defeated rather swiftly by the big G.






The カイジュ (kaiju =Japanese monster) that is most closely associated with the intention of this post is Destroyah. Created when the Oxygen Destroyer killed the original Godzilla in the Original movie, Destroyah starts out as a colony of crustaceans resembling a horseshoe crab-like creature, then moults into a 6-legged, 2-metre tall creature, then changes again into a much larger 18-metre creature with claws and sharp appendages and ultimately metamorphoses into a 120-metre flying form with a laser horn and a micro-oxygen ray.

Which has ultimately inspired me to show the B52s in their finest video. Man-oh-man, that brought back the memories of flailing around on the floor of The Bullring back at the University of Guelph oh-so-many years ago! (Dagnabbit! It was the greatest Dance-bar ever and now it's a Coffee House.)

Greetings and Sa-ru-tations.

Everyone seemed to enjoy the concert last night, including myself. I especially loved the keyboard solo (by Taka?) and subsequent Solo by Blaise, Happiness. I snapped this pic before the concert started and they'd banned photography thereafter.














After the concert, everyone snapped a picture of the lineup, so I had to do so as well. For those of you who can't read blurry prints, here is the lineup for you:

(The CD it's from is in brackets)
1. One Moment (eastview)
2. I like Pop (SPADE)
3. fly (fly)
4. All by myself (thank you)
5. Political behaviour (SPADE)
6. I was waiting (eastview)
7. Wait (SPADE)
8. Wish I (Lily)
9. Alright (Lily)
10. 5:30 (SPADE)
11. フタリ (フタリ=futari=two people)
12. Around the World (Around the World)
13. Falling (Around the World)
14. フミダスチカラ (SPADE)
15. Thank You (thank you)
ENCORE:
16. Happiness (Happiness)
17. Turn (thank you)
18. MONKEY MAGIC (Monkey Magic = their new album)
19. illegible Japanese (sorry)

After considerable confusion in locating an after-party, we finally settled on this one restaurant with lots of room for drunken revelry. The organizer extraordinaire, (Mariko) currently works in ticket sales for Dralion (Cirque de Soleil outside of Japan) and two of the Muscovites joined us. Nice guys and if you'd like to learn how to say "Cheers" in Russian, try Nasdrovya.






I met the Deep Purple dude (Naobao) again.














Afterwards, Rob & I moved on to greener pastures, with some young pup named Nick. Nice enough kid, but by the end of the night became a pain in the behind. En route to 305, we had a bear-beer, yummy.














Around 3ish, I ditched my companions and went to Extra.













I stayed there and milked a beer until 7:30! I caught the first bus home, fell asleep and had to backtrack with a half-hour walk home! DOH!

Oh, Canada.

(Utilize a downward inflection on Canada and a tut-tutting tone.) Did you know that according to the Chinese Immigration Act, effective July 1st, 1923 all Chinese Immigration to Canada was banned? Since "Dominion Day" coincided with this date, Chinese-Canadians referred to this date as "Humiliation Day". The act was repealed in 1947 after the Chinese contribution to WWII was brought to light (including some Nazi-esque Death Camps). Chinese-Canucks are seeking compensation (much like the cop accredited to Japanese-Canadians in the 80's.

But enough about that, how about all the good that has taken place since then? Here are some of the festivities taking place this year and if you're really interested, check out what the Canadian Heritage page has to say about today.

For you jealous souls out their who aren't Canadian but wish you were, find a copy of this book on faking Canuckness.















Here's a nifty animation portraying the history of Canada's Provinces and Territories and their admittance to the Canada we know and love today.

I spent today sleeping most of it away after partying until 7:30 am. What did you do?


Check out Bob & Doug celebrating their 24th anniversary on May 24th...



Happy 140th Birthday, Canada!

Sa Ru Later...

Tonight is the big Monkey Majik concert. Ending their Sold Out tour here in Sendai, the boys come home to roost and we'll be there to greet them. I'm certain they'll put on a wild show for us (and the other punters who came to see them) and hopefully we'll have an equally wild after-party.












Stay tune tomorrow for a review, until then Sa Ru Later! (You see, SARU means monkey so it's a bit of a pun...hahaha)

Just the Basics.

Or that should be the Vesak. Japan celebrates this particular Buddhist celebration a month later than more Southerly Asian countries, but a good time is always had by all.

Juicier and Juicier.

Ah, the repercussions of the last Saturday's event continue to trickle in. We managed to rake in a sweet 1250 yen profit from the extravaganza! First time out of the red in ages. (It would have been sweeter, had it not have been necessary to add to the coffers of the Tokyo duo.)

DJ Mark Saito has a terrific blog write up here, has a podcast here and has posted his very own YouTube tribute:



Other write-ups include one from Mr. Organizer (DJ Mixture) and our new Echophonyk Webpage designer, Nori.

According to these guys, they actually enjoyed DJs Wayyne and Whatever. Am I getting too old for this doodoo? (Or do I just hate techno?)

The next formal event will be on August 24th. Details to follow...