Today's ruminations

Sunday, July 30, 2000

I have to apologize for the lack of messages. As some of you may know, I'm moving back to the US. Tomorrow, as a matter of fact. So, what with packing, mailing boxes, attending going away parties, etc., I've had no time for nothing. Sorry sorry sorry. Give me a few days once I get back and the witticisms will flow.
posted by Brad Douglas 7/30/2000 2:30:48 PM

Tuesday, July 11, 2000

Well, it's been a while since I posted anything. That's because not much is going on. Right now, school is going through exams and so I don't have much to do. So instead of posting on this, I have been using this time to get my Shena Ringo web site up and running. Using free web servers sucks, but I don't have any other choice. I can't wait to get home and get my own web site. That'll be the bomb.

Once I get the Shena Ringo site going full steam ahead, I'll put a link somewhere over there. I should at least get some titles up on this page. I'm so damn lazy. Or at least, I'm so damn easily distracted.

I just got the word thatI'll be going to a B'z concert on July 23. Awww yeah. B'z is a J rock band...no one I know in the US would like them except Ryan. But I think they're pretty cool and I usually like their music. A friend, Takako, has an extra ticket to their July 23 show in Nagoya, so I'm going with her. I'm pretty excited. B'z t-shirt here I come. Ryan, if you want one, better let me know soon. I might be able to tell what styles are available once Takako brings me the fan club info book. (She's a member.)

Even skeptics can enjoy the cover of their latest single, which I believe was done by Rockin' Jellybean. (This store seems to sell a lot of his stuff.) I like his style.

posted by Brad Douglas 7/11/2000 11:28:22 AM

Wednesday, July 5, 2000

Well, this is a surprise. I log in to check to post something and look who is here. It's Chris Dawson, our first guest on Sunlight Overdrive. Cue up the fanfare!

And speaking of Chris' PC-3 camera, I saw a really funny commercial on TV last night for the PC-3. I wish I could somehow post that on here. I should start running my VCR more often.

There are too many good tv shows to tape and bring back to the US. I mean, nearly every show is so stupid, it's funny. There's one TV show called Gakkou e Ikou! which means "Let's go to school!" but it's English subtitle is "The kids are alright groovy after school" and what that means, I'm not sure. To describe this show, let me start with some background.

It's hosts/stars are the members of a singing group called V6. They suck. There's no other way to describe them. They're the worst. They're part of the Johnny's Family, which is a entertainment office that runs a ton of young male singing groups, like V6. (There was some allegations that Johnny, the head of the group, was gay and forced his young charges to "perform" for him, and if you see the sheer number of nameless faceless young boys in his groups, you can't help but believe those rumors.)

At any rate, there's probably 3 or 4 TV shows for his various groups. And while the singers are some of the worst actors/hosts/singers you could ever find, and while a lot of the segments are obviously set up, they still find some way to be funny, simply because they're so stupid.

This show, Gakkou e Ikou!, like all the others, are "variety"shows, with different segments starring different members of the group. One segment, whose title I've forgotten, started off with getting a bunch of Japanese high school girls giving advice to lovelorn loser guys. If you know anything about modern Japanese high school girls, then you can guess that basically they picked the guy apart, telling them why he was a failure. It's mean-spirited and you get the feeling that it's all set up, but it's funny anyway.

This segment turned into a quiz show like thing where college student would tutor the girls for one hour on various subjects and then the girls, in 3 teams of 2, would compete in a quiz show with embarrassingly easy questions, which they absolutely couldn't answer. Again, you think they're missing on purpose, but the mere fact that they may actually be that stupid is more than enough to make it funny.

One of those tutors, a Tokyo University student, got the nickname "Da ze" because he always ended his sentences, no matter with "da ze". "Da" is the informal form of "desu" which basically corresponds to the English verb "to be" and "ze" is an emphasizing word, usually used only by guys and rarely used often. But this guy used it all the time. So now the show is sending him on dates with the girls he tutored because he once told the show's hosts he thought one girl was pretty cute. So now they're off on dates to the mountains to barbecue, dinner parties at his house, etc. Again, it's all staged, but it's still funny.

Maybe I'll bring it home with me.

Is there print club in Australia? if so, I want print clubs from Down Under on this page immediately, if not sooner. There should be print club everywhere.

If any of you have some pictures you'd like on this page, go ahead and post them. But try not to make them too large.

Next time: How Japanese people are the purest (or most naive) people in the world.
posted by Brad Douglas 7/5/2000 12:44:35 PM

OK, so this is 'blogger.' Hmm, cool. I can say whatever I want on Brad's page. Well, from here in Australia, Japan seems about as far away as it did in the US, only closer in time. Ben is here, he cooked tonight, what a deal, I think I really could turn this flat into a youth hostel and just get all my meals cooked for me as payment. Got my Sony PC-3 camera courtesy Ben, despite Ben's honesty at customs, I did not have to pay dooty on it. It's so small, I'm almost confused. My kodak digicam looks like a Taiwanese girl's cell phone it's so huge in comparison. The PC-3 even came with "print club" style photo frames on the memory stick (tm). I agree on Gladiator, just the right amount of violence, action and Australians. I'm wondering if Patriot will be a bit heavy on the last ingredient. That is all for now, I'm sleepy, and I have to go work tomorrow. Later.. -Chris
posted by Chris Dawson 7/5/2000 1:29:02 AM

Tuesday, July 4, 2000

Man, it's hot. It's not as humid as it used to be, but it's hot as hell. It's about the same temperature as back home, according to the weather forecast I saw on Yahoo. It's a little bit hotter here. Plus the A/C in my car doesn't work. During the 10 minute drive home, I turn into a sweat soaked fool. I wish I could have working A/C, but I'm only here for one more month, so what's the use?

Fortunately, the guidance office has full-on A/C PLUS Internet, so I'm always in here. Looking at stupid stuff on the net and not sweating. It's nice.

So I heard that Tecmo will be releasing a new version of Dead or Alive 2 for the US called Dead or Alive 2: Hardcore. More stages, more characters, more modes and most importantly, more costumes. So I sold my Japanese version and got Kinniku Banzuke 3: Road to Sasuke. I love these games. I can't get enough of them.

No response on the calls for guests to make appearances here. Sad.

That is all.
posted by Brad Douglas 7/4/2000 2:51:03 PM

Monday, July 3, 2000

Well, the votes (or vote) is in on changing the neame of this site. I've gotten one definite "no" on "Star Platinum". "Sounds like a gay night club", says Joe Kinder. Well, then what should I do? I definitely will not change it to shopping in Japan. I mean, I'll be going home to the US soon. What'll I call it then? "Shopping in Japan by Internet"? Give me some better to work with, please.

I saw Gladiator this weekend. Best movie I've seen in a long time. Heads and arms getting lopped off all over the place, SPQR in the house, Maximus is simply a hard ass. Too cool. Loved it. My wife was tearing up in the end. (She's Japanese, they cry a lot.) Great great movie.

I'm in a bit of a pinch recently. You'll notice in one of my earlier posts, I talked about Calorie Mate. Well, the news had a story recently about how copper wires had been found in it. Bit of a mistake in the processing plant it seems. I don't think I've eaten any copper, but in any event, I've stopped eating Calorie Mate for lunch. Which leaves me with the problem of what to eat. I've been buying bread-based snacks at the school store but it's not cutting it. Aki suggests I buy onigiri, or rice balls, on the way to work, but the most convenient convenience store never has any good ones. Lunch now kinda sucks. But at least I can still eat blueberry yogurt.

You know, the posting I've made that has had the most feedback was when I mentioned Kettle Chips. I got a big 2 emails about that. Ryan said,

looking at the kettle foods page made me want some salt and pepper chips. "salt salt and pepper's here! ooh baby baby, baby baby. get up on this!"

Chris merely confirmed that I had Kettle Chips and then proceeded to ask me about something called Tim Tams or something. I don't know what he's going on about. And he wants to guest star on my page. Maybe I should have a new guest every week. But I only know like three or four people. I guess I could rotate them. Any interest in guesting on my page?

My quest for Shina Ringo good continues. I see on Yahoo Auctions a video of some kind of specials that were shown on cable here a while ago. Some guy is selling them. Y3000 or about $28. Do I buy? Hmm...
posted by Brad Douglas 7/3/2000 12:18:07 PM

Friday, June 30, 2000

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been lazy. I've had plenty of time, but I couldn't motivate myself. I blame the weather. It's tsuyu now here in Japan and that's the rainy season. It rains all the time and when it's not raining is humid as hell. Add temps in the 80s and life sucks. I can't imagine a more uncomfortable environment. Well, actually, once you add the mosquitos that are everywhere, biting me and the prevalence of bacteria, mold and other wet clime-loving natsy shit, the more uncomfortable environment comes a little closer. Basically, Japan in the early summer sucks. I can't wait to get out of this weather.

I'm thinking of changing the name of this place. What do you think, which is better, the current Sunlight Overdrive or "Star Platinum"? I've already got one vote for "Shopping in Japan", but I'd like something with a little more flair.

So the past few days I've just been trying to stay dry. Japan has some of the most screwed up rules and customs I have ever seen. Take, for example, air conditioning. Greatest thing mankind ever invented, right? So why is it that very few homes have central air or heating? Office buildings and such have them, but homes don't. Japanese people will say "Japanese home are made so that central air or heating is unnecessary. It's warm in the winter and breezy in the summer." Which is bullshit. It's cold and drafty in the winter and sucks up heat in the summer. Though I have to admit, the one-room air conditioner that is prevalent here is pretty cool. Dehumidify, ionize and clean the air all while cooling your room too!

Anyway, it's been in the upper '80s and '90s for a month now and do we use the air conditioner in the teacher's room here at school? No! You can't turn on the air conditioner until July 1, tomorrow. It's a rule from the Board of Ed. What is that? We suffer just because of some rule? Who made that rule? Some fat old man sitting in an air conditioned office, that's who.

Bye.
posted by Brad Douglas 6/30/2000 10:47:46 AM

Monday, June 26, 2000

Oh, what a weekend. Well, it wasn't really all that great.

Saturday I saw MI:2. Aki and I planned to go see Gladiator, but when we looked at the newspaper, some theaters were showing an advance showing of MI:2 Saturday only. So we went and saw that. It was dope. John Woo was in full effect. Not as much action as I thought, but cool nonetheless. Made me want to learn how to ride a motorcycle.

After that we went to have some dinner with some friends of ours. We went to this place called Tengu, which is a bar/restaurant. It was ok, not great. I like all of those folks, but I would've preferred to go home. Anyway, we all made a date to see Gladiator next weekend. That's one good thing.

On Sunday we went swimming and then downtown again to do more shopping. We bought some Kettle Potato Chips which are the bomb. Naturally we bought Sea Salt & Vinegar. Nothing better. (Just looking at their home page now, I never knew how many flavors are available. I can't wait to go home and eat more potato chips.)

Had tacos for dinner. Yum.

That's all.
posted by Brad Douglas 6/26/2000 3:31:05 PM

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