Singing Trucks and Crab Flied Rice

Who says life in Japan is boring.......

some things you may not know about Japan:

- the cars and trucks not only talk, but I have just discovered that they sing also. Mostly, the cars just talk to you when they are turning or backing up, saying something like "Be careful! Danger! I am backing up/turning right/turning left." I think that's what turn signals and reverse lights are for...but apparently not. Now, we have a neighborhood truck that drives around singing to us, like my own Natalie Cole CD doesn't occupy me enough!

- the menus in "English" here often provide for a good night of entertainment. Let me give you an excerpt from the Asian Kitchen's "Englishi" menu:
"~REFUSAL~
1. This englishi menu also completely has the one that it is not possible to explain. Please acknowledge it humbly though it is when differing from the immagined commodity.
2. Please acknowledge the customer's who demands the dish which a lot of dishes which use pork, beef, and seafood and pulls out pork, beef and seafood it is necessary to telling to the clerk in charge when ordering, and might not be able to correspond to the customer's demand according to the dish."

A sample menu selection.....
"-combustion rice that vegitable and minched meat got on."
"-hot water cigar deep-frying of eggplant and cheese."
"-hatching fin been jam imposing of crab flied rice."
???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
(I just laughed as Craig tried to read this English menu, and I read the Japanese one instead because at least it made some sense!)

Michiganders

I knew we were useful for something! (actually that's quite an understatement because we are useful for LOTS of things)...but Slashdot's got quite the blog going about overcoming spam with an anti-spam fax law! hurrah for Michigan lawyers! For the complete article, see www.linxnet.com/misc/spam/mi_spamsuit.html.

Win Without War

I'm not a one-sided political advocate toward most issues, so this whole idea of whether or not to wage war has taken a lot of thought on my part. Some basic thoughts I always feel when considering war include "If there is a viable alternative, then choose that, not war," and "We should be cautious to maintain our international relations with other countries in order to provide a cohesive and unified effort towards world peace." I know these are quite broad, but I feel they serve as good underlying principles for my thoughts. War sometimes is necessary (I don't deny that), but it is the worst of trageties and should be avoided if possible. Our country, God bless it, does not seem currently that is attempting to avoid war and seek alternative solutions. My friend Janey referred me to the site www.winwithoutwarus.org which does a quite thorough job of explaining the alternatives and options we have other than war. I think one problem with all the arguing over the war I hear lately is that people either seem all for it or all against it, without putting out any real reasons for it. Check this site out and give it a thought...but most of all just pray for our country and our leaders that they will make the right choice.

Words for today

I did learn some new words while reading Prozac Nation. I actually managed to be efficient enough as to circle the words and then even look them up! So I'm going to share them with you (whoever may be reading this):
.1. Morose = adj. a) having a sullen and gloomy disposition b) marked by or expression of gloom. Syn=sullen adv.=morosely n.=moroseness, morosity
.2. Defenestration = N. the throwing of a person/thing out of a window
.3. Detente = N. the relaxation of strained relations or tensions (as between nations); also - a policy promoting this
.4. Beatnik (actually Craig knew this one) = N. a person who rejects the mores of established society (as by dressing and behaving unconventionally) and indulges in exotic philosophizing and self-expression (i.e. Mike Myers on So I Married an Ax Murder)
.5. Harangue = N. a ranting speech; V. To give a ranting speech
.6. Elocution = N. The art of public speaking
.7. Sublimate = V. to divert the expression of (an instinctual desire or impulse) from its primitive form to one that is considered more socially acceptable. /*I think the entire Japanese language is subliminational./*
.8. Paroxism = N. a sudden violent emotion, action or fit/attack. = "outburst" or "convulsion"

Oh...a cool sidenote, you can hear the pronunciation of these words on www.webster.com !! kudos to modern technology for having such handy little webpages!

Books you should never read

I seem to have a knack for picking dumb best sellers thinking they will be something of a joy to read. Wrong. Here are two books you shouldn't read if you were thinking about reading them:
1) Prozac Nation. Did you know that someone could write a complaint that takes 350 pages to accomplish? Granted, I do feel like I have a new insight into the mind of depression, however with no real plot or point, as well as a hasty conclusion, it's not really worth it.
2) Shogun. Now some of you may freak out at this. "What? It's like the greatest all time book ever written about Japan!" Wrong. I'll try and find a better one and then recommend that. Mr. Clavell needs to learn some Japanese, and really some realistic writing styles. Mostly it's a book for those with lots of testosterone oozing out of their systems because 80% is filled with war-planning. Oh, but there are some really funny references to Japanese-names of body parts translated to English! It was probably the only redeeming value of the book actually...

Snowpeople cont.

This is a Japanese-made 2-balled snowman:

This is what happens to a Japanese-made 2-balled snowman:

(photos courtesy of Andy Luce)

3rd dimension

you know those really annoying pictures that were popular about 5 years ago, where you could stare at a pattern of corn or crackers or whatever and see a 3-D image? Well, they put them in our daily news here in Japan (apparently they are still a fad here). Craig has been staring at the current one (which is a teacup and saucer) for about 10 minutes. I think his eyes are starting to twitch. ~@>@~ Can anyone explain how to see these things? I told him to look at it like when you look at your two index fingers pointing towards each other and a hot dog appears (or fingertips in the shape of a hot dog). He's going bonkers, and in the process, driving me bonkers!

Ideals

I have now confirmed with Xian that the ideal breakfast time is 11:30 AM. This is when everyone should now start eating breakfast ^_^

Satisfaction

The wait is over, and I have thoroughly enjoyed Tolkien's Two Towers, courtesy of Peter Jackson. After a good beer and a good night's sleep, I want nothing more than to see it again. But the ultimate question to ask is, is it worth another 1500 Japanese Yen? This means another 12 bucks or so to movie kingdom, and I'm gonna have to think long and hard if it's worth it. Maybe I'll go Wednesday - that's "Ladies night" - it only costs 9 bucks! What a deal!!

Japanese Snowmen (well, for the politically correct "snowpeople")

So, my hubby and I were out snowboarding today, and these boarders built a snowman by the side of one of the lifts. It was a traditional Japanese-style snowman, in that it only had two body-segments (i.e. balls - but some people take this the wrong way, so I try and keep it clean for all those naughty people out there). Well, Craig and I, seeing this tragedy to snowpeople (yes, I know I keep intermixing the terms, sorry), decided to remedy the problem. We quickly followed our comic idol, Calvin, and built a monster snowman with crazy stick-hair and outstretched arms - built entirely in the proper 3-balled way. He was a proper samurai snowman, who was trying out his new stick-sword, and had chopped off the other snowperson's head (thus, the two-balled snowman). We did everyone a favor by building the head lying next to the 2-balled snowman to help explain the situation. This is a lesson in cross-cultural understanding. See, we are trying to learn the bushido, i.e. the way of the Japanese warrior, by using snowpeople to illustrate samurai. We are also promoting the proper way of building a snowperson - with three snowballs - thus shedding a light on American culture.

Drummers

So, I am writing for the real first time on my blog, at the begging of the good lad, Xian, and also because I am amused at the situation at hand. Oh....the situation at hand: There seems to be a battle ongoing outside of my house. See, these samurai are parading down the streets bellowing out war cries and banging rythmically on drums. prrrrrrrrrrrummmm pppppppruuuuuuuuuum something like that. Actually, it's not really a battle cry, or so I'm told (though it very much sounds like that to me). It's actually our friendly neighborhood reminder to be careful of fires. Yes folks, fires. You see, these houses have flamable tatami mats, and with all the indoor fireburning that people do around here, we must have our due drum warning. ahhhhhhhhhhh Japan...