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I forgot to mention

that I did, in fact, get a chance to see the Japanese remake of the movie Sideways, and while the general story was pretty much the same as the American version (a man about to get married and his friend go for a bachelor party trip of sorts in Napa Valley), the movie was basically wildly different.  At least, I think it was (I saw the original in theaters, which means it’s been quite a while since I saw it and I may not fully remember it), but as far as I remember, the characters had very different personalities and the events unfolded completely differently.  Granted, some of it was changes made to accomodate for the fact that they were Japanese people going to Napa Valley, and also to make it more accessible for a Japanese audience, but I remembered the original being really really funny, and I only laughed out loud once or twice while watching the Japanese movie.  And the Japanese people in the theater weren’t laughing either, so it wasn’t just cuz I didn’t get it.

One thing I did think was interesting, though, was that I was watching the credits at the end, and nearly all the American characters (i.e. the staff of the various vineyards) all said “Jim Johnson (or whoever) played by himself.”  And it was filmed on location in Napa.  So I’m guessing that maybe instead of hiring actors to play the roles of the vineyard staff, they just let all the actual staff members be in the movie.  I thought that was pretty cool.

Other than that, though, I didn’t like it very much.

1 day ago

December 1, 2009
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photo Cleaning out my computer today I found this old cell phone camera pic from almost 4 years ago.  Meeting and talking to Cheech was so awesome.  He was far more intelligent and impassioned than I ever expected him to be.

Cleaning out my computer today I found this old cell phone camera pic from almost 4 years ago.  Meeting and talking to Cheech was so awesome.  He was far more intelligent and impassioned than I ever expected him to be.

2 days ago

November 30, 2009
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photo Saw this sign outside a hostess bar in Toyama City.  The piece of paper attached at the top right says “Sexual Harassment: ¥4,000”
My question is, are you paying to be sexually harassed, or are you paying to sexually harass someone else?

Saw this sign outside a hostess bar in Toyama City.  The piece of paper attached at the top right says “Sexual Harassment: ¥4,000

My question is, are you paying to be sexually harassed, or are you paying to sexually harass someone else?

1 week ago

November 25, 2009
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video

The bento and soup, as received

The bento and soup, as received

Split open the tofu wrap and... voila!

Split open the tofu wrap and... voila!

Now to open the bento...

Now to open the bento...

Revealing the top layer

Revealing the top layer

Awesome

Awesome

Now for the bottom layer...

Now for the bottom layer...

Double awesome

Double awesome

The leaf-wrapped sushi, unwrapped

The leaf-wrapped sushi, unwrapped

A seriously gorgeous meal

A seriously gorgeous meal

These are some pictures I meant to upload a while back, but am just now getting to them.  This was a fantastic bento that I had at work a week or so ago.  One thing that I love about the culture here is that presentation is very important in Japan.  This is something that, if you came to Japan, you would probably discover within a few hours of being here.  At pretty much any place you go, from the most expensive stores around all the way down to the seven-elevens, they treat presentation of merchandise with great care.  It’s incredible.  And it’s probably one of the things I will miss most about Japan when I return to the US.  Because even a ten-dollar bento lunch, with the right presentation, can make you feel like you’re eating like a king.

1 week ago

November 25, 2009
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Japan's lack of daylight savings time

means the sun is down by the time I get home from work.  That is a major downer.

1 week ago

November 24, 2009
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video

My girlfriend just turned me on to this Japanese web series called “The World of GOLDEN EGGS”, which is basically a whole bunch of nonsense, but I’ve been laughing my ass off watching it.  It’s a series of short ad-libbed sketches that 2 guys recorded with a microphone and then made animations to go with it.  It is subtitled in English, although I can imagine that having some knowledge of Japanese would make it funnier, but you should give it a try even if you don’t know the language.

1 week ago

November 24, 2009
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photo Good morning, internets!

Good morning, internets!

1 week ago

November 24, 2009
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text

I have to prepare a one-to-two-minute monologue for an audition this coming weekend and I’ve got nothin yet, although I was thinking of doing one of Bateman’s from American Psycho.

Any other suggestions?

1 week ago

November 23, 2009
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chat

How our half of the conversation almost always goes when the phone rings in the teachers' room at school (translations in parentheses)

  • Teacher: Moshi moshi, sakurai chuugakkou desu. (Hello, this is Sakurai Junior High School)
  • pause
  • Teacher: Eh (yes)
  • pause
  • Teacher: Eh (yes)
  • pause
  • Teacher: Eh (yes)
  • pause
  • Teacher: Eh (yes)
  • pause
  • Teacher: Eh (yes)
  • pause
  • Teacher: Eh (yes)
  • pause
  • Teacher: Eh (yes)
  • pause
  • Teacher: Eh (yes)
  • pause
  • Teacher: Wakarimashita. Shitsurei shimasu (Okay, got it. Goodbye)
  • click
  • I hate when the phone rings because I know the next 45 seconds or so are going to be really annoying.

1 week ago

November 23, 2009
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video

Buddhist temple resorts to cosplay to draw in visitors

Apparently the Ryohoji temple, in a suburb of Tokyo, was so hard-up for visitors that they decided to setup a temporary cosplay/maid cafe.  Only in Japan.  The shocking result: they have seen a sizable increase in the number of young male visitors to the temple.  Read the article here.

For those of you unfamiliar with the concept of a maid or cosplay cafe (mom), go read this and/or this, or just do a google search for “maid cafe” and you’ll see tons of articles and pictures.  It’s one of the many Japanese cultural things that’s cute on the surface, but really creepy the more you learn about it.

1 week ago

November 22, 2009
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