Author: Justin

Guy Gabaldon

This post over at f*ckedgaijin reminded me that I hadn’t posted about Guy Gabaldon yet. You really should read that last link, some of his exploits were seriously amazing. My mom sent an e-mail informing us of his passing which I quote below:

“Sometimes, life is seemingly unfair and we don’t get what we want. Guy did not get his medal of honor while alive, however we shall see what happens in the near future. I called his family in Florida today and Aiko, his daughter, said that Guy will be cremated and half of his ashes interred in Saipan and the other in Arlington National Cemetary. They asked if I could attend his funeral and of course I said I’d be honored.
Steve Rubin, the war and history film maker and producer, said that he got permission from Universal to re-release “Hell to Eternity” so that it can be packaged with the new documentary on Guy’s life (amazing footage, including one of Guy lobbing a grenade into a cave on Saipan). When it comes out, I’ll be given a copy so that anyone of you may see it, if you’re interested.”

Of course, all of us kids saw Hell to Eternity several times because our mom was in it (both our mom and dad were in war films, mostly in minor “Japanese” roles), but I never got to meet Guy. I wish I had. And it goes without saying that I think he should have been awarded the MOH. 800 prisoners! How many lives did he save?

Semantix

A deaf man with no eyes was arrested for driving in Smethwick, England.
His defense is quoted as stating, “the question is not whether his driving was dangerous, but whether being blind makes it dangerous.”
Sure it is.
Just like the question is not whether lawyers are crooks, but whether getting paid to rabidly felch each other in courts of law makes them crooks.
………..
In other news, this is funny: The Ultimate Blog Post

What do you do?

I’ve been compiling a task list at work to hand off my replacement, if they can ever find one (I may be *ahem* hard to replace). The thing is, I’ve always done a lot more at any job than what I was originally hired for, and it’s hard to quantify exactly what I do. Regarding my current job, this is also compounded by the fact that I work on a sensitive project and even as I type this, a post-resignation NDA is waiting to be filled out on my desk (were all the previous NDAs not specific enough, or what?). So for the purposes of describing my duties during the past six years, I always have to be very general about what I do.
Sometime I’m envious of people who can say, I’m a doctor/lawyer/Indian chief, because there’s a certain image attached to such professions (respectively: make people better/lie, cheat, and steal/serve on BOD of major casino) that, if not exactly accurate in every case, represent at least a fair guess in the right direction. Many corporate titles, however, tend to serve less purpose when used outside of the specific organization where they are used. What is a Liason? An Officer? Or for that matter, a manager? These are fairly broad terms. Plus, they tend to sound over-important to people who matter.
I need to think about this a bit more. I mean, I’m not going to embellish retroactively or anything, but I need to be able to describe clearly, without sounding like I’m trying to bullshit – I have done the time and I do have marketable skills, but I’m obligated not to describe what they have been used for until now, which is unfortunate. So, for the inevitable question, “So tell me about yourself,” I need a strong answer. Some possibilities:

  • If you enter Chuck Norris Justin Yoshida as your character name in Oregon Trail, you will never die, because cholera is for pussies.
  • Jack Bauer Justin Yoshida does not sleep. He waits.
  • Crop circles are Vin Diesel’s Justin Yoshida’s way of telling the world that sometimes corn needs to lie the fuck down.
  • When in Justin Yoshida’s presence, Chuck Norris urinates sitting down.

Chatting

Jabber transcript with my little sis, currently doing a gross anatomy course:
sis: you know how when people die, their muscles relax?
me: yeah
sis: that includes their sphincters…
i couldnt figure out what was sticking out of my guys behind at first
it was amazing

MT Update

I updated MovableType to version 3.32 just now and it seems to be working a lot faster than the 3.31b version we were using before.
Anyway, now I have Widgets and StyleCatcher to play with, so you things might change around a bit; don’t be scared off. I might let my feminine side take control of this blog’s design for a couple days, but things will probably return to normal after the estrogen levels decrease.

Rot Canal

The worst thing about getting a root canal, so far, is the pungent stench of rot that permeates my mouth when the epoxy plug is pulled out of my tooth every week for cleaning, and then replaced again. My dentist’s insistence on holding conversations in pseudo-English while my mouth is filled with drills and shit comes a close second, but that momentary putridity is always a kick in the pants. It is disturbing on a basic level to be reminded that cells are constantly dying within one’s body…
Today was the last check and antisepsis before getting my crown – that’s in two days. I’m assuming it’s a painless procedure, so if any of you know differently, please shut the hell up until then.
Also, I just realized this is my first opportunity for bling: Although the crown is going on my rearmost molar, should I go for gold instead of the stainless look? How about a 1-carat diamond? Nothing says pimp like a 1-carat spinning stud on a gold crown, right? Hell, maybe I’ll ask my dentist to install some hydraulics and fuzzy dice to match.

A walk to the estuary


This is the Sumoto River. It joins the sea just under the bridge. It is rich in mullet, and not much else, although they used to farm unagi in this area, before the big typhoon.

I’ve always liked this bridge, ever since I first saw it – when I came here for the job interview six years ago. Ironically, the cops like setting speedtraps right around the spot I took this picture and it’s the only place in the world I’ve gotten a non-parking related ticket.

A loading door on the top floor of the new city gymnasium, near Jusco (aka ” Mecca of Awaji”).