Delta Blues

Just wanted to point out an outstanding site dedicated to the blues: Junior’s Juke Joint
The design is simple, and I suspect that’s the way Junior likes it. Don’t let the looks deceive you – it’s filled with great stories and links. If you dig hard enough you’ll happen upon some real gems, like the ones below:
Eric Clapton: Me & Mr Johnson
Nellie Jackson’s Whorehouse
ANOMIE AND HOMELESSNESS: AN ETHNOGRAPHY OF RURAL NOMADS
That third link is pretty much a must-read.
Blues fans might be surprised to hear that I’ve met way more Robert Johnson fans in Japan than I ever did in the states.

Chikan ha akan

Finally: Sweet, sweet justice.
After my little sister got stalked home by some sicko in Sakai last year, I have absolutely zero sympathy for these fuckers. I’m also happy there were a couple of off-duty cops involved, as it may prevent the civilians who took the guy down from getting in trouble.

Today’s Question

Why is it even news that Toyota is expected to overtake General Motors as the world’s top automaker?
I don’t think anybody can dispute that Toyota makes better cars, or that they are the healthier company.
The market wins out, right? Besides, GM has been shooting itself in the foot so persistently for so long, they might as well switch over to shoemaking.

As My Elephant Softly Weeps

Note: Sorry if I’m boring the hell out of you with wedding stuff, but I only intend to get married once, and I want to document the entire process. Plus, it’ll be all over in a couple months.
Yesterday, spurred by my incessant urging, Nam called the pachyderm rental company. The closest one is apparently located in Surin province, an hour or so from Nam’s house in Mahasarakham. A while ago, I wrote that it only costs thirty bucks or so to rent an elephant for a day, so I had intended to rent several of the peanut-sniffing louts – Small, Medium, and Large, at least. Indeed this would have been possible as recently as a few years ago. Now, it is going to cost around ten times that much! What happened, you ask. Progress happened, my friends!
I am extremely happy to report that the sudden rise in price can be attributed to a single factor, one for which I am more than willing to pay. The elephant gets a ride to our house on a truck, instead of having to walk the entire distance on the side of the highway! This is something that I hadn’t even thought about before. I had just assumed that there were rent-a-elephant franchises a lot closer to Nam’s house. Apparently there is legislation forbidding the passage of walking elephants on the highways, or perhaps the people who own the beasts really care about them – either way, I’m happy! Plus, there’s an added bonus! The people who own the elephant said they would wash the elephant all nice and clean (this is not to be taken for granted in any SE Asian country), and pimp it out with a riding harness and ph-ph-ph-ph-phat threads! Awesome!
But the best is yet to come. Nam told the owners that we wanted to use the elly in our wedding parade, and asked if it would get spooked by all the people surrounding it, plus the drums, etc., that mark a traditional Cosmic Buddha gathering. Guess what? The elephant likes music. It dances when it hears drums. In other words, to start out our wedding day, I will be RIDING ON A PIMPED-OUT, DANCING ELEPHANT. Fuck a Cadillac, yo. Pachyderm is the new pimp. This is going to be the greatest day of my life.