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Carol Compton
This pub eludes me. I’m trying to get a hold of a copy for Nam, who wants to use it for her thesis and borrowed this copy from her prof.
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On Inspiration and Foreign Language Study
Uninspiring story #1: The Japanese girl who really went to Los Angeles in pursuit of life ala Beverly Hills 90210. (seriously.) Uninspiring story #2: Her best friend, who followed two weeks later. Inspiring story #1: My former female coworker, who taught herself English by reading the newspapers used as stuffing in the pineapple boxes shipped from Hawaii to the fruit stand she worked at as a child. Inspiring story #2: Japanese (especially schoolkids) who can’t even return basic greetings in English, yet can instantly extend a middle finger and shout a healthy “FAKKU YOU!” like it’s second nature. On a related note, I’m one of those people who learn languages…
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Medical Tourism in Mosonmagyarovar
So it has finally come to this: The incidental tourist An American woman opts to pay $4,300 for a ten day vacation/medical trip to Hungary where she gets dental work done that would have cost an estimated $11,150 in the states with insurance. No word on whether she will play the next Jaws in the 007 series… Apparently it worked out well for her, though. Come to think of it, the hospitals and clinics I’ve been to in Thailand were cleaner than what I’m used to seeing in Japan or the US – and they were a hell of a lot cheaper to boot (another fact – completely irrelevant and…
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Asbestos
Check out this article in the Guardian: Japan’s asbestos time bomb This is a HUGE problem on my island. Before they built the longest, tallest, and most expensive suspension bridge in the world between Awaji Island and Kobe, the only way to cross was by ferry. Hundreds of ferry boats operated by several companies made the trip between the island and the mainland (mainly Kobe and Osaka) every day. Of course, the bridge eventually killed this industry, and predictably, left thousands of locals without jobs. My company employs several of those ex-ferry workers. In fact, the guy who sits right next to me is one of them, and he is…
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Matsuda Yusaku
I totally scored an out-of-print DVD box set of the entire Tantei Monogatari (Detective Story) series on Yahoo Auctions last night! This was a very famous TV series in Japan and is virtually unknown overseas; the same goes for the star of the show, Yusaku Matsuda (best known overseas as the character Sato in the movie Black Rain). He was the shit back in those days, and his popularity hasn’t waned a bit over the years. I take pride in being his greatest gaijin fan – only a real fan would consider a 300 dollar DVD box set a real bargain, figuring, you know, that it’s an investment.
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International Symbol of Marriage
Thanks to all you truly compassionate friends and readers who have sent me this over the past couple weeks – HAHA… But the joke’s on you, because in less than a year’s time I’ll be living in the steamy jungles of SE Asia, building my army of monkeys and surveying a nice spot for my teak plantation while my wife teaches all day at the university… I’ll think of you all fondly then.
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Scavenge
It has a flashlight in place of a headlight!
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Penki-e
Bathhouse murals fading fast in Tokyo I’ve never been to a sento in Tokyo, but I’ve seen these murals in Shizuoka and Nagano. The one in Nagano was at an ancient bathhouse with a single medium-sized bath and rust-colored hot water trickling from corroded lead pipes. The room was lit with a single bare bulb, and besides our group, the only other customers were shriveled old ojisans who claimed the rust was good for their kidneys. All I know is that it smelled like old pennies, and I rolled around in the snow outside to wash the rusty coating off my body afterwards. The one Shizuoka was really funny because…
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Herbs like herbicide
Jesus Christ on a pogostick, didn’t any of these assholes watch Little Shop of Horrors? GM crops created superweed, say scientists Stick that in your pipe and smoke it. (via mofi)
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Shovel in the gut
My, oh my. Real life is just a parody of commie propaganda in North Korea: Bodyguards & Mass Games
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