!Die 2008 Die!

I used to hate New Year's, now I just don't care. To be fair Japanese New Year has it all over the American one. We have K-1 and jinjas. Can't beat it with a stick. Everyone does these year end round-ups and I feel the need to play along, but I never had a good sense of what happened within the confines of a year, and living abroad makes it even worse. Your best movie of last year might have just rolled in on Betamax here. I don't know.

Album of the Year: I looked at other people's lists to figure out what albums came out this year. And the only one I had was Jack Johnson's "Sleep Through the Static." Which I don't even like. I can't find anything that I listen to that came out this year.

Song of the Year: See above. The only song from this year that I know is A Mili. Maybe we'll go with that.

Movie of the Year: Hands down The Dark Knight. It absolutely lived up to all of its hype. I wasn't as nuts about Heath Ledger's performance as most, but it was very good. An action movie that was about moral choices and their ambiguous results. I liked it far more than I thought I would and I love Batman. I also got to see it in IMAX with Susan Goslee, whom I like watching movies with, so it was rad. Honorable mention: Tropic Thunder, which I also liked far more than I thought I would. I am sure I am forgetting something.

Fight of the Year: Conventional wisdom says Maeda vs. Torres. Probably. I am going out on a limb and putting in for some short fights. I will say Hazelett vs. McCrory. Penn vs. Sherk. And Le vs. Shamrock.

Wave of the Year: Not many to be had this year. However, I had a few hours at Waikiki, which, despite everything; the tourists, the crowds, the angry locals, the rented shit board, the time restrictions, is still one of the greatest experiences in life. I have said it before, they don't let you shag flys at Fenway Park. They don't let you play quarterback for the Packers, but anybody can paddle out at Waikiki and soak it all in.

TV Show of the Year: The Wire was on, so of course it was The Wire. That being said, we are in the golden age of television ladies and gentlemen.

I guess that is all I have. Hmmm.

Mochi Robot of Death!!

Run! RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mochi Time!!

Natsuki lives in an old, wooden shack. She drives a pick-up truck.

This is mochi. That is flour next to the mochi.
This is a kitchen with a dirt floor. We are boiling rice for mochi.
Natsuki's folks are good people.

K-1 DY-no-Mite!!!!!!!!!!

Did I lust after the last UFC as much as I drool for this? Probably. Was I disappointed like the Christmas when my sister got a stereo and I got a screwdriver? Probably. Will that stop me from bouncing off the walls until tomorrow night? No. No. And no. Will the fact that no one who reads this will be able to watch K-1, besides Ed, stop me from writing a preview? Was the Pope a Nazi in his youth!!!

I am cutting out all the K-1 Koshien fights, because I don't follow 15 year-olds.

Minowaman vs. Zimmerman: Seeing Minowman live last year made me go from unyielding hate to unrepentant affection. He warmed up a cold crowd. Still, he is low on real talent, especially striking and he gets kicked around in this one. Zimmerman. TKO. 2nd.

Sato vs. Kyshenko: Toss up. Kyshenko by toughness.

Tokoro vs. Nakamura: Oh, Tokoro! How I do love the. The scrappy floor scrubber. He bathes in his sink and kicks ass by night. If you had never seen a fight, I would show you Tokoro. I loves him. Tokoro by leg-lock at the end of the 1st.

Sakaguchi vs. Ologun: I don't really care. Yet, Bobby's little brother is actually rather talented. Ologun, decision.

Sapp vs. Kinniku Man: Fight's a joke. Kinniku Man is being played by an actual wrestler. He takes Bob down and beats him up. TKO in the 2nd. Unless Bob Sapp has some residual talent and drops a hammer fist from the sky....

Schilt vs. Mighty Mo: Nobody is really giving Mo a chance. I see Schilt winning too, especially since it is a MMA bout. However, a big Mo hook can take anybody out. I see Schilt getting a late TKO from being a giant.

Sakurai vs. Shibata: If Sakurai still cares about fighting, he walks through Shibata with a KO in the 1st. Too much talent.

Kawajiri vs. Takeda: An MMA fighter fighting a muay thai fighter under K-1 rules. Takeda is a little old. Kawajiri is on a roll and has great stand-up. Kawajiri by KO in the 2nd.

Overeen vs. Hari: Hari is a headcase. Despite his horrible conduct I love watching him fight. I think he is the best straight-up kickboxer going. I think he is enough of a headcase that his recent troubles don't even phase him and he goes right back to work. If it were MMA I would not hesitate t go with Overeem, but it isn't. If Overeem can get the clinch, he wins. I think Hari is too big and strong for that. Hari by KO in the 2nd.

Cro-Cop vs. Choi: Choi had a brain tumor removed. Cro-Cop fights like he has a brain tumor. Cro-Cop from 2 years ago was a human wrecking ball. Cro-Cop now? Choi ever? Cro-Cop cuts down his front leg and Kos Choi in the 2nd.

Mousasi vs. Musashi: I get it! Their names are the same in Japanese. I want to name my kid Musashi. Plus he is from Osaka and good. Mousasi is this year's MMA revelation. This is a K-1 fight. Musashi by decision from K-1 experience. It will be a sweet fight though.

Hunt vs. Lebanner: MMA rules? Are you kidding me? Sweet ass. Hunt is one of my favorite fighters of all time. He weighs 300 pounds and has a head made of wrought iron. Took Cro-Cop kicks like they were Nerf balls. Hunt wins by Atomic Butt Drop. Whenever.

Aoki vs. Alvarez: Call Donkey Kong suckas, 'cause it is most definitely on. If you grapple, it is very hard to not pull for Aoki. He is to submissions what Jesus was to Nazereth...Pennsylvania. That being said, who is more on fire than Alvarez? What a great fighter. While Aoki's sub ability is out of control, he has always been a bit fragile. Reality called and told me that Alvarez will out wrestle Aoki and the beat him silly. My personal reality sees Aoki taking the back and strangling the muhfuh. Reality via reality.

Hansen vs. Cavalcante: Hansesn is one of my all time faves. His striking is good. His head is steel. His heritiage is Norwegian. What is really impressive is his ability to get back to guard, no matter the circumstances. Cavalcante is like a small tank. Or the Batmobile. He is a talented brickhouse, who just keeps coming. I don't know with this. I will say Hansen by decision, but it could go a myriad of ways. It will be a great fight.

Sakuraba vs. Tamura: Bad blood that somebody forgot to put in the fridge. Fights that would have been great 5 years ago. I actually shed tears seeing Sakuraba in person last year. He is in my top 5 of all time and is truly, truly one of the best ever. Tamura is also a legend in the sport. This is really a battle of who is more damaged. The answer is Sakuraba, but he is also more talented. If Tamura can punch Sakuraba really hard in the face, then he can win. If Sakuraba can get on top of Tamura on the ground, he can wrench his shoulder off. I go for Sakuraba by destiny. Watch for Tamura's sick leg kicks though.

Put it in your piggy bank. Arash Markazi probably doesn't follow k-1 so...screw it.

UFC:92 Eartha Kitt Dies

You know those predictions I made....ignore those please.

UFC 92: Eartha Kitt Lives!!

Actually, no, she is still dead, but Commissioner Dana White feels bad about it. I have to be honest with you, I am more excited about this card than I was about Christmas. Not the idea of Christmas in general, but the specific details of this Christmas, which turned out being pretty fun, thank you very much. This card is rad, and next week's K-1 is rad and you should be ashamed for not thinking so. Shame!!

Hardonk vs. Wessel: Same old story. Hardonk is supposed to be a jiu-jitsu purple belt, but, still, take-downs result in a Hardonk loss. His leg-kicks, appropriately hyped by Rogan, result in a Hardonk win. I see Hardonk destroying Wessel's legs and winning by being a legit, heavy-weight striker in the 2nd.

Evensen vs. Barry: Barry by Hoost powder rubbing off on him. TKO in the 2nd.

Okami vs. Lister: If you want to sound smart, talk about how Okami's anti-grappling and clinch work will win the fight slowly and deliberately. If you wan to be me, wait for the inevitable Lister submission. Okami will probably win as Rogan goes on about his strange body shape which is know medically as "being Japanese." But I am calling an upset of Lister by sub in the 2nd.

Chonan vs. Blackburn: His easily pronounceable name terribly mangled, the unconventional Chonan wins by something interesting in the 3rd.

Hamill vs. Andy: I am still manning the handbrakes on the Hamill bandwagon. Hamill gave up sometime before his fight with Franklin. This time he reverts to form and mauls Andy in the dirty boxing department. Hamill by TKO in the 2nd.

Kongo vs. Al Turk: I normally back Kongo, but this is my upset special. It is evident that Kongo has very little in the ground department. Al Turk is a little unknown, coming from Cage Rage. I think Al Turk takes him down and works him over. TKO 2nd.

Jackson vs. Silva: Well here it is. Pride revival. Pride lives almost as much as Eartha Kitt. If you don't know, these guys have fought twice in the past, resulting in two of the most notorious knockouts of all time. Both for Silva. Both of these guys are infamous headcases. How they fight is determined largely by how they feel. Silva at this point, is the more known commodity. There are technical aspects to these fights, but I think these are secondary to where they are as humans. Who knows what is up with Jackson. He could be on fire. I think Silva comes in and closes the distance and bullies Jackson. People talk about how there are no kicks on the head on the ground. But there are also elbows. Silva hurts Jackson. TKO in the 2nd.

Dollaway vs. Massenzio: This fight is on the main card? Massenzio by no one caring in the 2nd.

Griffin vs. Evans: A really good fight. I am sold on Evans, but I am picking Griffin. Evans has the speed, power and wrestling advantage. Griffin has size, submission and stamina going for him. Griffin doesn't just have size by a little, he will probably be 20-30 pounds heavier than Evans and much taller. Evans has good takedowns, but the aren't quick takedowns from the clench, they are ponderous, grueling takedowns that wear him down. Griffin doesn't have real striking power, but he is very solid technically and defensively. Evans can win on one punch or kick, but Griffin is very good and not taking that one punch or kick. Also, to what end will Evans takedowns be, when I am not sure he can effectively ground and pound Griffin? I like both fighters and think this will be a great fight. Griffin by decision.

Noguiera vs. Mir: In what department is Mir better than Nogueira? Some people say raw strength, but is that actual? Noguiera is a legend in the sport. He has fought and beaten all of the big names in the sport-his face shows it-only losing to Fedor by decision. He is a part of the sports history and he is younger than me. Scary. Noguiera is a top level boxer and probably the best top-position BJJ guy in the sport. His transitions are perfect and he is also great off of his back. What is Mir better at? Kicks? Ok. Great. I like Mir ok. I loved him leg-locking Brock, but do you really see that happening against Nog. I don't. Nog by top position TKO in the 3rd.

There it is. Put it in your stocking. If you want the K-1 picks early, Arash, give me a call.

Super Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas in Miyazaki so I bring you the two runners up:

Christmas Eve

Well, Christmas Eve is here and I am getting ready to take off for Miyazaki. I'll post the final song from there. in the meantime...

How to Win an Argument

This is pretty much how you not only win an argument but own it. Ooops. I meant pwn it.

Ho!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Christmas Eve Eve Music

Summer's favorite day of the year is here. It is a good day but I would rather be in Florida.

Suicide + Tourism= Yummy

I actually visited Tojinbo on a foggy evening during college. It is famous for suicides and therefor a tourist destination, but I had the impression that these suicides were in the past. I remember the bus being lonely and the vending machines being lonely and the dirty restaurant being lonely. It gave me the imagery that has stopped me from visiting the Sea of Japan again.

NOLA Vigilante Shootings

I don't know who has been following this. It is not surprising, but disturbing none the less.

Bigger, Stronger, Faster

This documentary might not be your thing. It is about steroids, but it grows into being a little more complicated than that. The style begins as fairly derivative, but you start to notice that less. I like that the argument starts to be about the parameters we put on debate. I think this movie is a good companion to "The Smashing Machine", which I highly recommend.

Because a little wasn't enough.

Christmast Music

I broke my Christmas promise because I was mired in Christmas vomit!!! Back to the regular programming.

Victim or Drunkard? Part III: Battle of Neyagawa

So I went to the BOE. They were completely nice about the whole thing. They said they were just worried about me and hoped I had gotten better. I said I was sorry for the confusion. The head of the division also said that my principal and vice-principal had both called him to say that they were sure that I wasn't in trouble with the police, it must have been a misunderstanding and they spoke highly of me. I am grateful for that.

My company.... didn't handle things poorly. I am not angry at them. Their initial reaction, assuming that I was guilty of something and lying about it, was stereotypical, but I give them credit for believing me once I explained myself. It occur ed to me yesterday that I have far more experience in the school system, even in the board of ed. than anybody who supervises me. I think they don't really know how things work and see themselves as adversaries to the education system. They are just foreigner wranglers. I hate that dynamic.

I have also forgot to mention how much I love the Japanese insurance system. Even though I haven't paid in recent memory, I went to the emergency room, was treated and given medicine all for the fee of.......................wait for it......................Americans, wait for it.........................13$. A trip to the emergency room!! Any hospital I want, without referrals or hassle. Suck on it America. Get with the program.

TUF: What We Learned

Phillipe Nover can fight but he has the take-down defense of a small child.
Vinnie should not have allowed himself to believe he was a kick-boxer.
Professional fighters (Browning/Kaplan) can have a sloppy grappling match.

Anyway, it was alright.

Victim or Drunkard: The Saga Continues

Well it is a fine fix I have gotten myself into. Although that saying places the blame squarely on me and I am not sure how much blame I share in this fiasco. Let me explain, apparently while I was asleep, or not conscious at the police station early Saturday morning they asked me a series of questions. Some of which I was able to answer. One of those questions pertained to my place of employment. Attempting to be apologetic and polite I gave them the name of my school and not my company. It was not a　mistake I would make whilst lucid. The police then proceeded, by their own volition, to call the city hall, the board of education and my vice-principal, at his home, at 2am, telling them that I was drunk and being held at the police station.

Let me pause here and say that I have though about this one at great length. Is it possible that I am lying to myself and was a victim of by own debauchery rather than food-poisoning. That I have let food-poisoning become a convenient excuse for my conduct even in my won mind. Here are the questions I have formed around that:

1. Drunkenness won't explain the strange and very noticeable swelling of my face which was witnessed and commented on by my housemate, without being asked about it.

2. When I awoke, I had no sense of a hangover or headache or any feeling associated with heavy drinking. I merely had the severe need to vomit.

3. If it was from drinking, why was I still throwing up at 7-8AM when the last drink I had was at 11pm? That seems a bit of a stretch.

4. This is subjective, but I was on my way home at 11:30pm after beginning drinking at 8pm. This signifies to me that it was something other than drink. This wasn't a night where I staid until morning at shouter drinking cuba libres after a night at Beat Crap drinking whatever is in those cardboard boxes. Subjective, but nothing to indicate the level of drunkenness needed to propel the story forwards.

5. When I was treated for food poisoning, I got better.

6. I lost 4kg over the span of Saturday. That doesn't happen from drinking.

I have gone over it again and again and I really don't think it was drinking, although that definitely didn't help. I also am realizing that I did try to communicate what was going on with the station staff, saying to them, "I really don't feel good. Please let me rest." While they kicked me out of the station, leaving me no way to get anywhere. I don't really blame them.

In any case, the reason I am ruminating on these matters is that the board of education is very angry with me and demanding that I come in and apologize to them and the city hall. I am not really sure what to apologize for. If I wanted to think about it like an asshole I could say that I got food poisoning at a school function arranged by the school with food selected by the school. When I was in need of medical care after eating this food, no city or school employees came to help me. In reality I blame no one, but I also don't know what blame I can accept. I ran through the scenario if I had been perfectly sober. I would have still gotten of the train to vomit. I would have still had no train to take home. I would have still been stranded outside the station. The only difference being, I would have probably asked to go to the hospital.

Anyway

TUF Finale: Bettie Paige Lifetime Achievement Award

There are two factors that make the TUF finals hard to predict. First, the talent levels of the fighters on the show are so disparate it is hard to know who is a good fighter or who just had an easy match-up and therefor looked impressive. Second, after the show the fighters are generally able to step-up their training, and move to real pro gyms and so their level changes greatly from what we saw on TV.

That being said, I will attempt a brief, food poisoning addled prediction.

Polakowski vs. Delgado- I don't know. Don't care so much. Polakowski by KO in the 2nd.

Lawlor vs. Kingsbury- I don't remember who they are.

Roop vs. Nelson- Hmmmm. Maybe Roop?

Bruchez vs. Marshall- Marshall by being a better fighter in the 1st.

Primm vs. Soszynski- Soszynski is a much better striker. I think he will sprawl and brawl and then get a TKO in the 2nd.

Kaplan vs. Browning- Junie's first fight on the show was rather good. His top position grappling was superb. I like that he throws body shots. His last two fights were average to bad. He is training out of Xtreme Couture now, so I am sure his cardio will be better than it was on the show. Kaplan, I don't know if he has much room to improve. Not that he is great, but I think his ceiling is pretty low. If Junie can get on top, he takes the fight. If his cardio is still garbage, he loses. I say Browning by sub in the 2nd.

Johnson vs. Burns- This is a rematch of an earlier fight that ended in a vicious eye poke. Johnson had surgery and is coming back. If Johnson isn't hesitatant in the striking game he wins by TKO in the 3rd.

Gouveia vs. MacDonald- I usually go with the Gouveia win. I don't know on this one. He is coming in not being able to make weight. What does that say? Gouveia could easily get a surprise KO but I am taking his inability to make weight as being significant of something and pick MacDonald by decision in an entertaining grappling match that sees MacDonald pushing for takedowns.

Magalhaes vs. Bader- I didn't really like Magalhaes at first, but his BJJ is the real deal. When all that Bader really has to offer is wrestling. Very good wrestling, I see Magalhaes getting the win. However there is a video floating around out there of Jake Shields, who weighs 170 pounds, handling Vinny in a submission grappling match. But Shields' jiu-jitsu and Bader's wrestling are two different things. Unless Bader has picked up great top position grappling and guard passing in recent months, he loses by sub in the 2nd.

Escudero vs. Nover- Escudero could wrestle this to a decision but what else does he have? I think Nover out strikes him and also has better submisiions. I think the bout is an entertaining back and forth with Nover winning by decision.

There you is. Call me in the emergency room Arash.

Top Viral Videos of the Year

Impressive

I have always been a Ben Saunders fan. Here is his fight from the other night. It was as impressive a win as I have ever seen. Exceptional.

Victim or Drunkard?

I can tell you two versions of the same story. The story remains the same, but if I shift the filter on it slightly what it tells you are two completely different things.

In story one, I woke up in a police station with a terrible taste in my mouth and a coating of vomit on my shoes and in splotches on my clothes. Replacing a headache in the back of my mind is a memory of being a hopeless public drunk in a train station until I was kicked out on to the street where I passed out and was taken in by the cops. I threw up in the police toilet and stared at myself in the mirror wondering what I had done. I signed for my property and caught a train home, periodically throwing up in stairwells and all over my hands. I made it home and passed out in my room failing to make it to Tokyo. Shameful.

In story two, I managed to get food poisoning at the school end of the year party. Trying to make it home, I found that I couldn't ride the train without puking. Not wanting to be a public menace, I got off the train. I sat down in the station and couldn't stop throwing up. I got weak and dizzy. Appearing as another drunk, the station closing around me, I was told to leave. I collapsed on the street and was assisted by the cops who allowed me to sleep on their couch. When I woke up, throwing up bile with out any trace of food left in it, I looked in the mirror and noticed that my face was swollen, especially around my eyes. I struggled to make it home and kept getting waves of nausea. I drug myself to the emergency room, was diagnosed with food poisoning and given medicine, which helped greatly, but left me feeling that all of the liquids had been sucked from my body.

The moral of this story, well not really a moral, the nugget of information in this story which might be helpful, is that food poisoning and being helplessly drunk are very similar to look at but feel subtly different to the sufferer. It was terrible.

Compounding all of this, in their concern for me, while I was asleep, the police found my ID and called the board of education. The board of education was upset and called my company. My company contacted me under the impression that I had been picked up by the police. I have to talk to them again tomorrow, but the hospital says they will write up an explanation on Monday.

This meant that I couldn't make it to Tokyo where my two friends where fighting for the Shooto rookie championships. They both won and I couldn't be there. If I had just been drunk, I would feel worse than I do about it. This weekend has truly sucked. Thinking back on it, it was actually kind of scary.

Corey Hill's Leg

I am posting the link to a picture of Corey Hill's leg injury for those who haven't seen it. If you are at all squeamish about this kind of thing, don't look. Mom, don't look. This kind of injury happens so randomly. No one was doing anything technically wrong in the fight. Don't think it isn't in the back of everyone's mind who kick people regularly. Namely, me.

Recently

Recently I have been hungry for doughnuts. Doughnuts or any other sweet bread, not to be confused with sweetbreads, that has a calorie content to high to be tenable. But I am still thin relatively. I think all of my training for the match a while back is surfacing now and my latent doughnut love will surface next month and I will wonder why I am fat.

At school I have grown to hate first-year Takuma. He was a great student to begin with. Then he became a troubled student that I tried to talk to. Now he is full on stupid. He skips class and plays outside. Asked where he was, he laughs and says, "Playing." Why is he laughing? I don't know. I go to sleep seeing his stupid smiling face. Full on stupid. He is making me nuts. Although he enjoyed making Christmas cards.

Tonight is the school end of the year party. I have to stay out and drink all night and then leave to ride in a car for 7 hours at from 8 in the morning to Tokyo for the Shooto rookie finals. Sorry Ed, I meant to call, but I will only be there for the fights.

I want a doughnut.

My new band, Unvisible (tentatively) was supposed to play a show on the 20th but we can't because one guy will be in Hong Kong. This is the way it begins. We won't play until March and then something will change and we will break up leaving behind good songs for another 3-4 years.

I don't need doughnuts.

Christmas Cards

We have been making Christmas Cards in class all week. It is a nice change to see the kids having a good time and being sweet like kids. I wish we could get them to be like this every day. You know what kids are good at? Making shit. They waste a ton of paper though. The thing about making Christmas cards though is that it means Christmas is coming. I keep saying I am going to make a Christmas CD to play while we work on stuff, but that will mean that Christmas is really really coming. And I'll be here. I'd rather be in Florida. Christmas away from home isn't the greatest thing in the world. I would find some way to be miserable if I were home as well but it would be a sweet kind of holiday miserable. So I accepted things and made the Christmas CD tonight. I made it to combat the Wham Christmas CD that was forced on me today. That means I will be passing the Christmas savings on to you leading up, inevitably in a few weeks to the predetermined greatest Christmas song ever. In the mean time:

Movie

This is how out of it I am. I was in the video store and I came across The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and I thought, "Oh, that's out now?" I had been interested in the book and the movie and remembered hearing that it was going to come out at some point, not realizing that it had been winning film festivals and Oscar nominations, so anything positive I have to say about it won't be anything that hasn't been said.

I was surprised by how good a movie this was. The cinematography was enrapturing throughout. At times it can seem a little forced, but I don't know what other choice you have when you are trying to do something new and interesting. Every performance in the movie was at least solid. Sam Rockwell was outstanding, as I usually find him. I was surprised and impressed with Casey Affleck. It would have been easy to go overboard and play up creepiness or nuttiness in the character but he was able to make it very real and weak where he should have been and angry where he should have been. Really solid stuff. Brad Pitt walks that odd line between good and bad that I often find him in. I generally like his movies. I also think he is very skilled at being physically present in a movie the way Steve McQueen was. I don't mean that he is nice to look at, I mean he is good at making his character present through his stance or his small movements. He is underrated in that sense. He does the little stuff well in this. The subtle stuff. He has moved beyond his over the top job in 12 Monkeys, which I actually liked. , but which wouldn't have been appropriate here. Unfortunately, Pitt just doesn't do authority well. I think it is something about his voice. He sounds really bad yelling and has no real sand as a threatening force. He certainly isn't bad in the role, he is good. Just a small thing I have noticed in several of his movies. I don't think he is good at playing leaders.

I set down thinking I would watch the movie in segments but I got sucked in for the whole two and a half hours. I became emotionally invested in it in a way that I didn't expect. I also found the personal story of Robert Ford more disturbing than I knew that it was. If you haven't already, you should probably check it out.

Funny Elementary School Story

Before I forget:

Last week at Koya-Sho we were practicing Christmas vocab. One of the words was "gingerbread man." We were reviewing the words asking the kids to raise their hands if they could remember them. When we pointed at gingerbread man one boy earnestly raised his hand and was called on. "The ginger gentleman?" He said. Priceless.

It Was Good While it Lasted

Alabama-20
Florida-31

At least the right state won.

Politics: For the First Time in a Long Time

When I went to VCU one weekend FUGAZI played outside, in the middle of the school, for free. Nice. When I went to Alabama, one homecoming we had Alan Jackson, the next we had Blues Traveler. What we are looking at with the Obama cabinet appointments right now is what goes with the territory. I never thought that FUGAZI was going to come play Alabama. Why should I think that? I never thought Obama was going to nominate Noam Chomsky as National Security Advisor and Gore Vidal as Secretary of State. Even if he wanted to, which I never thought he did, the nature of the situation makes it impossible. He is going to operate inside the framework that veers very little from the status quo. When Alan Jackson played, I didn't even bother to know what day (sorry Mom.) When Blues Traveler played, I at least wandered over for a bit. The big change with an Obama administration is that at least people will be doing their jobs and the general aim will be competence and effectiveness, that is the major issue.

To go further, I don't even have a problem with Gates as SECDEF. I think he is doing his job effectively. I completely and totally disagree with the mission of the Defense Department right now, but that isn't going to change immediately so why not leave him to handle it. My main concern was the other neo-con lackeys on the loose in the Pentagon, but it looks they they are going to go, so.... I don't like the image that SECDEF is a tough position and therefor left to Republicans, but I don't think that is what is being projected. I kind of feel like it is a Republican war and that they can pick up after themselves. Plus, as I said above, with Obama as the boss, we can assume (always a precarious proposition) that the fundamental idea that government should work will be back in place.

Most of the time you don't get OPIV you get No Doubt. Instead of Daniel Johnston you get Jack Johnson. Sorry.

Live Blogging: Freezing to Death

It is supposed to drop below freezing tonight. Which means that the temperature in my house will be....below freezing!



I started to re-insulate my room by putting bubble wrap over the jury rigged window that is one end of my bedroom come hallway. That is actually pretty effective, but considering that my one heat source is a kerosene heater, it might not be a good idea to make the whole thing airtight. That is the Japanese heating dilemma. Since most houses aren't insulated, heating a room usually involves first opening a window. Countrerintuitive? Welcome to my world. As I succumb to low levels of carbon-monoxide poisoning, I made this small documentary about my dilemma.

Daimonji

koyo 2008099, originally uploaded by wwc photos.

Jumping briefly back in time two weeks. Natsuki was in town and we hiked to the top of Daimonji Yama in perfect late November weather. It being a holiday weekend there were a good number of people on the mountain. One couple in normal clothes and normal shoes kept speeding past us. Also, many hiking old ladies in their mountain gear who got lost and had to get directions from me. This was the first time that I was able to see Osaka Bay, far to the south, from Kyoto.

Dr. Z

I hadn't realized that Paul Zimmerman had had a stroke. Whether you like football or not (note: I do) Zimmerman's ability and writing style are to be appreciated. He has been around since the old old days of football and is a rarity in sports writing; someone who knows what they are talking about, provides context, and is not willing to buy into hype. His writing style is compelling and his years in the game are convincing. I hope he makes a full recovery.

Elementary School

I haven't talked about school in a while because I have grown tired of talking about it. Little changes, it just moves around in a circle. Being at elementary school throws an odd, diffused light on the subject. Two elementary schools feed into Tomorogi; Ishizu and Koya. Ishizu is smaller and in the middle of a good neighborhood. Koya is bigger and in the middle of a (to simplify things) bad neighborhood. Ishizu's problems are pretty normal. The kids that strike me as a concern there are just sullen. Sullen in a way that plenty of 6th graders all over the world are. I am concerned about them. I would get angry at some of their conduct if they were at junior high, but all in all it seems like the normal issues confronted in any school. Koya, on the other hand, seems almost pathological. The weird behaviour that is manifested at the junior high is incubated here at Koya. Tuesday the fifth graders, who are the worst grade level in the school, were either goofing off, or bullying a kid and kicked him into a window, breaking it and cutting his head open. I wasn't here for that. I didn't see their reactions, but it is fairly typical. Yesterday to fifth graders were fighting, when an older, female teacher went to break it up, they kicked her repeatedly in the legs.

I almost hesitate to comment, not having the clinical language or training to do it properly, but it seems, as I said before, pathological. I realize a lot of what I describe can be written off as "That's just kids." Or "That's just that age group." But I have spent a lot of time with a lot of kids, and this is just strange. Let me list out a few characteristics:

1. Refusal to accept responsibility for anything.
2. Willingness to lie beyond all reason.
3. Propensity for violence.
4. Complete inability to treat anything seriously.
5. Disrespect for property.
6. Anger without a clear source.
7. Inability to read the mood or social atmosphere.
8. Complete inability to follow directions (from rules to simple game instructions.)

A brief note: Today at school a particularly bad fifth grader was walking in front of me in the hall he turned and said, in English, "Die." I asked, in Japanese, "Do you really want me to die?" "Yes." He responded in English. I am not sure where to put this in the list, but kids from this school are obsessed with saying "die" both in English and Japanese. I hear it, easily, everyday. I tried to explain to some second years at the junior high that it really doesn't have the desired effect when said in English. That "Die!" isn't really that much of an insult. That it would just be kind of confusing unless you were saying it while plunging a letter opener into someone's neck. I am not sure exactly what response they are going for. If I think the kid is trying to provoke me, I will laugh it off and ask if they will come to my funeral. Or tell them that I will get around to it sooner or later. This seems to catch them off guard. If I think they are trying to show me up for the benefit of their friends I will tell them that if they really want me to die they should probably kill me, barring that they should shut up. They usually have trouble with that logic. Anyway, the oddness to me is the particualr obsession with this word from this one school.

There are good kids, and bad kids who have good moments, but the behavior is really curious. Again, I am telling you. I realize that the above list might strike you as kids anywhere, but it is beyond that. It is very strange behavior.

Cold

It's that time of year. I done up and got a cold. It is either from working at an elementary school this week or being cooped up in a heated train with 2oo runny-nosed salary men every morning. This morning I was told that I didn't have to be at the school until around 2 in the afternoon because there weren't going to be any morning classes. As I was getting ready to leave yesterday, they said, "About tomorrow; someone might want to do a class in the morning so go ahead and come in at the usual time." I am not complaining about having a job to do, but I don't get sick leave and was looking forward to sleeping past 6:30 AM. No I am at school with no classes and jeans wet from the rain storm.

Lest Anyone Forget...

GO BAMA!! ROLL TIDE!!!

Ueta

My homeboy Ueta Yutaka scored a KO victory in the first round of his first fight in the higher ranks of pro Shooto. Good on you sir. It was he who bullied me into dropping the last 2 kilograms before my match. Ueta also finds all of my training methods superbly ridiculous.

Movies

I saw two movies this month. The first was Red Cliff.



In Japan it is being released as two, two and a half hour movies. Whereas, for the American market it will be one shortened movie. It was in Chinese so I had to read the Japanese subtitles, which I don't mind but it got into some pretty technical historical discussions that I couldn"t follow. Afterward Natsuki said that there was kanji that she couldn't read either, so I don't feel so bad. It was a big movie and wonderful to look at though it isn't quiet at the level of being great. The costumes and sets are exquisite. The battles, while large an intricate, could have been better. They strayed into being a touch comical. Also, it had the Jon Woo sticking points for me. The main one being his tendency to dwell on one thing that he think looks cool and drive it into the ground. In this case it was horses literally being driven into the ground. Apparently he found out that some horses can be trained to dive head first into the dirt and that became his revolutionary film technique. I would also, at this point, like to see him make a film without a freaking bird in it. We get it. That being said, it is well worth watching if you get the chance.

The second movie was Tropic Thunder which actually managed to be much funnier than I thought it was going to be. Not that I thought it would be unfunny. Just normal funny.




Robert Downey Jr.'s performance has been talked about enough, but it really is excellent. I put it up there with one of my other favorite performances that will not get recognized by the Academy:

Lest anyone be confused, I am referring to Michael Caine.
But I digress. I could be wrong about this one, I often overvalue American comedies when I am in Japan but it was well made enough that I think there is a lot to why it is funny. Astonishingly Natsuki was laughing at many of the same parts that I was, which is very rare in Japan. I think the nuances of why "Being a dude playing a dude disguised as another dude" is humorous are hard to pick up on in another country. It was also painful and funny to sit through the fake previews amidst an audience who didn't realize that they were fake. Most of you guys probably saw the movie half a year ago so all of this is no news to you but it just came out here last weekend.

Thank you for reading my book report.

Haruka Kanata

Last night we went to see Kanji and Kota's band do their usual repertoire of Stevie Wonder covers. No insult intended. That is what they do. The band before them, who I see around the studio a lot covered Asian Kung Fu Generation's Haruka Kanata, which used to be in heavy rotation on my radio show. It has had a further boost towards fame by being included on the Naruto credits for reasons I don't really understand. Either way, I think it is a great song. Here are the lyrics if you are interested. The only small thing I would quibble with is to say that I would change "If it isn't you, than what's the point?" to "If it isn't you it doesn't mean anything." Which is only a little different, but is the way I always took it.

Buy Nothing Day

Wanna know what I bought? A lot of Maker's Mark. Take that Kalle Lasn. I regret my purchase 0 percent.

My Spare Time.

Yup. This is what I do with it. Great highlight.

Fall on Shirakawa

koyo 2008029, originally uploaded by wwc photos.

Taiyo no To

Weird-ass giant art towers over bankrupt expo park.

Shirakawa Fall

It's Fall in Kyoto

Outside of Chion-in. There were lots of people.

Osuzu Yama 4

Nature's kinda rad and shit.

Osuzu Yama 3

Yeah, really, it isn't that beautiful at all.

Osuzu Yama 2

Not a bad swimming hole. The water is actually even more beautiful than it looks here. Natsuki, being Japanese said, "The fish in there must taste good!"

Osuzu Yama

Going back in time 3 weeks again. Before Junichiro's wedding, we went hiking behind Kawaminami on Osuzu Yama. I recommend it as probably the most beautiful place in Miyazaki. The leaves had just started to change. Much thanks to Ed for first tipping me off on this place.

Vote for My Mom's Dog

UFC 91 Recap

I know you are all probably wondering about my impressions and hankering for a reaction. Even though people were dogging on the card, I thought it was really, really solid. It was much better than last months kickbox extravaganza and shows a big difference in the European game. With the exception of the Gurgel (BJJ black-belt) brawl, it was a grappling hootenanny, which suits me just fine thank you very much. I now approve of Bocek. His showing against Robinson was good enough to raise my opinion of Mac Danzig even higher. Hazelett and Maia are now to of my official favorite fighters. There ground work is truly top-notch. Flawless almost. Can something be "almost flawless?" I don't think so. Am I disappointed that Couture lost? Yes. Would it be hypocritical for me to say before the fight that I thought he would win and then after the fight that it was a bad match-up for him? Yes. I don't believe in lucky punches, so I will say that Lesnar deserved the win, even if he didn't deserve the fight. I thought Randy was doing a really good job with him, up to the point that he got wrecked. Nogueira will destroy Lesnar. Mir is a 50/50 chance. Carwin would kill him. Vasquez would kill him. He wouldn't last a minute with Fedor. Sylvia I give a good chance to. Overeem? Probably. I was impressed with Lesnar's knees that he threw. He is obviously a talented athlete and looks better in each fight. I take him seriously, I just don't like him and don't think he is a quality champion. But, he beat Randy.

Also, I was wrong about dos Anjos, but I loved the way he fought. That Omaplata was the balls. I don't know what the F that uppercut he got knocked back in time with was though. That was nonsense land, straight.

Great

You know what I'm really happy about? The Japanese recession!!!

The Couple

Finally down the aisle.

Doctor

There's a horse in the hospital.

Free Coffee

Maybe the best thing about the wedding was all the free espresso. James and Sex Machine drinking. I should explain the nickname. Matt, who we used to train with, can't remember names, so gave everyone a nickname. I have no idea why he called that dude "Sex Machine" but it stuck. I should explain that he is small and a little dumpy and plain, but nice and so I have forgotten his actual name.

Junichiro's Wedding

Let's go back in time two weeks. This was Junichiro's and Ikuko's wedding in Miyazaki.

Ando in Action

Andy whopping up on that poor boy.

Otsukare Ramen Pt. 2

This was good after all that.

There it Is

Gee, it's hard to find my name.

Kids

These kids were bad-ass. I love the kid giving the OK sign. The lady on the ground next to them was somebodies mom and a really good grappler. As well as being foxy in her star grappling shorts.

Doofus Asylum

From left: Takuya Sato-Pro Shooter. Daisuke Nakagawa: One of my teachers. Kosuke Eda: Pro Shooter. All-Japan amateur champion. Purple belt. Grad student. Super doofus.

Otsukare Ramen

Job well done. That is Araki off to right. He had a win and a loss, just like me. But I hear he will get promoted to blue. He was fighting above his weighclass and won one on submission.

Mana's Last Bout

Rgnum Jam November 16th,107, originally uploaded by wwc photos.

Mana before her last bout. Her gi read "Yamato Damashi." "Samurai Spirit." I am very happy with this picture.

Purebred Crew

Ando (Andy), Murakami and Mana. Andy is a really sweet guy and is going to college studying fabric dying. Very Kyoto. Mana is the hot underwear designer. Murakami is a brown belt and very famous in grappling cricles. He is known as "The Human Triangle." I also think he has latnet autism and is very hard to deal with, while not being a bad guy in any way. Just odd. Both Andy and Mana won both their fights. Andy by takedown after takedown. Mana by armbar and points.

Dying on the Train

Rgnum Jam November 16th,003, originally uploaded by wwc photos.

This was me on the Hankyu after dropping 9 pounds in a few hours and not eating or drinking.

Doofuses.

Pro fighters Takuya Sato and Kosuke Eda being doofuses. They can't help it.

Batting .500

Alright kids. Here it is. I weighed in, with my gi, at 78.6kg. The guy at the scales said, "Eh, whatever." I didn't eat all night or all morning. I rode the Hankyu, in misery to Takatsuki, where I found that I was in the same car as Mana, the jiu-jitsu hottie. Her job you ask? An underwear designer. Great. I'll put up some pictures of the match later. But first, to my matches.

I was up against a guy from Cobra Kai West, which is a pretty hard core gym. One reason I worked so hard to make weight is that being a 78kg Anglo-Saxon and being a 78kg Asian man are somehow different things. 78kg Asian guys are big. The guy I was up against was big. He looked like a wrestler or judo guy, or maybe rugby. I was ready to go, having spent an hour eating yogurt and grapes, and drinking Pocari. From the tachiai the guy grabbed me and was strong. Really strong. I fought off the takedown, but I got tired really quick. Well. You can see for yourself. (Caitlin was nice enough to show up and take the video.)


What the ref doesn't know is that I have really, really loose shoulders, at that sub was nowhere close to in. I was ready for the fight to start from there as, in sparring, I work from that sub attempt to work back to half-guard and guard. Anyway. It's my bad. I lost.

A lot of Purebred wins and more grapes and yogurt, plus onigiri and Pocari filled the next few hours until I was on again. It turned out to be a good match. Having two pro fighters yell at you all through the match makes you a little nervous but also does make you go as hard as you can.



It is probably hard to understand what went on in this fight and why I won. I won off of a small point in the scoring rules that I didn't know until Thursday night. I had been told that taking the back and doing a body triangle (wrapping your legs around your opponent and securing one of your ankles behind your other knee, forming a triangle and thus trapping your opponent) was sufficient to get 4 points. I always use this technique as I have long, flexible legs. However, competition scoring demands that you secure your feet inside of your opponent's thighs, not crossed over themselves before they will award the 4 points. With about 30 seconds left to go I am in the other dude's closed guard. Takuya Sato starts yelling at me "There is only 30 seconds DO SOMETHING!" Because I am losing. What I was working with was a very small battle to get my knee under the other guys ass so that I could bring my leg back and break his guard. When I finally did, he tried to armbar me. He couldn't get my thumb pointed up and I was able to yank my arm out, grab his belt and take his back. I shoved my feet down into his thighs and looked at the ref to make a call. Daisuke, one of my teachers, starts yelling for the ref to give me the points. He does. I secure the guy to keep him from sweeping me, look back at the clock and watch the last seconds tick off. I wasn't sure I had won for a few seconds. When I came back, Murakami, the main brown belt at our school, told me that if both my fights had been like that, he would have given me my blue belt. I don't know if that is good news or bad news. Anyway, it was a good time and makes me want to train even more.

I shaved the beard. I have a new scrape on my nose and my neck hurts.