The mundials were held this weekend in California. My buddy Eda competed. I am not sure how he did yet. This video is of Andre Galvao in what is being called the AND1 mixtape of jiu-jitsu. Realize that every time he changes positions on the guy, he is scoring points. Enjoy.
http://view.break.com/517207 - Watch more free videos
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
The Fun Continues
Did I write last night that we didn't end up going to the house? That I staid here until after 8pm and they decided the father had to work late so I have to go today. I really don't want to go now. The whole thing is making me angrier and angrier. If the parents saw what our jobs actually involved they would shit themselves and run the other direction. How many fights did I break up yesterday? How many of those kids started yelling, "It hurts! It hurts!" When I put my hand on their shoulder to lead them away. The answer to the last question is '2' by the way. The first question? I forget. So the parents would like me to do my job, without being able to do my job. It is the old Japanese teacher's refrain, and now I am starting to believe it. It is like asking me to make an omelet and telling me that they are allergic to eggs and afraid of heat.
=I was interrupted in this train of thought by a student saying that any teacher needed to come to 1-3. I went. Kids were running in and out and no one would participate in class. I grabbed Nishiguchi by the arm and took him outside and said to make a choice about whether he would do class or not. If not he should get out. He listened for about 5 seconds, then ran back in the class saying that I was "The violent teacher." Thanks Yoshida family, for making our job that much tougher. Makino, the little asshole kept yelling at me that it had nothing to do with me. As usual. He then started yelling that I couldn't understand what he was saying anyway. Nice little racism in the middle of my day. =
I am thrown off now. Will come back to it later. Yoshida's family is now saying that his leg is broken. Broken from an earlier injury. I am sure they will yell at me some more. Great. You have to wipe their kids asses and then be yelled at by the parents.
Update: I will just add to this instead of starting a new thread. It is 10 til 7 and I am still here. The only good part about this is that every other teacher says, "You are right." The 2nd year classes were terrible today. Ozaki Sensei, their usual teacher, isn't here so they think it is a liscense to do anything. Despite the recent troubles I drug one kid down the hall and pressed him against the wall and told him to not come to class if he couldn't act like a human being. The inability of kids here to have an actual talk. To be able to speak honestly and listen with out laughing or squirming or yelling back should be the subject of a study. It is really odd. I still don't know what is expected of me tonight. I won't apologize to Daichi and the farthest I will go with his parents is to say that it is unfortunate that he is injured. But if he was injured, why was he kicking someone? Does it makes sense. I expect to be yelled at, but I have a certain point were I extract myself from conversations like that. How do you do that at a stranger's house? I am hoping the principal will bail me out. Everyone's advice seems to be "Say you can't speak Japanese!" I might take them up on it this time. Inoue said I should just keep bowing my head saying, "You are horrible parents. I want to kick your son." And then leave.
How do you explain to people who aren't teachers what this job invovles? I guess the majority of people I know are or have been teachers so I forget that there are people who have no concept of what our job is. Do they know that my day involved wrapping up a 1st years injured hand and doing it up like a boxer's so I could get him to laugh and cheer up a little and that 2 hours later I was having to drag him out of class and tell him to behave while his friend is yelling, "I'm going to kill you." How do you make them understand that you watch kids behave like animals, literally rolling around in their own garbage while other kids are trying to have class. That you try to explain that some people want to try to learn so they should try and be quiet. That you have to do this while a giant, fat, nasty girl runs screaming up and down the hall. That you have to do this in your loudest voice while trying to impart some bit of knowledge. That you have to do this while they are insisting that they can't understand what you are saying and you are so stupid and should speak in Japanese even though you are speaking Japanese anyway. That you have to do this knowing that at the end of the day you will have $300 in the bank, no one to say thank you and parents who want to berate you because their kid has a mysterious leg injury that causes him to kick weak people. How do you do this?
I guess I asked for it.
=I was interrupted in this train of thought by a student saying that any teacher needed to come to 1-3. I went. Kids were running in and out and no one would participate in class. I grabbed Nishiguchi by the arm and took him outside and said to make a choice about whether he would do class or not. If not he should get out. He listened for about 5 seconds, then ran back in the class saying that I was "The violent teacher." Thanks Yoshida family, for making our job that much tougher. Makino, the little asshole kept yelling at me that it had nothing to do with me. As usual. He then started yelling that I couldn't understand what he was saying anyway. Nice little racism in the middle of my day. =
I am thrown off now. Will come back to it later. Yoshida's family is now saying that his leg is broken. Broken from an earlier injury. I am sure they will yell at me some more. Great. You have to wipe their kids asses and then be yelled at by the parents.
Update: I will just add to this instead of starting a new thread. It is 10 til 7 and I am still here. The only good part about this is that every other teacher says, "You are right." The 2nd year classes were terrible today. Ozaki Sensei, their usual teacher, isn't here so they think it is a liscense to do anything. Despite the recent troubles I drug one kid down the hall and pressed him against the wall and told him to not come to class if he couldn't act like a human being. The inability of kids here to have an actual talk. To be able to speak honestly and listen with out laughing or squirming or yelling back should be the subject of a study. It is really odd. I still don't know what is expected of me tonight. I won't apologize to Daichi and the farthest I will go with his parents is to say that it is unfortunate that he is injured. But if he was injured, why was he kicking someone? Does it makes sense. I expect to be yelled at, but I have a certain point were I extract myself from conversations like that. How do you do that at a stranger's house? I am hoping the principal will bail me out. Everyone's advice seems to be "Say you can't speak Japanese!" I might take them up on it this time. Inoue said I should just keep bowing my head saying, "You are horrible parents. I want to kick your son." And then leave.
How do you explain to people who aren't teachers what this job invovles? I guess the majority of people I know are or have been teachers so I forget that there are people who have no concept of what our job is. Do they know that my day involved wrapping up a 1st years injured hand and doing it up like a boxer's so I could get him to laugh and cheer up a little and that 2 hours later I was having to drag him out of class and tell him to behave while his friend is yelling, "I'm going to kill you." How do you make them understand that you watch kids behave like animals, literally rolling around in their own garbage while other kids are trying to have class. That you try to explain that some people want to try to learn so they should try and be quiet. That you have to do this while a giant, fat, nasty girl runs screaming up and down the hall. That you have to do this in your loudest voice while trying to impart some bit of knowledge. That you have to do this while they are insisting that they can't understand what you are saying and you are so stupid and should speak in Japanese even though you are speaking Japanese anyway. That you have to do this knowing that at the end of the day you will have $300 in the bank, no one to say thank you and parents who want to berate you because their kid has a mysterious leg injury that causes him to kick weak people. How do you do this?
I guess I asked for it.
Monday, June 9, 2008
MMA Sunday School
MMA Sunday School quote of the week: (On why former college football players come back and party in their old college towns) "He's king crap of poop mountain."
They also discuss "Coward of the County" lyrics.
They also discuss "Coward of the County" lyrics.
Beautiful
So Yoshida's mom came to the school, where I still am at 6:30 so you know it must have gone well. I spoke very polite Japanese to her from the beginning and thanked her for coming. I told her I was happy to get a chance to speak with them as I hadn't on Friday. That was probably the high point of the meeting. She didn't even accept my greeting. The whole meeting boiled down to the demand that I apologize to her son because he hurt his foot while kicking a boy who was lying on the ground, or maybe he hurt it when he was shoved off of him. In any case, he is worried that he might not be able to play basketball next week even though he had no problem completing the second half of the sports test which involved running several 50 meter dashes and one 1,500 meter race. He had no problem laughing and joking around with his friends.
I tried to tell her that, as a teacher, my first responsibility is to stop a fight and to protect people who are being beaten. She said, "But he already apologized for that. Now it is your turn to apologize to him!" I explained to her that I understood that parents are concerned at that if he was injured that was unfortunate but that I wanted her to understand the atmosphere. That a group of strong, popular boys were standing around laughing at a weak child on the ground being kicked. "But he apologized for that. Now it is your turn!"
"Please tell me where I was wrong." I asked. "Honestly. I want to think about what I could have done different."
"You could have talked to him."
"I tried. He ignored me."
"Pushing people can injure them!"
-so can kicking people (not actually said)
"I understand that. But if I grabbed him, he would fight me. If I yelled at him he would ignore me. If I grabbed his shoulder, he would shake it off and run away. I have to stop the fight."
"It was over!" Daichi chimed in.
"How is anyone else supposed to know that. We can't know that just by watching. He was still on the ground and you were standing over him."
"But I was done."
"You were laughing."
"You are a liar! Why would I laugh!?!"
"I don't know. Why would you laugh?"
Daichi continued to call me a liar and speak very disrespectfully to me in front of his mother who said nothing. His mother was shaking with anger. This went on for a while. She told me she was raising her child to not be violent and that I might have ruined that by pushing him. I might have broken his bones.
"And Fukunaka?"
"He already said, 'sorry.' Now it is your turn."
"I'm sorry. Saying that I am sorry would be very easy but I just don't understand where I was wrong. I have to stop a fight if I see it. I would have loved to do it by talking but I was ignored. I want you to understand that the other boys are standing around laughing and telling me that the will kill me and that I should die. It wasn't an innocent schoolyard misunderstanding that your son was involved in. He was bullying a defenseless child."
"And he said he was sorry. You just won't understand!"
"I told you mom! He's impossible he kicks the other students (I haven't. But I would like to.) He is a piece of shit motherfucker!"
"I came here for an apology but it is clear that I won't get it. I will have to go through other means!"
This actually took over an hour. After a bit the principal came and spoke to me and told me that I was right but that parents can't always understand what it is to be a teacher. That apologies are important in Japan (the speech I was afraid of) but that I don't have to apologize if I don't feel like it. He did ask me if I would go by their house this evening and explain the whole thing. I told him that explaining isn't a problem, but that I won't apologize for stopping a bully.
So now I am at school, waiting to go onto enemy ground. The principal gave me a cup of ramen.
Oh. It was just explained to me that I am supposed to apologize....a little bit. I don't quite understand. I said I have no problem explaining my position. That I have no problem saying that I didn't mean to injure anyone. That I was trying to stop someone for being injured. That if anyone was injured I feel bad about that. Is that an apology? I don't even know. It is retarded.
I tried to tell her that, as a teacher, my first responsibility is to stop a fight and to protect people who are being beaten. She said, "But he already apologized for that. Now it is your turn to apologize to him!" I explained to her that I understood that parents are concerned at that if he was injured that was unfortunate but that I wanted her to understand the atmosphere. That a group of strong, popular boys were standing around laughing at a weak child on the ground being kicked. "But he apologized for that. Now it is your turn!"
"Please tell me where I was wrong." I asked. "Honestly. I want to think about what I could have done different."
"You could have talked to him."
"I tried. He ignored me."
"Pushing people can injure them!"
-so can kicking people (not actually said)
"I understand that. But if I grabbed him, he would fight me. If I yelled at him he would ignore me. If I grabbed his shoulder, he would shake it off and run away. I have to stop the fight."
"It was over!" Daichi chimed in.
"How is anyone else supposed to know that. We can't know that just by watching. He was still on the ground and you were standing over him."
"But I was done."
"You were laughing."
"You are a liar! Why would I laugh!?!"
"I don't know. Why would you laugh?"
Daichi continued to call me a liar and speak very disrespectfully to me in front of his mother who said nothing. His mother was shaking with anger. This went on for a while. She told me she was raising her child to not be violent and that I might have ruined that by pushing him. I might have broken his bones.
"And Fukunaka?"
"He already said, 'sorry.' Now it is your turn."
"I'm sorry. Saying that I am sorry would be very easy but I just don't understand where I was wrong. I have to stop a fight if I see it. I would have loved to do it by talking but I was ignored. I want you to understand that the other boys are standing around laughing and telling me that the will kill me and that I should die. It wasn't an innocent schoolyard misunderstanding that your son was involved in. He was bullying a defenseless child."
"And he said he was sorry. You just won't understand!"
"I told you mom! He's impossible he kicks the other students (I haven't. But I would like to.) He is a piece of shit motherfucker!"
"I came here for an apology but it is clear that I won't get it. I will have to go through other means!"
This actually took over an hour. After a bit the principal came and spoke to me and told me that I was right but that parents can't always understand what it is to be a teacher. That apologies are important in Japan (the speech I was afraid of) but that I don't have to apologize if I don't feel like it. He did ask me if I would go by their house this evening and explain the whole thing. I told him that explaining isn't a problem, but that I won't apologize for stopping a bully.
So now I am at school, waiting to go onto enemy ground. The principal gave me a cup of ramen.
Oh. It was just explained to me that I am supposed to apologize....a little bit. I don't quite understand. I said I have no problem explaining my position. That I have no problem saying that I didn't mean to injure anyone. That I was trying to stop someone for being injured. That if anyone was injured I feel bad about that. Is that an apology? I don't even know. It is retarded.
Inevitable
It really was inevitable wasn't it? After hiding from me and escaping punishment all of Friday, Yoshida went home and told his parents that I attacked him and injured his leg. After coming to the teacher's room and having Fukunaka, who he kicked while he was helpless on the ground, apologize to him for injuring the same leg. Apparently, Yoshida's dad was very angry and called on Friday. I have an appointment to speak with Yoshida and his mom today. I am happy to, but it really depends on what kind of person she is. I will have to tell her straight up that her son is a liar as well as a bully. I'll try and be tactful. We'll see how that goes. I still blame this, more and more even, on the 3rd year teachers.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Bo Diddley
Had been meaning to post a video for Bo Diddley who died this week. He was rumored to live in my neighborhood when I lived in the Jackson Ward. I never saw him around, but his TV spot for the pawn shop was money. I like his music in a very non-ironic way. He was a guy who looked around and said, "Nobody is making the music I want. Guess I'll make my own guitar out of a toaster and give it a go." That's way more punk rock than punk rock. That's Grand Master Flash up in his bedroom with the soldering iron style. Respect.
Angry Part II: What I Would Have Rather Happened
I hope, again, that reading about the latest school incident you don't feel that I believe that acting violently against young people is the best way to bring them up. I don't. I think the best system would be to have clearly spelled out rules and a well delineated system to deal with students who violate them. I tried to treat problems that way for the first few weeks. Japanese schools don't really work that way however. It is laid on the individual teachers to deal with individual problems.
What I would have liked to seen on Friday is:
I witness Yoshida kick Fukunaka.
I break it up.
His home room teacher is informed.
The vice principle is informed.
Yoshida gets a "0" for the rest of the sports test. Which is an actual test, by the way.
He has to go to a room somewhere and can't eat lunch with his buddies.
His parents are informed.
He has to explain his actions and make apologies.
The coach of the basketball team (a vastly different position in Japan than the U.S. Here it is just a teacher who "volunteers" their time) is informed.
If I am that coach, here is what I do:
Yoshida comes to practice and has to run, not jog, run until I tell him to stop. Then he has to do push-ups until I tell him to stop. Then he has to make 50 free-throws before he goes home. If he does this. If he has spotless conduct for the next month in class and out. If he agrees to not play in the next few games. Then we can have a conversation about being captain again.
Did any of this happen? I doubt it. He still gets to be cute and popular and no one will bother him during lunch. Will he be challenged to work for anything? Will he be challenged to explain his actions? No. I doubt it.
There is a chance I will get to speak with him tomorrow and I will lay into the motherfucker.
In any case, there should be a clear system of rule and repercussions and a hierarchy by which they are handled. If there is one, it has not been revealed to me. It isn't fair to the students either to have everyone acting under different rules. I definitely agree with the Phil Jackson/Dennis Rodman caveat; that fair isn't always equal. But, for the most part, things need to bee easy to understand.
What I would have liked to seen on Friday is:
I witness Yoshida kick Fukunaka.
I break it up.
His home room teacher is informed.
The vice principle is informed.
Yoshida gets a "0" for the rest of the sports test. Which is an actual test, by the way.
He has to go to a room somewhere and can't eat lunch with his buddies.
His parents are informed.
He has to explain his actions and make apologies.
The coach of the basketball team (a vastly different position in Japan than the U.S. Here it is just a teacher who "volunteers" their time) is informed.
If I am that coach, here is what I do:
Yoshida comes to practice and has to run, not jog, run until I tell him to stop. Then he has to do push-ups until I tell him to stop. Then he has to make 50 free-throws before he goes home. If he does this. If he has spotless conduct for the next month in class and out. If he agrees to not play in the next few games. Then we can have a conversation about being captain again.
Did any of this happen? I doubt it. He still gets to be cute and popular and no one will bother him during lunch. Will he be challenged to work for anything? Will he be challenged to explain his actions? No. I doubt it.
There is a chance I will get to speak with him tomorrow and I will lay into the motherfucker.
In any case, there should be a clear system of rule and repercussions and a hierarchy by which they are handled. If there is one, it has not been revealed to me. It isn't fair to the students either to have everyone acting under different rules. I definitely agree with the Phil Jackson/Dennis Rodman caveat; that fair isn't always equal. But, for the most part, things need to bee easy to understand.
More Zoo Tragedy
This happened down the street from my house today. They took him to Maki's hospital. There is an odd Zoo-Hospital_Death nexus happening here in Kyoto. Beware.
UFC 85: Ballad of a Handgun
Hardonk vs. Sanchez- I enjoy watching Hardonk's fights as a low kick clinic. I don't particularly care for Sanchez's fights. Sanchez has every chance to win this fight by fighting safe and smart; taking it to the ground and pounding. I am calling it by Hardonk 2nd round KO however.
Liaudin vs. Taylor- People rave about Taylor's striking. I don't have strong opinions on either fighter. I know that Liaudin has been training out of Cobra Kai in Vegas. I call Liaudin by strange submission in the 1st.
Cane vs. Lambert- Lambert is built like a longshoreman. He kinda fights like one too. I here good things about Cane but I have never seen him fight. I'm going to call it for Cane.
Burns vs. Carneiro- Burns is a late replacement/sacrifice. Carnerio by 1st round sub.
Tavares vs. Wiman- Tavares is too good on the ground. I don't really get the whole "Handsome" Matt Wiman thing. I think Tavares is better looking. He is a better sub guy too. Tavares by sub in the 2nd.
Kampmann Vs. Rivera- I like both of these guys a lot. Realisticaly Kampmann is the better all around fighter. The only variable is that he is coming off of a one year layoff from a serious knee injury. If his knee is OK he wins this fight. Rivera is a solid veteran with a very good clinch game and sneaky power. I like him as a person too. Kampmann, however, has won a fight via arm-triangle, a personal favorite, therefor I give him the victory by sub in the 2nd.
Werdum vs. Vera- I still remain on the Vera bandwagon but I am watching everyone else loose their grip and slip off. I enjoy his striking/clinch game. He is world class in both. Werdum is a jiu-jitsu demi-god with odd, yet powerful striking. Lots of people are calling this one a snoozer. I am looking forward to it, if only to watch Vera work low-kicks and knees. Vera by decision.
Leites vs. Marquardt- The site I bet on these fights on (not for money) has changed to a format that rewards for betting on the underdog. So, on there, I called the fight for Leites. IN reality I think it could go either way. Marquardt is such a complete fighter. Some call him boring, but he is just well rounded. Leites is very good on the ground. Not as strong as Marquardt standing. I think Marquardt get a G-n-P TKO in the 3rd.
Davis vs. Swick- A hard one to call. Davis is on a roll. Swick is rolling downhill. They are both technical strikers. Swick has an advantage on the ground. Swick has reach. Davis has power. I think Davis's striking instincts are superior. Hard to call. Until..You consider that Davis's nickname is "The Irish Handgrenade." Davis by explosion in the 3rd.
Bisping vs. Day- I am still not sold on Bisping as a high level fighter, and I like him. I just don't think he is a top level athlete. I think he is the most athletic guy you know. A big difference. I don't know much about Day either. If you want to pick an underdog and come out looking cool, say Day is going to get a surprise TKO in the 3rd. I think there are equal odds the Bisping wins by decision.
Alves vs. Hughes- I had been calling this one for Alves. Then he went and didn't make weight. What does that tell us? It tells us that something went wrong in his training camp. Either he has a nagging injury that didn't allow him to train. Or he had some personal issue that interfered. Or maybe he just doesn't take his career seriously. Matt Hughes made weight but will be back up by fight time so Alves's higher weight will be to no advantage. I still want to call Alves by vicious 3rd round KO, but who knows now. Probably typical Matt Hughes-ige.
Take it to the credit union.
Liaudin vs. Taylor- People rave about Taylor's striking. I don't have strong opinions on either fighter. I know that Liaudin has been training out of Cobra Kai in Vegas. I call Liaudin by strange submission in the 1st.
Cane vs. Lambert- Lambert is built like a longshoreman. He kinda fights like one too. I here good things about Cane but I have never seen him fight. I'm going to call it for Cane.
Burns vs. Carneiro- Burns is a late replacement/sacrifice. Carnerio by 1st round sub.
Tavares vs. Wiman- Tavares is too good on the ground. I don't really get the whole "Handsome" Matt Wiman thing. I think Tavares is better looking. He is a better sub guy too. Tavares by sub in the 2nd.
Kampmann Vs. Rivera- I like both of these guys a lot. Realisticaly Kampmann is the better all around fighter. The only variable is that he is coming off of a one year layoff from a serious knee injury. If his knee is OK he wins this fight. Rivera is a solid veteran with a very good clinch game and sneaky power. I like him as a person too. Kampmann, however, has won a fight via arm-triangle, a personal favorite, therefor I give him the victory by sub in the 2nd.
Werdum vs. Vera- I still remain on the Vera bandwagon but I am watching everyone else loose their grip and slip off. I enjoy his striking/clinch game. He is world class in both. Werdum is a jiu-jitsu demi-god with odd, yet powerful striking. Lots of people are calling this one a snoozer. I am looking forward to it, if only to watch Vera work low-kicks and knees. Vera by decision.
Leites vs. Marquardt- The site I bet on these fights on (not for money) has changed to a format that rewards for betting on the underdog. So, on there, I called the fight for Leites. IN reality I think it could go either way. Marquardt is such a complete fighter. Some call him boring, but he is just well rounded. Leites is very good on the ground. Not as strong as Marquardt standing. I think Marquardt get a G-n-P TKO in the 3rd.
Davis vs. Swick- A hard one to call. Davis is on a roll. Swick is rolling downhill. They are both technical strikers. Swick has an advantage on the ground. Swick has reach. Davis has power. I think Davis's striking instincts are superior. Hard to call. Until..You consider that Davis's nickname is "The Irish Handgrenade." Davis by explosion in the 3rd.
Bisping vs. Day- I am still not sold on Bisping as a high level fighter, and I like him. I just don't think he is a top level athlete. I think he is the most athletic guy you know. A big difference. I don't know much about Day either. If you want to pick an underdog and come out looking cool, say Day is going to get a surprise TKO in the 3rd. I think there are equal odds the Bisping wins by decision.
Alves vs. Hughes- I had been calling this one for Alves. Then he went and didn't make weight. What does that tell us? It tells us that something went wrong in his training camp. Either he has a nagging injury that didn't allow him to train. Or he had some personal issue that interfered. Or maybe he just doesn't take his career seriously. Matt Hughes made weight but will be back up by fight time so Alves's higher weight will be to no advantage. I still want to call Alves by vicious 3rd round KO, but who knows now. Probably typical Matt Hughes-ige.
Take it to the credit union.
Soccer-Tastic
Every game from Euro 2008 will be broadcast on ESPN. You lucky bastadz. Here is the schedule.
A little odd with no England. Germany is the common pick. I will go with...let us say.... Portugal.
A little odd with no England. Germany is the common pick. I will go with...let us say.... Portugal.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Angry
I have sunburn. It was sports test day. Everyone was happy because there are no classes. Just playing outside. I went to jiu-jitsu for three hours last night. Slept hard and felt good. But I knew. I knew that the 3rd year boys would find a way to fuck up. That knowledge is a burden. It is an itch. It is more than a premonition. I did everything I could to avoid them. When we met in the gym I stayed far off to the side by the 2nd years. I didn't say anything to anyone except for "good morning." I wasn't assigned an event for the sports test but I went somewhere fairly neutral that started with 2nd years. I ended up at the handball throw. You have to throw a handball and see how far it goes. (I threw twice today. 24 and 25 meters, if you were wondering. Two 1st years and 1 or 2 3rd years bested me with 27s and a 31.) My job was to catch the balls coming back in from the field and pass them to the person that holds them for the person who gets two throws. It went ok.
When the 3rd years came around, I stationed myself 40 meters deep in the field to catch any stray balls and to avoid any actual contact. How long did it last? Not long. I am not sure if it was the 1st class to go or the 2nd, but from my spot, 40 meters deep in the field, I see Fukunaka (who hangs out by my desk all day to avoid bullies) go down in a cloud of dust after he made two weak throws. Someone had said something and he said something back and they pushed him on the ground. He landed next to Yoshida, the basketball captain with the extravagant beaufont hair-do, who then proceeded to kick him and laugh. There were at least 4 teachers closer to this than I was, 40 meters deep in the field. No one even seemed to notice. I made it there first while the boys laughed and told Yoshida he better run. I shoved him hard in the chest yelling "What the fuck are you thinking?" In Japanese. He went about 10 feet back and started trotting off the other direction. I nailed him again yelling something. We ended up near a low concrete wall and all off the other boys were surrounding me. The other teachers? 0 and counting. Sakakibara gets in my face with everyone's favorite line "This ain't got nothing to do with you." So I switched to English. "Get in my face you little bitch. I dare you. Huh? Try it." Eloquent. "Speak Japanese!" He yelled. That shit gets on my nerves. Yoshida was sliding out sideways. "You kick someone who is on the ground? What is that shit?" He is creeping off. "What are you thinking?" We make it back to the scene where another teacher has showed up to make sure that nothing effective happens. All the other boys laugh and I challenge any of them to step up. But they don't because they are cowards. Fukunaka slinks off crying and the teachers let Yoshida go. Later they will make Fukunaka apologize to him for falling on his leg and give him a bandage. He makes a half-ass apology to Fukunaka. I say that I want to speak with him but they say, "He's with his friends now and we worry it will make him angry if you talk to him." Par for the course. After this, Sakamoto, who I get along with, steals a megaphone. I chase him down and playfully jump on his back. Another guy, Fukuizumi, is holding on to his arm and starts screaming, "That hurts! Die! Die! I hate you! I'll fucking kill you! I'm going to kill you! Die! Die!" Again, and this was actually lovely, I hit him with a barrage of "What? What? What." But not like I am actually confused. "What" like you hear in a playground basketball game that means, "Say 'what' motherfucker." Somebody out there gets what I am saying. He actually went chest to chest with me but again another teacher dragged him off lest he miss his lunch.
Nakamaura exploded at a 50 something year old teacher, kicking a desk and chair around because he had been asked not to punt the balls across to the other side of the field. He had to be restrained by Okada. When I showed up he screamed, "Don't even come over here you fuck."
Nice school they got here. Want to know what happened to Yoshida? Guess? Nothing. Later he complained about his leg hurting and everyone made sure he had a bandage.
Inoue sensei and I sat at our desks and waited for our heads to explode.
When the 3rd years came around, I stationed myself 40 meters deep in the field to catch any stray balls and to avoid any actual contact. How long did it last? Not long. I am not sure if it was the 1st class to go or the 2nd, but from my spot, 40 meters deep in the field, I see Fukunaka (who hangs out by my desk all day to avoid bullies) go down in a cloud of dust after he made two weak throws. Someone had said something and he said something back and they pushed him on the ground. He landed next to Yoshida, the basketball captain with the extravagant beaufont hair-do, who then proceeded to kick him and laugh. There were at least 4 teachers closer to this than I was, 40 meters deep in the field. No one even seemed to notice. I made it there first while the boys laughed and told Yoshida he better run. I shoved him hard in the chest yelling "What the fuck are you thinking?" In Japanese. He went about 10 feet back and started trotting off the other direction. I nailed him again yelling something. We ended up near a low concrete wall and all off the other boys were surrounding me. The other teachers? 0 and counting. Sakakibara gets in my face with everyone's favorite line "This ain't got nothing to do with you." So I switched to English. "Get in my face you little bitch. I dare you. Huh? Try it." Eloquent. "Speak Japanese!" He yelled. That shit gets on my nerves. Yoshida was sliding out sideways. "You kick someone who is on the ground? What is that shit?" He is creeping off. "What are you thinking?" We make it back to the scene where another teacher has showed up to make sure that nothing effective happens. All the other boys laugh and I challenge any of them to step up. But they don't because they are cowards. Fukunaka slinks off crying and the teachers let Yoshida go. Later they will make Fukunaka apologize to him for falling on his leg and give him a bandage. He makes a half-ass apology to Fukunaka. I say that I want to speak with him but they say, "He's with his friends now and we worry it will make him angry if you talk to him." Par for the course. After this, Sakamoto, who I get along with, steals a megaphone. I chase him down and playfully jump on his back. Another guy, Fukuizumi, is holding on to his arm and starts screaming, "That hurts! Die! Die! I hate you! I'll fucking kill you! I'm going to kill you! Die! Die!" Again, and this was actually lovely, I hit him with a barrage of "What? What? What." But not like I am actually confused. "What" like you hear in a playground basketball game that means, "Say 'what' motherfucker." Somebody out there gets what I am saying. He actually went chest to chest with me but again another teacher dragged him off lest he miss his lunch.
Nakamaura exploded at a 50 something year old teacher, kicking a desk and chair around because he had been asked not to punt the balls across to the other side of the field. He had to be restrained by Okada. When I showed up he screamed, "Don't even come over here you fuck."
Nice school they got here. Want to know what happened to Yoshida? Guess? Nothing. Later he complained about his leg hurting and everyone made sure he had a bandage.
Inoue sensei and I sat at our desks and waited for our heads to explode.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
On the Way to Work
I go to work before 7 in the morning. I pass by Kiyamachi, the main drinking district in Kyoto, on my way to Sanjo. I see strange things. A week or so ago there were about 10 fire trucks and 50 firemen in hazmat suits. A few weeks before that there was a delivery truck crashed over the median into a tree. Around that time the historical marker denoting Sanjo Ohashi was thrown into the river. It must have weighed a few hundred pounds. Yesterday three guys were coming out of Yoshinoya trying to eat off their drunk. A wide eyed family of tourists were across the street looking ready to sightsee with their two elementary school kids. One of the drunk guys dropped his pants and screamed, "There is no way that I am not the funniest guy in the world!!!" As Wayne sad to Garth, "Way." Today a black van pulled up on Karasuma, on of the busiest streets in Kyoto. It parked in front of an all night restaurant. First an older guy with a bad suit, a giant gold chain and a perm got out. I wonder what he does for a living? He was followed by three young women who would probably be considered pretty if they didn't look like they had been force-fed cheap whiskey and dragged behind a garbage scowl. They were followed into the restaurant by a younger man in an equally bad suit, with an equally bad haircut. He actually stopped and moved to the side to allow me to pass. Nice move sir.
Moral of the story: If you are a tourist with your family coming to Kyoto for the temples and shrines; DON'T GET AN EARLY START! Japan is a nation of lushes, drunks and hard core alcoholics. Every morning is a parade celebrating the national pastime; being f'd up. If you have no problem exposing your children to that culture, have at it hoss.
Moral of the story: If you are a tourist with your family coming to Kyoto for the temples and shrines; DON'T GET AN EARLY START! Japan is a nation of lushes, drunks and hard core alcoholics. Every morning is a parade celebrating the national pastime; being f'd up. If you have no problem exposing your children to that culture, have at it hoss.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
A Trip to the Zoo
Maki downstairs is a nurse at the hospital. Today she told me she saw something really gross. A man had been in a motorcycle accident and lost his leg. He was conscious and the doctor was holding up his leg and taking pictures of it. She told me he lived but another patient didn't. He was, until this afternoon, a six year-old boy. His heart stopped working for some reason. What made it sadder for the both of us somehow was that he went on his school trip to the zoo today. Today he had fun at the zoo. He ate lunch. He felt sick and threw up. Then he died at the hospital. His mother is a nurse so she understood a little bit. His grandmother kept screaming, "I'll die instead." That is just terribly, terribly sad.
It's The Math Lebowski
So it appears that Sen. Clinton is done for. The math just didn't work out. However, the same math wasn't working out months ago. I think I mentioned this before. It hasn't worked in a while. She had no chance to win months ago and she has no chance now. Nothing has change except the date. I would have been just as OK with her as president but the tail end of this campaign has been lame like a civil war veteran.
The point of the primaries is not to win the popular vote! If it had been, Obama's campaign would have organized differently. In any case, Sen. Clinton is NOT winning the popular vote. She only is if you don't count caucus states. And, AND, if you give Sen. Clinton all of her Michigan and Florida votes and Obama NONE. Does that make sense? NO. It is absurd. Everyone agreed not to campaign in Florida because of Florida moving up the primary. Obama wasn't even on the ballot in Michigan for the same reason. Sen. Clinton put her name on the ballot but said it was just a technicality, that she wouldn't make any claims on it. Until she was losing she meant. That is major weak sauce. To then rile people up claiming that they have been disenfranchised is a rotten thing to do. These are the primaries. You are not being disenfranchised when your state party violates primary rules and is punished. The nominee is not selected by a constitutional process full of your guaranteed rights. It is a silly game being played by the campaign. A silly game being played in a serious election.
The point of the primaries is not to win the popular vote! If it had been, Obama's campaign would have organized differently. In any case, Sen. Clinton is NOT winning the popular vote. She only is if you don't count caucus states. And, AND, if you give Sen. Clinton all of her Michigan and Florida votes and Obama NONE. Does that make sense? NO. It is absurd. Everyone agreed not to campaign in Florida because of Florida moving up the primary. Obama wasn't even on the ballot in Michigan for the same reason. Sen. Clinton put her name on the ballot but said it was just a technicality, that she wouldn't make any claims on it. Until she was losing she meant. That is major weak sauce. To then rile people up claiming that they have been disenfranchised is a rotten thing to do. These are the primaries. You are not being disenfranchised when your state party violates primary rules and is punished. The nominee is not selected by a constitutional process full of your guaranteed rights. It is a silly game being played by the campaign. A silly game being played in a serious election.
In Your Base
While I have largely, and gladly, missed out on the LOLcats phenomenon, I did find the picture of Obama's speech from where the Republicans would be holding their convention quite amusing.
Sleep; Strong Stuff
Last night I was not tired in the least but I fell asleep in all of my clothes around 7:30. I woke up at 6:30 this morning. Do I have an illness? Was I stung by Titsi flies? I suspect we will never know. Perhaps I am prolonging my lifespan. Yesterday at school something frustrating happened that opened a window onto the bad behavior here. Inoue sensei and I have been encouraging the 1st years to speak up when they see other students doing messed up stuff. I wouldn't normally encourage children to be rats, but at this school "doing bad things" is no joke. Yesterday to members of the softball club came to the teacher's room during the lunch break and said that lately bats and balls had been disappearing from the softball locker and that now a bunch of 3rd years were playing with a bat and ball on the grounds. Tsurutani Sensei and I went to check. We were followed by several other teachers. Of course, I knew already that it would be my buddies. Okada, Kuroda, Sakamoto, Nakamura..... They were joined by some good kids to. Koketsu and Nagami were there. Nakano Sensei started yelling at them very aggressively. They yelled back. They yelled back in the way that prompts me to fight them. Nakano laughed, at patted them on the head like little scamps. They claimed it was their bat from home, which is also against the rules. They refused to give it up and kept passing it around. I hung back as I am known to smack a bitch. Okada, as usual, threw the ball mid speech. The rest of the teachers headed back to the school Problem not even close to solved. "Aren't we going to take the bat?" I asked. "They say it is there, so there is really nothing we can do about it." Really? Really? You can take the bat until it is determined whose it is and ask one of their parents to come and get it as you can't bring a bat to school. Especially as we have no baseball team. You can also not allow them to play outside for the rest of the week for yelling at teachers. There are tons of things you can do. Any other school would make them sit seiza until they cried. Any other school would smack them until their noses bled for talking to teachers like that. Any other school.....oh, forget it. Inoue sensei had been away at a meeting so I told him about it today. He was incredulous as well. Today I have to teach 3-1 for the first time since the last Okada fight. I have no problem beating him down again. Now I see why they react badly to me. They are used to being talked to like they are funny little scamps. "Oh Alfalfa, why won't you let girls in your tree house." But they function and react like a gang or a mob ready to turn on whoever stands up to them. That is why I think it is important to react firmly and clearly. I am calling this one = teacher's fault.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Random Train of Thought
Today I was listening to MMA Sunday School, a radio show on Sherdog that always makes me think what it would be like if they gave Chad Watson and I a radio show, got us a little tipsy and had us talk about things we aren't interested in. It is a strangely enjoyable show about nothing. In any case, they brought up someone who I hadn't thought of in years and forgotten how much I used to love: Super Dave Osborne.
Here are two of his bits:
In the first one he meets Mr. T.
I won't tell you the money line from this one, but I am sure you will figure it out shortly.
Here he covers 9 to 5. You can't lose with that.
I think I like Super Dave for the same reason I like Homie the Clown. Where Homie was a clown that refused to act the fool, Super Dave was the boring stuntman who was unfailingly disappointed. A good bit really. I also enjoy that the main gag in the sketches weren't really the funny part. The funniest part was usually completely deadpan and not pointed out with flashing arrows. His show also did a good job of pointing out the infantile, self congratulatory nature of sports programming.
Here are two of his bits:
In the first one he meets Mr. T.
I won't tell you the money line from this one, but I am sure you will figure it out shortly.
Here he covers 9 to 5. You can't lose with that.
I think I like Super Dave for the same reason I like Homie the Clown. Where Homie was a clown that refused to act the fool, Super Dave was the boring stuntman who was unfailingly disappointed. A good bit really. I also enjoy that the main gag in the sketches weren't really the funny part. The funniest part was usually completely deadpan and not pointed out with flashing arrows. His show also did a good job of pointing out the infantile, self congratulatory nature of sports programming.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
I Won't Mention Kimbo Slice
Josh Gross does a better job of covering the ElteXC network debut of MMA than I feel like doing here.
Gina Carano, whil ebeing really hot, shouldn't be given a free pass for continually not making weight. If she is a professional athlete and not a pin-up girl than she should be treated like a professional athlete. I mean that in all of the good ways and bad ways. The fact that being on American Gladiators doesn't give you enough time to train properly only means that you should quit American Gladiators. It isn't fair to your opponents to keep coming in over weight.
I had an open mind on Kimbo Slice. He seemed to be doing and saying the right things. He was humble and training with Bas Rutten. But he was exposed this weekend. He is garbage. He was beaten down by James Thompson, a man who would be the first stage on Mike Tyson's Punch Out. Kimbo has very little to offer and they can't keep tossing him cans. A dubious stoppage. I don't think I have ever seen a fight called due to exploding cauliflower ear.
Gina Carano, whil ebeing really hot, shouldn't be given a free pass for continually not making weight. If she is a professional athlete and not a pin-up girl than she should be treated like a professional athlete. I mean that in all of the good ways and bad ways. The fact that being on American Gladiators doesn't give you enough time to train properly only means that you should quit American Gladiators. It isn't fair to your opponents to keep coming in over weight.
I had an open mind on Kimbo Slice. He seemed to be doing and saying the right things. He was humble and training with Bas Rutten. But he was exposed this weekend. He is garbage. He was beaten down by James Thompson, a man who would be the first stage on Mike Tyson's Punch Out. Kimbo has very little to offer and they can't keep tossing him cans. A dubious stoppage. I don't think I have ever seen a fight called due to exploding cauliflower ear.
I Address Politics (briefly)
I have been telling anyone who asked for over a month that I wasn't debating who was going to win between Obama and Clinton because Obama had already won. Anyone who can do math knows that he won months ago. If you are a person who insists that Hillary is winning the popular vote than you are playing a semantic game that involves counting some things and not counting others and going back in time and acting like the goal of the primary process is to win the popular vote.
To then pretend like everyone has it in for you because they are not letting you win even though you are losing is beyond bad form. There are very good reasons that Michigan and Florida aren't being counted. If Sen. Clinton had felt strongly that they should have been counted then she should have said that at the time and not agreed beforehand. It is sad that the Clinton's are ruining their reputation over this. I hope this is forgotten and I can go back to liking them soon.
As for now they need to get the F out of the way. Pulling a Karl Rove and busing in fake supporters to yell at the meetings this weekend (pictured above) is ridiculous.
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