UFC 100: Man in the Mirror

Maybe it was in poor taste for Commissioner Dana White to stroll to the podium sporting a "Michael Jackson is Dead and I Don't Feel So Good Myself" T-Shirt. I prefer to think of it as whimsical. He addressed the crowd, "Is this really the 100th UFC? I ask you, 'Did the world really start on year 0? And if so, how did it know?" He skewed one eyebrow, raised a hand, palm upwards and stepped slowly back as the Re-birth Brass Band came tooting through the audience followed by the Harlem Globetrotters, throwing buckets of confetti on all in attendance.

Matt Grice vs. Shannon Gugerty: Really, I care a whole lot. Both have impressive records coming directly off of loses. Is it the step up in competition? Who knows. Gugerty by sub in the 1st.


CB Dollaway vs. Tom Lawlor: I had Dollaway by wrestling, but seeing Lawlor's tribute to the early days of the UFC, complete with Carlos Newton shout-out, I am going, spiritually, with Lawlor. But in a more real way with Dollaway by boring wrestling and sloppy striking.


Dong Hyun Kim vs. T.J. Grant: T.J. Grant is rumored to have great MMA wrestling. I dunno, I think Kim has great balance an real power and pounds on Grant for a TKO in the 3rd.


Jon Jones vs. Jake O'Brien: I was going to begin a betting strategy based around this fight, but I have no idea how to actually bet money. Jon Jones is a great, exciting prospect. He is probably the funnest fighter to watch right now. He picks up moves off of Kung-Fu movies and then has the ability to use them. However, it seems to be overlooked that his most recent fights have been decisions. Jake O'Brien is the king of decisions. Boring decisions. This fight could easily go that route and we know nothing of Jones' guard. I would wager he has one, but do we know that? I would bet on O'Brien by decision but I am pulling for Jones by TKO in the 2nd. Hopefully he will pull a suplex as well.



Mac Danzig vs. Jim Miller: If I am picking fighters who I would probably get along with, it would have to be outspoken vegan Danzig, who is also a good photographer and all aorund rad guy. If I am picking fighters that I would bet on to tear part of your body off, I would pick Jim Miller. Danzig has a tight, but not explosive striking game. He has a slick, slick ground game. His wrestling is sub-par. That includes wrestling defense. His stamina is good in many ways, but he isn't a physical specimen, he is more of a self built athlete, so fighting someone stronger tends to wear him down. I like Miller as a fighter also. He is a brutal submission grappler with clever takedowns. His subs aren't tricky or subtle. They are powerful and destructive. I think he wears Danzig down and gets a late sub when Danzig can't hold him off any more. I would be happy to see them both successful.


Mark Coleman vs. Stephan Bonnar: While Lawlor does a tribute to the early days of the UFC, Mark Coleman is the early days of the UFC. Even in his heyday, Coleman was a one-sided, if brutal fighter. No one as ever accused him of being a smart fighter, or a smart trainer either. I think Bonnar is often underrated. His boxing is solid, and technical, even if he isn't a real power guy. He is also a Gracie jiu-jitsu product with long limbs and solid skills. Coleman can probably get a takedown or two, but to what end? Is his ground and pound that brutal? Each takedown he goes for, win or lose, takes away his stamina points like he was a Nintendo game. I can't see a way for Coleman to win this. Bonnar should stick and move for the 1st round, lay it on in the 2nd, and abuse Coleman for a 3rd round KO.


Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Alan Belcher: What to do about this one? How do we rate this. Every time I count Belcher out, he does well. He has a Johnny Cash tattoo, but it is the worst tattoo known to man. He is from Mississippi, but Akiyama is fom Osaka and is married to a chick named Shiho. Decisions. Akiyama is the better physical prospect. He is a world class athlete. His kickboxing skills are solid, if less fluid than Belcher's. Akiyama can get takedowns out of the clinch all day long, but does Belcher give him the clinch? Can Akiyama iniciate it? It is in a cage. Not wearing a gi limits Akiyama's subs but he has enough in reserve. I am going to go with Akiyama by KO in the 2nd, but this one is too uncertain.


Dan Henderson vs. Michael Bisping: I have said this over and over about both of these fighters. Bisping is the most athletic guy you know, Henderson is a real athlete. Bisping has gone a long way to proving me wrong. Dropping to 185 has made him look a lot more physically capable. Bisping fights hard, fights smart and trains well. His striking is technically better but is very Rich Franklin like. Meaning; he isn't going to get a big KO. Bisping's wrestling may have gotten better, but better doesn't mean good. I still believe that Henderson might be the best pure athlete in the sport. He also, as I have said before, is one of the dumbest fighters in the sport. Not that he himself is unintelligent. He just seems to like fighting better than training or thinking about fighting. He gets in a fight and just runs around like he has to teach someone a lesson right now. He has a huge right and an iron chin, but he needs to put them in his pocket and wrestle. For Christ's sake wrestle! If he does, he lays Bisping on the ground and makes him into mush. Henderson TKO in the 3rd.

Jon Fitch vs. Paulo Thiago: Fitch is a superhero in the cage, Thiago is a superhero outside of it. I don't bet on anybody beating Fitch, which is why GSP destroying him was so impressive. Fitch, all day. Sub in the 2nd.


Georges St. Pierre vs. Thiago Alves: The real headline fight. This is also the cornerstone to by imaginary betting strategy. I don't think that Alves will win as much as I am curious about the chances being higher now that he is the guy that could beat GSP. Alves is huge for the weight class and probably the most powerfull fighting at 170. He is ridiculously explosive and has great takedown defense. GSP has shown he can be beaten with a quick knock-out. I don't think the odds are in Alves's favor, but I don't think they are totally against him. He can win with a well timed knee, shin or fist. That being said, GSP will go for his usual string of lightning quick takedowns and excellent top positioning. This fight is the real deal. If you are betting, take a flyer on Alves, but I think it will be GSP by devastation. Maybe Alves toughs it out through 5.



Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir: Ugh. Mir isn't great. He is better than he used to be. Lesnar isn't great, but he is clearly the nuttiest physical specimen to enter the eighthed circle. If you were to make an MMA video game, and I am told someone has, Mir's stamina rating would read "n/a." Whatever happens in this fight needs to happen quick, if it is going to be to Mir's advantage. Lesnar's striking isn't impressive from a fundamental viewpoint but it is brutal. He could get a KO anytime the factors add up. To his disadvantage, one can't become submission savvy in a matter of a few years (in most cases) much less months. The leg-lock that Lesnar fell prey to last fight will still be vulnerable now. Leg-locks aren't something that you can just become used to. Mir seems to have the knack for them. Wrestlers seem to suck at them. I hope Mir pulls one out... I don't want to call this fight for Lesnar. Let's say.....Snuka off the top rope!

AAAAAAAhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

The stupid is burning me! Get it off!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Gold CUp

America is off to a running start in the Gold Cup. After an insane run at the Confederations, which saw them succumb to a Brazilian tidal wave that would have overrun most any team, the USMNT is back on home soil and led off with a 4-0 disciplining of Grenada. Let's hope they keep their foot on the accelerator and develop a taste for finishing. I would like to see Freddy Adu make this his tournament and come out with a secure role as a bench scorer for the World Cup team.

America

Sorry I missed the 4th of July. I finally took the Japanese Proficiency Exam and forgot everything else. It is done now. I tried to think of another America song that I like as much as this one but...no. This still takes it.

Rhodes scholar, weed smokers and heroin addicts singing a song about a train.

Find a Fish

This is also rad, even though I don't like what it has to tell me. Namely, that the fish I like to eat, I shouldn't be eating.

Turbulence Report

My new favorite thing ever. As an enemy of human flight, I feel this makes me more a part of the process. If I can look at turbulence as a scientific phenomena, related to the weather and other factors, that changes day by day, then maybe I can feel more like I am participating, then being a victim.

The Great American Bubble Machine

I meant to put this up on Friday. Some of you have probably already read Matt Taibbi's piece from this month's Rollingstone. Can I say "must read" ? It's a must read. There's this episode of 30 Rock where Tina Fey asks Alec Baldwin, "Can you teach me to do that thing where people with lots of money turn it into even more money?" This is that thing. Sometimes I feel like I am on the plywood porch I built for my trailer wearing a "Put a Yankee on a Bus" hat when I decree that most institutions and the people in charge of them are just leeches sucking on the system, but it does appear that that is largely how things work. I think the Rosetta Stone of all of this was Moneyball. Which, ostensibly was about baseball but pointed to so much more. Where scouts glommed onto baseball and then convinced everyone that the game couldn't function without them while doing everything they could to make sure the game wouldn't function without them. Their benefit to the sport itself, their knowledge of it, was somewhere south of statistically probable. Can we refer to these kind of systems as too big to fail; meaning totally dysfunctional but with no idea how to, or no inclination to solve their problems.

In the end, the people in charge of things are geniuses in the way the media refers to Karl Rove; they are bad people who are willing to throw out and ideas of mutual sacrifice and brotherhood. They are willing to roll around in their own shit and then tell us all how great they smell.

On a similar note: If you haven't been listening, This American Life has been doing excellent work on the state of the economy. Their archives can be found here.

Avoiding the Rush

Last week everyone at school kept mentioning to me that Michael Jackson had died. I mean, not mentioning it in general, but mentioning it TO me. As if it had some special bearing on me, emissary of foreignness. As such my general response was "Are you really surprised? Did he look long for this world? Did you think he was well?" I wasn't just putting up a facade. I felt no shock and little sadness at all, except in a general way about the plight of mankind and our broken spiral towards the grave.

If you had to rate death pains on a scale of 100, with the areas above 100, reserved for friends and family, who really can't be measured and some special system of colored shading for people who aren't famous but you feel bad about how they died, then Michael Jackson's death was, sadly, somewhere in the low teens for me. I know what you are thinking, the low teens sounds right up your alley. Touche secret part of my brain that tells the unvarnished truth like you live in a sawmill. But, no, it was a hollow death and I forgot about it off and on across the span of the day. Lance Hahn, now there was a 99 on the scale if ever there was one. Joe Strummer and Jam Master Jay, kicking off together on that long walk home are hovering in the mid-nineties. Paul Wellstone? Right there with them, but up to a 98 maybe for the shock of reading the news in my room of a Senator who had died, "As long as it isn't Paul Wellstone" I thought. In the 80's lurk Ralph Wiley and Steve Gilliard, who I always looked forward to reading daily and whose mutual voids have never been filled. In the 70s? Maybe Norman Mailer and Hunter S. Thomson, who were beloved but not unexpected. They had each had a hand in the cookie jar for a long while. 60s? Those special celebrities, JFK jr, and Princess Di, who I never cared about in life and felt awful over in death, much to my own chagrin. May I jump back into the 90s and place Walter Payton whose death hurts right now as I think on it and who earned his fame far more than the two I just mentioned. In the 50s it starts to get random. Maybe those dudes from For Squirrels whose story seems so sad that you can't look away from it, earning their record deal and then crashing their car on the Georgia/Florida border. Music is mired with them. The 40s gets foggier. Curtis Mayfield was truly a shame but it played out for so long and then end is only the conclusion that was told at the beginning. The 30s could be Stevie Ray Vaughn who started much higher but faded quickly. No fault of his own. In the 20s would could place Rodney Culver who died on ValueJet. Why did he fly ValueJet? We will leave that for all downtrodden football players. Mike Webster and Lyle Alzedo maybe. 0 we will reserve for Lee Atwater, who at least repented. And just above him was how I felt about Michael Jackson last week.

But an odd thing happened. Something very democratic and populist and in that sense beautiful and touching and appropriate. There is a strange word in celebrity death. I was engaged to go to a friend's birthday party Friday evening in Osaka which quickly, through no fault of my own, degraded into a night of rare debauchery. The Japanese owner of a cigar bar , picked up a karaoke mic and started singing something slow form the mid eighties. Something I can't even remember now. And I thought, "I'm drunk." I also thought, "That WAS a good song."

My strange evening stretched out past the last traina nd I was drug into an underground club, packed with the foreigners I try so hard not to meet. Somewhere into the evening, between beer cocktails and tequila shots, the DJ began spinning his Michael Jackson tribute and I jumped back a few years to Ed's apartment in Kawaminami planning out the first disco we would DJ and trying to get a copy of "Wanna Be Starting Somethin'" which I remembered a DJ playing at Twisters in Richmond my first year in college. The bit about 4:45 in. You know the part. Is about the best track a DJ can posses.


Although "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" is probably the better track.

As a DJ though, I would have to say that the real money melon is "Blame it on the Boogie." If asked, people probably aren't that into it, but they will loose their shit over it if you drop it in a set. True. Strange.


Most Jackson 5 stuff I credit to having on of the most insane backing bands of all time, so I won't go to much further into their stuff. But in the middle of this raucous night, even as Slash's "Black or White" guitar lick played out, Michael made his way up my death-o-meter. I realized it was just that the wrong me had been trying to feel it. It was the me that wonders if a song as relevant as "White Man in Hammersmith Palais" will ever be written again. Not the part of me that knows that You can mix "All Fall's Down" seamlessly into "Beautiful" if you keep mixing in the intro vocals when the music fades. The me that loves Michael Jackson was somewhere in a smokey club in Japan that I had to be talked into going into having fun despite myself with friends that I miss and waking up in a fountain somewhere feeling bad about things but smiling. Or it was the me with my records walking home alone wondering if there was an equation for what it takes for a DJ not to get laid and trying to figure out how I had perfected it. So Mike, may I call your crazy dead ass Mike? Thanks for those times. It isn't that rare for a talented person to be crazy, but it is rare and crazy to be that talented.

Crayon Tattoos

I don't so often see a tattoo artist whose work is so strikingly original. This guy's stuff is rad.

The Big Game

Here is a very good commentary that echoes how I feel. And here is another positive one that is rather heartening.

And here is, as much as I hate Nike, another one of their brilliant soccer promos to get you fired up for the game. This one is as ridiculous as it is good, therefore right up my alley. You will, or not, remember this from the run up to the disappointing 2006 World Cup. RIP MC Hawk by the way.

It AIn't No Miracle

USA 2. Spain 0. If that doesn't make you happy in the small storage space behind your heart then you probably haven't been living and dying with the U.S. Men's National team since we felt lucky that Tab Ramos could get citizenship. Once America had the stars line up in their favor against Egypt, I told everyone who would listen that Spain was a team we (and I know how ridiculous it is to say we in sporting contexts) could take. I said it. I said it would happen even though we would be given a silly red card. I didn't say it because I am an oracle. I said it because it is no irony that I just finished re-reading Seabiscuit. I said it because what is great about the U.S. Men's Team is what is great about all American sports stories. Someone was told they couldn't, and they refused to listen. I think living amongst foreigners, all kinds of foreigners, makes this all the bigger. One tires of Europeans vacuous notions of superiority and the Japanese quality of fair weather ignorance. When The Americans are on, they play like Red Pollard, alcoholic and in a leg brace. They play like winning is the only thing between them and the poorhouse. Just watch the Clint Dempsey goal, Clint Dempsey raised in a trailer park where Louisiana meets Texas, watch how you can literally see how he wanted it more. He made the defender look silly in his indifference. Altidore's goal was also a real American soccer goal. Physically dumping the defender and then driving the ball home. A great game by the whole team. If Brazil stays as sloppy as they have been this tournament, we have a chance. We being all of us who love USA soccer.

USA Football

I'm gonna have to sleep through it, but I am calling the game USA-3, Spain-2. Call me crazy. U.S. scores off a controversial penalty and a set piece header. The other goal...oh...let's say....Moe.

Takatsuki Jazz

This is about two months old now but here are my friends Kanji, Sho, Izumi, Nabe and a guy I don't know rocking the jazz fest. Takatsuki Jazz is a great idea. It is a weekend where all the clubs downtown open up for no charge and tons of jazz bands play for free. Sweet.

Undo Kai

Another 運動会 in the books.　　Sorry I have no post for the week. I have had no days off and get home, if I am lucky, after dark. This 運動会　was nuts. There was a huge production number about the history of Okinawa featuring kids as airplanes flying around shooting down buildings made of people and throwing kids in the air as fish leaping out of the ocean. Nuts. As crazy as it was it was all very touching and we worked really hard on it. The kids at this school are really honestly sweet.

Ah, the Eugene Mirman

Just for old time's sake.

CHords

I have been thinking about the actual mechanics of songwriting lately. Probably because Rob, who I play in a band with, and I have such different approaches but both write a ton of songs. I know that mine are different but, it is the only way I can write so I have been wondering exactly what makes my songs the way they are. This means that I have been dwelling on song construction to the point that that becomes the entirety of my interest in songs. Witness this Pearl Jam number. I must state that Pearl Jam was a band I was not very into. I saw them live however in 1992 or 93 and they were incredible. I have never bought any of their stuff, but I have come to be comfortable with liking some of their songs. This is the one I have been dwelling on lately. "Hail, Hail." What I have been focusing on with this is the fact that they know they have this bad-ass chord change so they just make it the whole song. They throw on some other stuff to appease the sense of how a song goes, but the meat of the song is that great: D F C# D G A B# A# bit that is almost good enough to be in a Hoover song. Of course, if it had been Hoover they would have told the bridge and verse to fuck off and just rocked that part.



Having this song in my head kept turning the cranks and telling me their is another song, an earlier song which it favors. I could get the chorus in my head. I could hear the bass. But, I just couldn't place it. Then I the gears cranked around and I heard the trumpet and I realized it was Fishbone's "Sunless Saturday." Another solid effort. How many bands use the word "abscond" in a sentence? It's funny how any band now who couldn't cut it in the heavy metal scene and bought a drum machine and Adobe Audition are now a hybrid fusion of rap metal. Look out, Fishbone's sneaking up behind you and they roll with canes and bowlers.

Small House

A lot is being written lately about the small house movement. Or should I say The Small House Movement. I feel that, as a resident of Japan, I have been at the forefront of this movement. Maybe as the son of a boat captain, I have always been out there, riding the bow wave as it were. No that, is pushing the house as boat metaphor too far. In any case, I saw this photo gallery the other day and really liked a lot about it.

ナツキ　：　このリンクを見て！

Planes

I didn't know about this plane crash nonsense until today. his defies everything I tell myself to calm down on planes. Turbulence doesn't cause crashes and whatnot. Terrifying.

New Arudou

Let me say from the start that I support Debito Arudou. Sometimes I feel like he is a blunt instrument, a noisy cavalry charge, but he fights for the side of right with a rare fury. I will continue by saying that complaining is the first step in Democracy. Complaining is valuable. I am not saying that he is in this piece. I am just throwing it out there. I thought that this article was very well stated. I have felt this way about the topic of bullying in Japan. Bullying is now a major issue, so we, as teachers, are not allowed to label anything bullying. Make sense? Most people in Japan will tell you that there is no discrimination in Japan today. There isn't because there are no "colored" restrooms or anything else classified as discrimination. Of course, when I called about a new apartment a few days ago I was asked for my phone number and what country I was from. It would be legal to refuse me of a house over my nationality by the way.

I am glad Arudou points out the bit about being "shy." I really get sick of that garbage. Lots of offensive, unacceptable conduct is written off in Japan as acting "shy" or being "cute." I am over it at this point but I can't coun the amount of times that a kid has yelled "You have blue eyes, I'm scared!" And the adults around giggle at the sweetness. I met Natsuki's grandmother a few months ago and she, being 94, said, "Too bad you guys aren't from the same country." I mentioned it later and was told, "I know, she's so cute." It really doesn't bother me so much, but it some level I feel like it should. It would if my grandmother said it.

Anyway, I am loosing track. Read the article.

Costa Rica

The U.S. plays Costa Rica today in Costa Rica where they (we) never, ever win. I like this article because it has U.S. players saying that Europeans couldn't handle CONCACAF qualifying. I agree. World Cup soccer at noon in Central America on Astro-turf. Sweet.

Mutual of Omaha

I saw one of these in the middle of the day by Kamogawa the other day. Odd bird. Also, I think that the rat in our house is this. Somehow this makes it less scary. The Wikipedia entry says that rat isn't in Japan, but my Japanese "Living Things of Japan" guide, says it is.

More Zevoness

Another funny tidbit about the biz in the Zevon biography:

At one of his early NY concerts, when he was the critics favorite, Billy Joel was wandering around hassling people trying to find out how to get a tour booked. Success is so random.

Grand Torino

One of the high points of my ill-fated Florida trip was flying ANA to America. War ANA. In addition to good food and service they have the new 777s with the personal TV system that allows you to watch a ton of movies and TV shows and your own speed. You can pause and jump between programs. They also don't censor the movies. It had the entire first season of 24, all of the Ocean's Eleven movies, including the original Sinatra version and a Clint Eastwood marathon. If I haven't said it before, Clint Eastwood is one of my very favorite directors of all time. From The Eiger Sanction on through Unforgiven, I love it all (with the exception of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which sucked.) So I was excited to get to see Grand Torino. I haven't liked a movie so much since......when......This is England maybe. The Dark Knight? It struck me as one of the rare movies that reflects an America that looks familiar to me. An odd scary America with a lot of heart and uncomfortableness. I liked it more than I can say. That being said, I had no interest in the dramatic arc or ending. I could have done without it. I think the movie would have been better if it had just been guys hardware shopping. But that is me. I loved John from Cincinnati.

They also pass out Haagen Dazs on ANA. United just passed out resentment.

Odd

Watch this all the way through. I am not sure what is going on but it is very strange and I actually laughed through my despair.

This Motherfucking Life

I just got the mail saying I have been turned down for the scholarship that I blew a few thousand dollars applying for and was sure I would get. Why was I turned down? Who knows. While trying to avoid self pity it is the same wonder I feel at being turned down for everything I get turned down for. I think in some ways I am easy to reject. Not initially, but I picture in the final stages they look and think, "Well, he'll be okay without this." But I'm not. I am at a complete loss for what to do. I have been highly motivated basing everything around this, including a substantial chunk of my self respect. Fancy yourself the academic you say. I was so confident I had it, but I felt the same way about film school and the high school teaching job and the...... I suppose I should get used to the idea of being a junior high teacher. What was that I was saying about Warren down there earlier? I take it back Warren here I come.

(UPDATE)
The consulate actually mailed back and said there were two reasons:

1. There were a lot of applicants.
2. My research seemed unfocused.

2. Is odd because I came out of the interview telling everyone, "They were very friendly but didn't seem very interested in my research." They really didn't seem to grasp what "Environmental Economics" might be and kept bringing it back to "Can you understand doctors in Japan?" As I was trying to explain quantifying "Quality of Life."

Very frustrating.

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead

Actually I am sleeping until 3pm every afternoon as the school won't let me come back to work until Saturday as I might have Gaikoku Flu. Yesterday I finished reading I'll Sleep When I'm Dead , the biography of Warren Zevon by his ex-wife Crystal Zevon.

Somewhere between him trying to make his wife have sex with his girlfriend while their newborn daughter cries in the next room and him forcing a groupie to have an abortion I began to question my love for him as an artist. Insert Ezra Pound equation. In the end, he probably does enough to make his excesses somewhat palatable. I think I am most empathetic and understanding with artists not being able to fit into the conventional world. There is that. Then there is being a narcissist and a drain on society. The life of an addict. It made me go back and rethink whether his talent actually justified the people around him's tolerance. I started to compare him to other artists. Is he a better songwriter than Blake Schwarzenbach, Ben Folds, Lance Hahn, Joe Strummer or Bob Mould? (that is a very random sampling) No. I think he isn't. But....then again, the age and time and place are a little different. I went back and watched some clips and he definately was quite a talent.




(A note on the Excitable Boy clip: I started out laughing at what everyone looked like and then realized how great they were playing and felt kind of bad.)

I base my thoughts around punk rock the way scientists base their worldview on evolution so it is no surprise that I will fall back on it here and say that part of Zevon's issues was the scene he was in. His friends were Jackson Brown and Bonnie Raitt and Don Henley, so he saw himself as rejected by the industry even though he was on the cover of Rolling Stone and constantly on Letterman. I think J. Robbins or Bobby Sullivan are every bit the songwriters Zevon was, but who knows what bank account they are digging into now. But, what does a corrupt industry really owe you anyway? And that is another place where the book makes me slightly ill. Rock and roll is just another power structure where sucking up to money helps your path to success. Fuck it. The way music is depicted as being made and the odd ways that money are thrown at it and the politics invovled makes you see music legends for what they really are; non-threatening chums.

Nevertheless, it is a book worth the read and you will feel for Warren and those around him and you will reconsider his music, which is the most important part anyway.

FOY

Instant fight of the year. Abel Cullum vs. Tokoro Hideo


mma

Miami Pt II

Architecturally, I find it admirable that Miami is instantly recognizable as where it is. Even if the style isn't executed exceptionally, it is still an exception to the usual.



Even this contraption is staying on theme.



Scarface is running from the chainsaw.



On the beach: a harbinger.

Miami pt. 1

It wasn't the first time I had to wander around Osaka until the trains started. It was the first time I had been that sober. Took a strange turn just East of Umeda and things got weird. One of my favorite things about Japan is how going one block over can make everything change. Everything changed for the depressing. I found the street lined with Chinese prostitutes, taxis and garbage. Sometimes, most of the time, in Japan, even the hookers ignore you. I am glad. My flight to Tokyo had two people on it. The lady at the airport was very sweet laughing about it. We saw Fuji-san a little after sunrise. It didn't photograph as well as it loomed.



Miami looked like Miami and photographed surprisingly well. Jet lag came in handy as it got me up around 5am and kept me out of trouble by around 8pm. I had no idea I was walking into ground zero of Urban Beach Weekend. Which looked just like this but worse. Much worse.



I hope that isn't construed as me trying to be racist. It would be like being trapped in this little neighborhood with 250,000 drunk Hank Williams Jr. fans. It was just that it was 250,000 young African Americans who love every current in hip-hop that I despise in it. It was insane. I wanted to take pictures but I didn't want to get in the way. I almost got jumped for my wallet but I turned and gave the two guys my best junior high school teacher "what are you about to do" look which bought me the few seconds to get out of the situation. I told a cop whose response was, "Well, what are you gonna do?"



But I am jumping ahead. Miami Beach at 6am on a weekday morning is about as lovely as any urban environment I have ever been in. It is freakishly clean and surprisingly working class; which seems to make for nice morning neighborhoods almost everywhere.



A small squall blew over and the briefness of my time made me realize how much I miss the sky in Florida. It is the best sky anywhere. I like the East Tennessee sky at about 8pm on a summer night. Or Kagoshima late at night. But nothing beats Florida sun between clouds.



It's a strange thing to fly across the Pacific to dip your toes in the Atlantic.

Air Miami

I haven't mentioned it because I don't want to curse myself, but I am flying to Miami for a two days to test and interview for a scholarship that will pay for me to get my masters at Kyoto University. I didn't realize the flight was so early. I can't find a train that will make it, so in typical Wes style I am headed to wander around Osaka tonight until I can get the morning train. Woohoo.

Oh, and since I always assume that every second I am on a plane is my last, remember to play the Pogues if I eat it and go to that great scholarship interview in the sky.



Air Miami....Not the Pogues.

Chavez

Been thinking about Chavez lately...musically. They have kind of been forgotten it seems like. Good stuff.

Why I Barely Post Anymore

Sorry. In April I got transferred (against my will) to a new school in Higashi Osaka. My last school was about 45 minutes from Kyoto. My school now is, at least, an hour and thirty minutes away. I leave my house at 6:30am. I get home, if I am lucky, a little after 6pm. That being said, this school, while having 1,053 students, is not nearly as stressful as Tomo-chu. However, it has one 8 year-old laptop which is connected to the internet and this site is blocked. I still think of the same amount of stuff I want to comment on, but by the time I get home I usually just want to lay on the floor.

R. Kelley Never Sounded Better

My friend Ueta Yu getting beat up by Boku Kotetsu (a famous dude)

Tea Baggery

Via a website called The Seminal. This pretty much sums it up for me. It could be extended further, like to the fact that they don't have E-coli, but this will do.

Fat and Poor?

This is very important to understanding the poverty trap.

Some Random Stuff

This is Golden Week in Japan. The archipelago of holidays that everyone waits for the off year when they line up as a peninsula. They didn't this year so I had last Wednesday off and then Monday through today. In that span I will estimate that I have seen about 30 live bands and one crazy-ass dance performance in an giant old shrine. It isn't the week I planned, partly because it has rained constantly and partly because I managed to rip a good chunk of skin off of my right foot last week, but its randomness has been interesting nonetheless.

A few stories:

Does this happen in other countries? I own a Trek bicycle. It is aging, but still nice. There is a specialty Trek shop in Kyoto. My gears broke so I took it to the Trek shop. I only here bad things about them, but they have always been OK to me. Here is my conversation:

Me: I think my gears are broken. Can you fix them?
Staff: No.
Me: No, you don't know, or no it is impossible to fix?
Staff: Hmmmm.
Me: ?
Staff: Can't fix it.
Me: You mean I need to order a part?
Staff: Hmmmm
Me ?
Staff: No.
Me: Why? What's the problem.
Staff: Yes
Me: Are you saying it can't be fixed and I have to buy a new bicycle?
Staff: Hmmmmmmmm. I guess so.

I leave the shop and get on my bike and everything worked fine. What the F? Which brings up the question: Why are there some stores in Japan that seem to have no desire whatsoever to have customers? I don't get it. Most of the service in Japan is outstanding. Just sometimes......It is so strange.

Random thing two:

I moved from the second floor of the garbage heap I live in, to the first. Monday night I kept waking up thinking the bed was uncomfortable. After waking up for the fifth time, I realized I had a pocket full of thumbtacks. Nice.

Random thing 3:

I went to Going Kobe in....Kobe last Wednesday because my friend's band was playing. It was a huge concert on Kobe Port Island that featured tons of bands playing at various locations. It was also free. The event is a pretty good idea, because the island has a convention center an arena and a college all within walking distance of each other. Bands were not only playing in the main rooms, but in lots of small rooms around the facilities. Needless to say, most of the best music was on the smaller stages. Walking towards the college to hand out flyers form my friends I noticed a T-shirt for the event listing bands who were playing. Surprisingly one of my favorite bands of all time, Sambomaster, were playing. Lucky for me. I got to see them for free!! I couldn't, however, get anyone else excited enough to watch. Most of the other headlining bands, weren't particularly good.

Okinawa Music

Next week my students, they are still too new to be my kids yet, are going on their school trip to Okinawa so in music class they are singing a lot of Okinawan songs. I had forgotten how much I like a lot of stuff that comes from Okinawa. It largely proves that Japanese pop music can have a depth to it that isn't reflected in the majority of TV backed hits. A lot of this has to do with the fact that Okinawa, as a prefecture, has a lot of street cred, if you will. It was an independent kingdom concurred by the Japanese, tortured by the Japanese, destroyed by the American, occupied by the Americans and exploited by both countries. It has the highest poverty rates in Japan. Here the band Begin sings the song "Shimanchu no Takara" "Shimanchu" is the Okinawan reading of "島人” meaning "island person." "Takara" means treasure. No, it is not about pirates. In this song he talks about the things that were important to him growing up on the island. I particularly like the line where he choses to say "They don't let us have TV or radio." Not "We don't have TVs or radios." Strangely, I went to see a Japanese folk rock show last night and this guy played this song. I was really stoked. I think a lot of younger people get the message about Okinawa.



This next song, "Shimauta, "Island Song", by The Boom is more in your face. Not in its sound or approach, its lyrics are a bit vague, but in its theme and deeper substance. On the surface this song can be read as a sweet love song about a young boy saying goodbye to his romantic interests in the forest on the island. It is really about the forced mass suicides preceeding the U.S. invasion, and about a young student, as many of the suicides were, saying goodbye to the world. It is a terribly wrenching song, but an enduring pop hit. But, here is the weird part. The Boom isn't from Okinawa. They are from Yamanashi, but the singer became very touched by Okinawa and its music. Still, a good song on the topic.

I will put two versions here. One with the English translation, and the next live from Tokyo because it seems so in your face aggresive in a way to me. Notice in both of these songs the use of the Sanshin.





I should also point out that the first guitar riff in "Shimauta" is probably one of the most famous and recognizable in Japanese music.

Moving back to Okinawan music from Okinawa. I would be remiss if I didn't mention　Mongol 800, whose songs are not particularly political but whose radness is overwhelmingly. If you lived in Japan in 2001-2002 this song was unavoidable, and there was nothing wrong with that. "Chisanakoinouta" is still one of my favorite songs in any language ever. You don;t have to know anything about Japanese. Here.

Tan Hong Ming: The King

School is Rad

Where I'm From

Of course we know it can happen anywhere, but there is something special about Northwest Florida crazy. I guess the Fox News crowd will continue to see nothing wrong with inciting violence towards our government and its representatives. If you were to write a song called "Cop Killer" and explore the idea of being persecuted by the police eventually leading to hatred of police you would be vilified as anti-American. If you tell people that they are coming for your guns and we have to do something, you are 100% American. I know that somewhere at a Waffle House in the area guys are talking about how the cops didn't know what they were doing, and how they would have done the whole thing better.

The Stupid Burns!!

There is this strange undercurrent in conservative (read: anti-science) circles that relies on the technique of asking a ridiculous question and yelling "gotcha!" when the person being questioned hesitates at being asked something seemingly so silly. The following exchange occurred this week between Noble Prize winning Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and ranking House Energy and Commerce Member (and possible lobotomy enthusiast) Joe Barton.



Later, Rep Barton gloated on his Twitter page "I seemed [sic] to have baffled the Energy Sec with basic question - Where does oil come from?"
Well, to the extent that the word "Baffle" comes from the Scottish "Bauchle" meaning, "To treat with contempt." Then sure, yes you did.

The worst thing about this scene, as it is true of all of these created, farce bafflements, even if they are only metaphorical, is the smirk and sense of pride on Rep. Barton's face. He believes that because he doesn't understand how something works, how he can't even fathom the completely reasonable explanation given to him, that he was too busy eating paste in elementary school to absorb plate tectonics, that he is somehow the victor in the exchange. One gets the feeling that at the local carnival, Rep. Barton would find "Heads I win, tails you lose." A winning proposition. That he would turn to his small, round, drooling family, candy apple syrup holding the scraps of caramel corn to his stained lips, and declare, "I like them odds!"

Of course the grandpappy of these self-content performances is the supposed "stumping" of Richard Dawkins by Australian creationists who ask the awkwardly phrased challenge, "Give an example of a genetic mutation or an evolutionary process which can be seen to increase the information in the genome."



Do you have an answer? Probably not. Nor should you. You are not a geneticist. Neither is Richard Dawkins. He is a biologist. More importantly, does the challenge seem to make sense? Does it seem to be part of a discussion? To me it reads like a childish dare that people of lesser intelligence than Dawkins huddled for weeks in a rented backroom over a cheap card table with uneven legs formulating. Dawkins felt this way too and realized he had let a creationist film crew into his house under false pretenses. He was upset. The film crew taped this reaction, looped it and now post it everywhere as "Dawkins Stumped." Of course the people who take pleasure in this only indicate their respect for Dawkins in a backwards way by indicating that stumping him is such a giant triumph. To cause a biologist to pause with an oddly formulated hyper specific question about genetics, what a defeat. Those who prostrate themselves with joy at this victory, it goes without saying, also don't understand the question. Here is Dawkin's actual response to the challenge. It is of a length and breadth that would have not served the creationists at all, so they just shake their heads and tuck the joy right down into their little hearts.

All of this ridiculousness reminds of a friend of mine. He considers himself a tough guy and likes to joke around like we are sparring. The problem is, if you move your head like a boxer, he laughs at you for "flinching." If you move in and clinch he says, "I don't go for that wrestling shit." And then he walks around all day gloating over the beating he gave you. Of course, if you were to follow him around trying to explain the absurdity of his thinking you look like an insecure school marm so you just have to let him go on crowing.

Cock-a-doodle-do Rep. Barton.

The Economy: Seth

Hey look it's my step-cousin Seth on the Today show. Thanks for the link Mom.

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Mayhem

In case you missed it Mayhem Miller, one of my top 5 favorite fighters, won yesterday in style.

Service Academies

Interesting argument that will never be implemented. Not that I am arguing for it.

Aptonyms

My new favorite: Aptonyms!

UFC: 97- The Empire Strikes Black

So I haven't been writing anything. Blame it on my 3 hour commute to a job I didn't ask for. I wasn't even going to do a write up but then our patron saint dropped by and told me:


So you see I had no choice really.

Stout vs. Wiman: Wiman is better than I thought but not as good as he should be. Stout is exactly what he is, a pretty good kickboxer. If Wiman doesn't feel like trying his stand-up, he should win a boring decision on the ground. Stout can always win with one punch though.

Chonan vs. Grant: Poor Ryo, having his name mangled time and again. His face was mangled in the DNA cesspool known as the Chonan family. Grant is supposed to be the hottest shit in Eastern Canada, which means lukewarm shit to the rest of the world. Chonan is a survivor so he lasts out another boring decision in this one.

Bocek vs. Bielkheden: Everytime I bet against Bocek he surprises me with his excellent grappling and I swear to never underestimate him again. Then a few hours pass, and I forget him. Such is the power of being Canadian. I also like Bielkheden for being a Scandinavian living in the southern hemisphere. I think Bocek will be a bit much for him and win a TKO from the top in the 3rd.

Loiseau vs. Herman: I admit that I am one of them; the throngs crying for Loiseau's reinstatement. He is one of my favorite fighters from my re0interest in MMA. He is a rather odd fighter for a very talented guy. The way he is content to win in someone else's guard and to routinely give up his back on the ground. Herman is a decent fighter too and could make this a dull ground encounter but my heart tells me that Loiseau has been away sharpening his 'bows for a TKO in the 2nd.

MacDonald vs. Quarry: I have often said that Quarry was my favorite on the first TUF season because he seemed to be a grownup who asked the right questions in training. He has done little to impress me since. I enjoy very much watching MacDonald fight. Even though his nickname is "The Athlete" he seems like a throwback to a time when the guys in this sport were less that and more dudes who knew how to fight (in one style.) MacDonald gets a sub in the 2nd.

Kang vs. Foupa-Pokam: Despite his recent slide Kang remains one of my favorite fighters. He is a big ball of talent. The guy is a sick sick fighter and he hope he gets to show that against Professor X. Kang by sub in the 2nd.

Marshall vs. Magalhaes: I don't know, for as good as Magalhaes is at BJJ I just get the feeling that he doesn't really like to fight. Maybe I am wrong. These are two BJJ guys going at it and Marshall is the least good at his chosen trade. However I think he is more game and gets an unforseen KO in the 1st.

Soszynski vs Stann: Soszynski has the reach, the anger and the bread and butter subs to put this one way. Soszynski works the stand-up and hurts Stann. He will get on top of him and close it out for the KO in the 2nd.

Cantwell vs. Cane: Cane has done very littel other than impress me. I here good things about Cantwell but I think Cane lets his hands go, backs Cantwell up against the cage and hurst himwith a big combo, dropping him for the KO in the 2nd.

Kongo vs Hardonk: Try to calm Joe Rogan down for this one. Yes, they are both great strikers. Kongo is the more technically sound boxer. I anticipate Kongo, muscling Hardonk around and beating him up. This weird little bird in the back of my mind is telling me that Hardonk drops for a leg lock, but I doubt it. Kongo by TKO in the 3rd. I think it should be a fun bout.

Liddell vs. Rua: Setting time machine for a date when I still cared. Ok, I still care a little bit, but Rua looked god-awful in his last match against Coleman. Liddell hasn't been great, but he has been in against some hard match-ups. Things that aren't going to happen in this fight-Rua taking Chuck down. Chuck gassing before Rua. Can Rua leg-lock Chuck? How do they get there. Can Rua out kick Chuck? I can't see these things happening. Chuck will always have Thor's hammer in his right hand. He uses it getting a KO in the 3rd. Highlight reel stuff.
(in case anyone has forgotten what a badass Shogun was not so long ago)

((by the way, that is one of the legendary clips in the annals of MMA highlights. It was made by Genghis Con who is a rad highlight artist.))

Silva vs. Leites: I am a Leites fan, but I am also a Dan Henderson fan and was sure he had the stuff to beat Silva. He didn't. Know one seems to. If Leites works for the takedown, Silva can hang on. But one has to fight a perfect match against Silva. Does Leites seem like the perfect fight kind of guy? No? He doesn't to me either. He keeps it competitive and passes guard a few times but eventually gets hurt and gets dropped in the 3rd. KO.

There it is. Not much to it. Just the straight dope from a guy with a shitty commute who drinks liquor with dead snakes in it. Take that Arash.

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Ｌｅｏｎａｒｄ Ｃｏｈｅｎ: Born to be Covered

Paul Baribeau - Chelsea Hotel No. 2 from If You Make It on Vimeo.

Hitchens

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The thing about Christopher Hitchens is that he is a complete asshole and incredibly full of himself. Himself is full of scotch, so, in fact, he is incredibly full of scotch. But he is, at times, especially when you agree with him, a very effective debater. He is undeniably smart. Smart in the sense that he has a strong memory and knows his way around an argument. I also enjoy pomposity in a debate. It is an well chosen technique, particularly if you sport a British accent. The main thing that I am surprised/completely not surprised about in this conversation is his opponent, Mr. Blackwell's (not to be confused with the deceased fashion queen) stunning ignorance. Do you think he really doesn't understand that the Pilgrims and the Founding Fathers are two completely separate groups of people? Separated by a century? I applaud Hitchens for making the reference tot he Spanish in America as well to combat the Pilgrim argument, all though it probably sailed over Mr. Balckwell's head like a disinterested hawk over a man not waving a piece of bread. It was an embarrassing performance. A drubbing. But the thing about Mr. Blackwell and his hardy crew is that their strength is in not noticing and not caring when they lose. Surely we must all know that the founding fathers, the Pilgrims, loved Jesus down in their heart and have the joy, joy, joy, deep down to stay? Kudos to Hitchens for also bringing up Thomas Jefferson's translation of The Bible which removed all claims to the supernatural. Can the Founding Father's argument really hold up in the face of that? Maybe Jefferson was a rouge? Well, he was a bit of a rouge. What a hapless pantomime of an argument you have put on for us Mr. Blackwell.

Fuck You, Fuck You and Fuck You

Sorry for the profanity, but here is another article saying that the government won't forgive student debts because we are "too small to help." You know why I am too small to help? Because I am locked into student debt. You don't think I could do more useful things if I wasn't strapped into that yoke? I could go on and on, but don't you think it would be a large stimulus to the economy to suddenly have people who actually spend money free to spend money? People who's only wrong was trying to get an education while the prices of that education were skyrocketing? Errr. I am having a bad week.

Ancient Japan

I recently came across this blog on ancient Japan. It is pretty rad. Good job whoever.

Which led me to this history blog. Also good.

President Obama in Iraq

Remember now, the military hates Democrats. Repeat it enough and maybe someone will believe it.

Monsula

Monsula, on the other hand, were a band I loved. Someone has been posting their videos to Youtube lately making me both happy and pained. This song was called "Down Inside" and, in my opinion, is better than anything Nirvana ever put out. Sorry.

Silver

Whne Nirvana comes up in conversation I usually say that this is my favorite of their songs, bearing in mind that I am not that crazy about them. I decided to check it out again to see if I still felt that way. ...I do.

Terrifying Worm

I don't know if you saw this, but I find it strangely terrifying.

Ridiculous Kyoto Loveliness

This week of spring and sakura in Kyoto, especialy Kiyamachi between Shijo and Gojo, is so ridiculously beautiful that I want to photograph all of it, but I know it wouldn't translate.

Right now Kyoto makes the most anorexic girl's piddling knees plump and comforting. The swarm of bugs pestering your eyes and mouth are just the foreground; loveliness is thick. The breaks on old ladies bicycles sound like Van Morrison laying it down. It is a well staged opera.

Old Houses

Pretty much this. Yes. Exactly.

Gosho Hanami

I can't believe how well the photos from Sunday's hanami at Kyoto Gosho turned out. I think it must have been the excellent weather and the light.



It wasn't my favorite hanami ever, but it was good enough. How beautiful is this???

I recommend hanmi at Gosho. There are a lot of people, but it isn't really crowded.

Teacher Crisis

For once there is a teaching crisis that doesn't involve me. America is expecting a shortage of educators over the next decade. Maybe that means they will start seeking us out. Hmmm...

Kagoshima Sakura

Sakura in Kagoshima.



Natsuki and her mom.

Uh-Oh!

English practice for Natsuki.