Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Ha Ha Rusty
More Limbaugh stuff here and here. I think the important question in this article is "Who is Limbaugh going to blame?" It is always somebody and it can never be him. It is nice to know that people are on to his garbage.
Fuhhhhckkkkkk
I know this might not make the outer ring of you black-light disaster mandala, but Charlie Davies-rad forward for the US National Team- was seriously injured in a car wreck today. His prospects are iffy. Davies is one of my favorite new players and I had ironically just got him for my new Winning Eleven team today. Clearly this is what makes it tragic. No. Anyone injured is upsetting, this one is just coincidental and I hope the guy is okay because he is a tremendous athlete with lots of potential.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Statomatics
If you care about statistics...and environmental statistics...and the misuse of statistics and numbers and information in general than....this.
That's how this stuff enters the dialogue and becomes fact. Someone says "5,000 polar bears in the wild" and doesn't remember where the number came from. Meanwhile, someone who needs to make a point about polar bears takes the number and incorporates it into their world view. But they have a source! A source who said a number with nothing underpinning it. Hmmmm. But it fits the world view and now everyone must incorporate it or deny it, even though it is a number with no real meaning. Great.
That's how this stuff enters the dialogue and becomes fact. Someone says "5,000 polar bears in the wild" and doesn't remember where the number came from. Meanwhile, someone who needs to make a point about polar bears takes the number and incorporates it into their world view. But they have a source! A source who said a number with nothing underpinning it. Hmmmm. But it fits the world view and now everyone must incorporate it or deny it, even though it is a number with no real meaning. Great.
NFL Players Get It Right
Sometimes NFL players come off like preening morons, which makes us.....me...forget that the majority of them are intelligent adults. It is heartening to see a rejection of Limbaugh as owner. While I am sure some African-Americans would play for him, I imagine getting big name free agents would become somewhat of a problem.
Also, one thing I took from the Donovan McNabb incident that doesn't seem to be brought up so much is that Rush Limbaugh was simply hitting his own pitiful average (to reference another sport on this.) It wasn't that he made an unusual gaffe over McNabb, it was that he used the same logic he always uses, very little and skewed tremendously, to try to make a point that only makes sense to a limited and specific audience. The only difference is that in sports it is harder to argue over the results. McNabb is unarguably one of the best quarterbacks of his generation. He is consistently successful. He was before Limbaugh talked him down and he has been since. But this isn't an aberration. Limbaugh is always wrong. He is compensated for his bad judgement, not his foresight. If he was accurate, he wouldn't have hopeless wasted millions thrown at him. He gets paid to get it all wrong, because there is a specific audience out there who need it to come to them wrong so that it will seem to them like they were right all along. Buy the Rams Rush, and will see you create one of the worst franchises in the history of the league. That is, if you hold to your track record.
Also, one thing I took from the Donovan McNabb incident that doesn't seem to be brought up so much is that Rush Limbaugh was simply hitting his own pitiful average (to reference another sport on this.) It wasn't that he made an unusual gaffe over McNabb, it was that he used the same logic he always uses, very little and skewed tremendously, to try to make a point that only makes sense to a limited and specific audience. The only difference is that in sports it is harder to argue over the results. McNabb is unarguably one of the best quarterbacks of his generation. He is consistently successful. He was before Limbaugh talked him down and he has been since. But this isn't an aberration. Limbaugh is always wrong. He is compensated for his bad judgement, not his foresight. If he was accurate, he wouldn't have hopeless wasted millions thrown at him. He gets paid to get it all wrong, because there is a specific audience out there who need it to come to them wrong so that it will seem to them like they were right all along. Buy the Rams Rush, and will see you create one of the worst franchises in the history of the league. That is, if you hold to your track record.
USA!
Congrats USA for making the World Cup for the 6th straight time. Was anyone able to watch the game?
This....Exactly
Sorry for the feast or famine nature of posting recently (to those who read anyway) and the lack of actual writing in the postings. I was working at the elementary school and busy everywhere else. A three day weekend found me rarely at home.
This article on student debt hits to close to home for me to even write about. If I start it will turn into the kind of downward sucking vortex whose spin science has shown us can not actually grow large enough to hamper a ship. Mine could. My student debt isn't even that high. It is just that unpayable. The frustrating part is that you are not allowed to advance in society until it is. I can't get an assistantship or any other loans for grad-school until my debt is paid, or being paid, the same process really, but I can't get a better job, especially in this economy until I go to grad school, which is pretty much all I have ever wanted to do. The frustrating thing is, and I have a feeling this isn't just me, is that I did nothing irresponsible along the way. I went to school, like we are all supposed to. I went to school, I even tranfserred to a cheaper school fearing the financial implications. I graduated and got a good job on JET. The only real mistake I made was leaving JET but that was for a girl, and when you are 24 you make decisions about girls that you really shouldn't. After that I did okay for money but the economy crashed. I didn't see that as what was happening at the time but reading back now it is clear that Japan went down before America, and Miyazaki went first in Japan. (If you exclude Okinawa, which started from further down and is always kind of down.) When I quit eikaiwa I was lined up for a very good paying job that disappeared due to the economy and I had quit eikaiwa because I wasn't getting paid. Schools in Osaka stopped paying for full time teachers because their city government went in debt. Osaka built the ATC and tried to bid on the Olympics, meanwhile me, and people like me suffer under the yoke of our on seemingly responsible decisions. It is at the point now, and I am sure I am not alone in this, where joining the military seems like the only rational decision and the only way to address debt. Debt that I again emphasize was incurred in trying to make all of the right decisions. Not by spending on credit cards, not in buying cars. Not in building useless skyscrapers or starting senseless wars. I am just part of a group of people who it has been decided are just big enough to allow to fail.
Update
One related thing I forgot to mention is:
This system of debt serves to create a permanent underclass that finds it impossible to move up in society based on their own merit. It means that grad-school and other professions are accessible to people who don't need learns and can have their debts paid for them. Of course, that includes people who worked hard and earned scholarships. But also includes a class of dilettantes who will only reinforce their position. This couples with the current health care disaster to create an underclass and force it down lower and lower and render it permanent.
This article on student debt hits to close to home for me to even write about. If I start it will turn into the kind of downward sucking vortex whose spin science has shown us can not actually grow large enough to hamper a ship. Mine could. My student debt isn't even that high. It is just that unpayable. The frustrating part is that you are not allowed to advance in society until it is. I can't get an assistantship or any other loans for grad-school until my debt is paid, or being paid, the same process really, but I can't get a better job, especially in this economy until I go to grad school, which is pretty much all I have ever wanted to do. The frustrating thing is, and I have a feeling this isn't just me, is that I did nothing irresponsible along the way. I went to school, like we are all supposed to. I went to school, I even tranfserred to a cheaper school fearing the financial implications. I graduated and got a good job on JET. The only real mistake I made was leaving JET but that was for a girl, and when you are 24 you make decisions about girls that you really shouldn't. After that I did okay for money but the economy crashed. I didn't see that as what was happening at the time but reading back now it is clear that Japan went down before America, and Miyazaki went first in Japan. (If you exclude Okinawa, which started from further down and is always kind of down.) When I quit eikaiwa I was lined up for a very good paying job that disappeared due to the economy and I had quit eikaiwa because I wasn't getting paid. Schools in Osaka stopped paying for full time teachers because their city government went in debt. Osaka built the ATC and tried to bid on the Olympics, meanwhile me, and people like me suffer under the yoke of our on seemingly responsible decisions. It is at the point now, and I am sure I am not alone in this, where joining the military seems like the only rational decision and the only way to address debt. Debt that I again emphasize was incurred in trying to make all of the right decisions. Not by spending on credit cards, not in buying cars. Not in building useless skyscrapers or starting senseless wars. I am just part of a group of people who it has been decided are just big enough to allow to fail.
Update
One related thing I forgot to mention is:
This system of debt serves to create a permanent underclass that finds it impossible to move up in society based on their own merit. It means that grad-school and other professions are accessible to people who don't need learns and can have their debts paid for them. Of course, that includes people who worked hard and earned scholarships. But also includes a class of dilettantes who will only reinforce their position. This couples with the current health care disaster to create an underclass and force it down lower and lower and render it permanent.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Joel Tudor
I confess to having never heard of this guy until he was brought up at the gym yeterday. Good on you man.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Health Care
Health care is probably my biggest political issue. Probably. It is one of the things that keeps me estranged from the USA and represents an actual barrier to returning. Why the have I been silent on the issue? I don't know. It all seems hopeful and frustrating and unreal. Also, I have nothing substantial to add to the issue except that Americans deserve government health care. Government funded health care works and people who disagree are misguided. That is pretty simple.
I love my Japanese health care. It costs a lot. I owe money to it right now. But I don't take it for granted. Here was an article in the Japan Times of someone with a slightly different opinion.
This man in the street poll indicates my general feeling on how non-Japanese in Japan regard health care here. In my experience I have found two general categories of people who aren't crazy about it:
1. Europeans who have access to health care and are put off by the low-tech look of Japanese hospitals or for paying their share of the burden.
2. Young Americans from stable backgrounds who are, for the first time, off their parents plans. This group includes many JETs who complain constantly about who lame Japanese hospitals are. They, even the most liberal of them, represent the barrier to health care in America because they still don't get that the question is about access.
I have no access to medical care in America. The last time I sought medical care in America, it cost my family $10,000. That is a barrier. An insurmountable barrier. In Japan I am free to be competitive in martial arts, hike, surf, get a cold, whatever, because all I have to do is go to the hospital. Any hospital I want to. I have met lots of young non-Japanese here who sound just as petulant as the town hall screamers back home. Their problem with Japanese hospitals is that they smell funny, or the slippers were worn out or that the machines looked more Night Rider and less Star Trek: TNG. Any hospital looks better than rolling around on my floor trying to work up the guts to jam my knee back into joint. That is what America promises right now. And even a good medical plan doesn't let you go to the dentist whenever you feel like it so when your teeth rot out you have to pay to get all of them fixed out of your pocket. Not to mention that the only pre-condition to me obtaining insurance is telling someone my address. That is it. No examination. No family history. No pre-existing conditions. What happens in America isn't medical care, it is the flanking, cavalry attack of class-warfare. It is a real slaughter with a real body count and as much as I bitch about Japan I am very grateful that they have granted me a pardon on this count.
I love my Japanese health care. It costs a lot. I owe money to it right now. But I don't take it for granted. Here was an article in the Japan Times of someone with a slightly different opinion.
This man in the street poll indicates my general feeling on how non-Japanese in Japan regard health care here. In my experience I have found two general categories of people who aren't crazy about it:
1. Europeans who have access to health care and are put off by the low-tech look of Japanese hospitals or for paying their share of the burden.
2. Young Americans from stable backgrounds who are, for the first time, off their parents plans. This group includes many JETs who complain constantly about who lame Japanese hospitals are. They, even the most liberal of them, represent the barrier to health care in America because they still don't get that the question is about access.
I have no access to medical care in America. The last time I sought medical care in America, it cost my family $10,000. That is a barrier. An insurmountable barrier. In Japan I am free to be competitive in martial arts, hike, surf, get a cold, whatever, because all I have to do is go to the hospital. Any hospital I want to. I have met lots of young non-Japanese here who sound just as petulant as the town hall screamers back home. Their problem with Japanese hospitals is that they smell funny, or the slippers were worn out or that the machines looked more Night Rider and less Star Trek: TNG. Any hospital looks better than rolling around on my floor trying to work up the guts to jam my knee back into joint. That is what America promises right now. And even a good medical plan doesn't let you go to the dentist whenever you feel like it so when your teeth rot out you have to pay to get all of them fixed out of your pocket. Not to mention that the only pre-condition to me obtaining insurance is telling someone my address. That is it. No examination. No family history. No pre-existing conditions. What happens in America isn't medical care, it is the flanking, cavalry attack of class-warfare. It is a real slaughter with a real body count and as much as I bitch about Japan I am very grateful that they have granted me a pardon on this count.
Wolverine
I like going to the movies. This can get me in trouble. I have seen some bad ones. Enter Wolverine. Or whatever souped up title it has been given. It was watchable in the sense that I wasn't in my house and I had some popcorn and Natsuki, who knows nothing of X-Men liked it.
The failing of this movie, however, was built into the X-Men movie franchise from the beginning. That fundamental flaw is that Hugh Jackman, who seems like quite a likable guy, is an awful choice for the part. I am sure it is not because he is a bad actor, although I can't recall anything I thought he was good in. His main difficulty, which he doesn't seem to have the chops to overcome, is that he is a talented, good-looking, well adjusted, successful guy. Wolverine's appeal is that he is none of those things. He is an honestly rotten person. Not rotten in the clever rebel since. Or the redeemable loner. The first X-Men I remember reading, Wolverine was drunk in an alleyway, smoking and trying to talk Jean Grey into giving him one on the side.
I don't want to come off like an otkau stickler. The Master and Commander books are my favorite things in the world, yet I have no problems with the movie which takes great liberties. I can get over Wolverine being a little more tall than he is short. A tall, blond, Stephen Maturin didn't put me completely off for God's sake. I thought Watchmen was alright and it contained a fundamental plot difference. Jackman's problem is Hayden Christiansan's problem from My Life as a House, all the way through the Star Wars travesty, he is so obviously the prom king, being anything less seems like he is taking the piss. Of course, there are actors who can pull this transition off. Sean Penn and Harvey Keitel come to mind. Jackman in the Wolverine role only illustrates the talent gap.
I understand that Hollywood's motivations and my taste run divergent courses, but Batman, in its various forms, has been fairly good. Spiderman surprisingly so. The directing and writing in Wolverine seemed especially sloppy and it cried out for a consistent tone and voice. But really, what is another 100 million thrown down onto something that could have been so much better.
The failing of this movie, however, was built into the X-Men movie franchise from the beginning. That fundamental flaw is that Hugh Jackman, who seems like quite a likable guy, is an awful choice for the part. I am sure it is not because he is a bad actor, although I can't recall anything I thought he was good in. His main difficulty, which he doesn't seem to have the chops to overcome, is that he is a talented, good-looking, well adjusted, successful guy. Wolverine's appeal is that he is none of those things. He is an honestly rotten person. Not rotten in the clever rebel since. Or the redeemable loner. The first X-Men I remember reading, Wolverine was drunk in an alleyway, smoking and trying to talk Jean Grey into giving him one on the side.
I don't want to come off like an otkau stickler. The Master and Commander books are my favorite things in the world, yet I have no problems with the movie which takes great liberties. I can get over Wolverine being a little more tall than he is short. A tall, blond, Stephen Maturin didn't put me completely off for God's sake. I thought Watchmen was alright and it contained a fundamental plot difference. Jackman's problem is Hayden Christiansan's problem from My Life as a House, all the way through the Star Wars travesty, he is so obviously the prom king, being anything less seems like he is taking the piss. Of course, there are actors who can pull this transition off. Sean Penn and Harvey Keitel come to mind. Jackman in the Wolverine role only illustrates the talent gap.
I understand that Hollywood's motivations and my taste run divergent courses, but Batman, in its various forms, has been fairly good. Spiderman surprisingly so. The directing and writing in Wolverine seemed especially sloppy and it cried out for a consistent tone and voice. But really, what is another 100 million thrown down onto something that could have been so much better.
Frog in a Well
While I am on that tip; Frog in a Well is an excellent blog on all things Japanese.
Also Ancient Japan. Which is, sadly, no longer updated.
Also Ancient Japan. Which is, sadly, no longer updated.
Lasting Samurai
Here is a rad museum parody that addresses some of the protestations that I usually make about movies like Last Samurai. Really, if you were a common Japanese person, would you have rooted for Tom Cruise to defeat the government and preserve violent, arbitrary, warlord rule? Of course this sight does the criticism a lot better and deeper. I once found an essay on samurai death culture and how most of it was centered around warriors who never fought and were therefore free to contemplate death, but I can't remember where I read it......curses.
(OH, maybe it is the article linked to by the website. Cheers.)
(OH, maybe it is the article linked to by the website. Cheers.)
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
町石道ー Choishimich- Hiking to Koyasan
I believe in Esoteric Buddhism as much as I believe in anything that I don't believe in. I don't even find Buddhism very interesting. I think it is tedious and soporific and silly. It resists absorption by my brain as if it were mathematics. However- It was always coming wasn't it-However, Buddhism, Esoteric Buddhism in particular got a few things right: It conducts business on a human scale. It is accessible to you in your body as a human. Maybe that is why ancient Buddhism did architecture so well. It's buildings are often large, to be sure-grand even- but they are large to us as humans, not unfathomable. The World Trade Center, to use an unfortunate example, was about as bad as buildings can be. Terrible. Forced. Todaiji on the other hand: magnificent. Resplendent. Great.
That is why when I found myself going to Koyasan over Silver Week I decided to approach it as a human should, in the footsteps of Kukai (空海）, ascending the 6 hours of worn trail into the mountains known as the Choishimichi (町石道）. For those not in the know a Cho 町 is the ancient Japanese measurement that is around 109 meters. This path to Koyasan is composed of 180 stone markers marking one cho. Most people these days go by cable car or drive on the roads. Is it too self-righteous of me to shake my head at those who will weekend at a holy retreat by starting and ending in a parking lot? Has self-righteousness aver stopped me before?
I took on the journey with Natsuki and Eri who, while far more Japanese than me, are about as esoteric as a new washing machine expo. Yet both might be considered intrepid. Many pilgrims begin their circuit of Shikkoku with a visit to Koyasan. Although there were many Ohenrosan on the train, none got off at Kudoyama station with us. Japanese maps and signs are notoriusly spotty- brief aside, not only did the map at the station not orient to north, the inset of the map pointed in yet another direction- so we made our way downhill, to cross the river and begin at Jison-in, a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was being attacked by pumpkins.
This is stone 180 and the stais leading to it from the back of the shrine. This will be the rate of climb for about the next hour up the mountain.
But then there you are in a kaki field towering over Wakayama while the smell of whale bacon simmers in a wooden kitchen somewhere.
The great thing about hiking in the fall is that farmers leave buckets of fruits everywhere and charge about a dollar for bags of them. In this case you can take 5 or 6 kaki for 100 yen. Why 5 or 6? I don't know. I wouldn't have packed a lunch had I known though, as these were excellent.
Ascending from the kaki fields the trail gets more enclosed and very Lord of the Rings. The forest isn't old growth, but the trail is very old. It was laid down in the 800s. The stone markers replaced wooden markers in the Heian Period.
And as we entered Mordor.
The trail is very well marked. It would be very hard to get lost. One small draw back to the natural setting is that a large golf course borders the trail for an hour or two half way in. As we approached it, we exclaimed, "Wow, nature is so green! No! It's a golf course." Shame.
Marker 100.
A remnant of a pilgrimage.
The frequnecy of pictures drop off a bit here because it started to rain on us about 5 hours in. This was after encountering a suprising bluff, a snake, a dead mole, and paralleling a noisy road that is rather distracting. There was also a strange grove of palm trees.
About an hour or two from the goal, you cross a large intersection. This is where you realize you didn't need to pack any food and that you resent cars. There is also a bathroom here. Out of the intersection is the steepest climb of the hike. It doesn't last long though. There are huge ceder trees and a bunch of rocks from Japanese mythology. I put my camera away so it wouldn't get wet.
The very end of the hike is a steep series of switchback leading up to the Daimon （大門） which, true to the kanji, is very large. Here the road makes a hairpin turn in front of the gate that faces you, the hiker. As the young priest at the temple where we stayed rightly said, "If you come here in a car, you have no idea why the gate faces that way." I have been pretty consistent since my days as an urban planning undergrad in insisting that some places should be hard to get to, and not every experience should be made easy. I am being an ass, but an accurate one, when I say that people that tell me that they have been to Koyasan but haven't made the hike there, haven't been to Koyasan.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Yatsubuchi no Taki 八淵の滝 Hike
This is the hike described on pages 223-227 of Lonely Planet's Hiking in Japan 2001 edition.
I decided to do this hike for part of Silver Week 2009 for two reasons; One because Odai ga Hara is apparently still closed due to a landslide and two because this hike is not dampened by koyo (autumn leaves) not yet being in full effect.
What has changed from the book is the bus schedule. We left Imadegawa at 7:04, changed at Kyoto and made it to Omitakashima in time for the 8:59am bus. Horror of horrors, the bus has been moved back to 9:03am. Natsuki and I were the only hikers wandering around in front of the lonely station for about 40 minutes, buying canned coffee, pondering the statue of Gulliver dragging boats and watching two rather old ladies fiddle with their pricey road bikes. The bus showed up around 8:50am and we got on because we had nothing else to do. I asked the driver if it was the bus to Kurodani in Japanese and he gave me a very good explanation of the full route in English. I usually engage in a battle of pride for which language I will speak with people, but he charmed me into throwing in the towel with his complete lack of confidence coupled with his complete competence in communication. As we were sitting in the back of the bus alone, a swishing herd issued from the not yet electronic station. The express train had let out and every mountain walker who was over the hill and ready to roll had turned up in their, subdued, Montbell greens, browns and grays. There were two other foreigners as well and I remarked to Natsuki "We all have the same book."
The bus takes about 30 minutes to get to Kurodani as it goes first to the Gulliver camp grounds, where everyone but us got off. Natsuki began to get skeptical as there wasn't a crowd anymore. The bus then backtracks to an intersection and heads towards Kurodani. One smart loner had gotten off at the intersection and walked to Kurodani, cutting about 15 minutes off of his time. We got off the bus by a small cabin serving pasta and started up into the village. Natsuki's skepticism turned to incredulous as I told her "There's the vending machine where we turn left." Whatever. There is a reason there are no Japanese space pirates. Kurodani is a nice little village that looks like the winters are hard. The road has crystal clear water flowing down both sides. A road leads into the woods were a sign stands saying declaring the hike to be dangerous, for serious hikers with proper equipment who know what they are doing. People die here every year. You might die to so fill out a card. We did and Natsuki was grateful that I talked her into buying boots instead of wearing tennis shoes.
May I take this opportunity, while not doing too much foreshadowing, or overhinting at not so existent excitement, to declare that this IS, indeed, a very hard hike. Not always. And not in some ways that other hikes can be. But this hike has a very, very slim margin of error where you getting all deaded up real quick is entirely possible. This isn't a fun day in the woods that you decide to just go do. Even though it is, without a doubt, fun. And it is in range to just go do. Wear boots. Be in shape. Think about what you are up to and have the confidence to do. Check the weather. Be serious about it.
From the sign the hike is a nice 50 minute stroll in the woods by a stream. The trail can be a little hard to read at times, but there are red marks around to help you. In general, stick to the right side of the river.
The falls start at Gyodome Taki (魚止滝）．Which means, "Where the Fish Stop." And I guess they would. Here we ran into about 8 Japanese people in dry suits and helmets working their way up the river. In the river. I suppose a trail drops down from Gulliver camp grounds as we also ran into the white guy from the bus here. Just below the falls there is a bit off a false crossing. The trail is marked on both sides, so we crossed. But you just cross back again about 50 feet up so you should just stick to the right.
And that's when the CHUDs came after me. From here on it gets real life, batshit crazy. I wish I had pictures but I wasn't sure about the wet factor and the death factor so I left my camera at home. An excuse to go back. My shoes were soaked already though from the false crossing. You start making your way up to the falls by a system of chains nailed into the rock. Some are old and brown, some are new and shiny, but they all seem like a fucking joke. I think I screamed and laughed in terror as I saw each new challenge. In this early area, when you cross back to the left of the river, you have to crawl over a few slippery boulders and trust a log that is lodged in the water. If you make it across that, you have to go on chains and pegs to a narrow ledge and a slippery ladder. It is like playing at being a monkey. A crazy, thrill obsessed water monkey. My kind of monkey.
I could describe each section in detail, but all I could yell at the time was "This is crazy and scary and beautiful!" And that is what it is for the next 1-2 hours. Midway through the falls section you intersect with a trail down from Gulliver. You already think of these people as despicable civilians and you pity and despise them. Keep going because you will be scaling a 75-degree, wet cliff in a few minutes. I also saw a Hibakari (a slim brown snake) on the trail just above this section. The further you climb, the less people you see. The less people you see the more ridiculous Robin Hood fantasy land you enter. The top sections of these falls might be the most beautiful terrain I have seen on earth, but I am prone to capriciousness and overstatement.
Above the falls, the valley narrows and gets stuffy and close. It began to smell like a dump wrapped in an old wet rug, which is to say it smelt like bear. Very possible. We had been passing crushed acorns for a while. We started talking loud and clapping and quickly came over a ridge where everything got hot and dry and sandy. Flies swarmed around us and we had a great view of Biwako (琵琶湖）。
From here on it is what is described in the book; a series of ridge lines run together and you get insane views of the world below. We saw a few other hikers along this stretch, but not many, and we weren't sure where they came from. The flies were the real nuisance through this section. There were at least 30 on me at all times. You drop and climb between the summits and this wore on Natsuki's spirit and my shoes. The last few drops are much steeper and more difficult than the book lets on. Maybe the terrain has changed, or maybe the writer is a descent specialist, either way it got a little rough. A lot of the climb down is through gullies or washes. As I was placing my hands to steady myself a medium sized black snake took notice and gave way a bit. Things got very bear like again and we were joined by brown frogs who were also on their way down. The last two hours went on forever and the sole of my right shoe decided to slip its mortal coil, which made the going quite comfortable. Walking strangely to compensate my pinkie toes began to swell like little pigs in a blanket.
When you finally hit the road at the bottom you feel it is about time. There were "campers" sitting around wooden houses playing with DSs and smoking. I disobeyed most advice I have heard and took of my broken shoes immediately. I walked the last bit to the train station bare foot only to find, of course, that my shoes wouldn't go back on my swollen feet. The train was also swollen with holidy tourists so I got to stand back to Kyoto, try to walk in my shoes to the subway and go shoeless home.
I recommend the hike highly, but it is rough. The last 5 hours are spectacular but nothing to compare to the thrill and beauty of the first 2. I might suggest doing the falls part and taking the cable car back from Hira.
As a side note, I am usually a fairly fast hiker and I finish most hikes an hour or so under the suggested time. Not so here. It took me 7 and a half hours from the trailhead to Kitakomatsu station.
Have fun.
I decided to do this hike for part of Silver Week 2009 for two reasons; One because Odai ga Hara is apparently still closed due to a landslide and two because this hike is not dampened by koyo (autumn leaves) not yet being in full effect.
What has changed from the book is the bus schedule. We left Imadegawa at 7:04, changed at Kyoto and made it to Omitakashima in time for the 8:59am bus. Horror of horrors, the bus has been moved back to 9:03am. Natsuki and I were the only hikers wandering around in front of the lonely station for about 40 minutes, buying canned coffee, pondering the statue of Gulliver dragging boats and watching two rather old ladies fiddle with their pricey road bikes. The bus showed up around 8:50am and we got on because we had nothing else to do. I asked the driver if it was the bus to Kurodani in Japanese and he gave me a very good explanation of the full route in English. I usually engage in a battle of pride for which language I will speak with people, but he charmed me into throwing in the towel with his complete lack of confidence coupled with his complete competence in communication. As we were sitting in the back of the bus alone, a swishing herd issued from the not yet electronic station. The express train had let out and every mountain walker who was over the hill and ready to roll had turned up in their, subdued, Montbell greens, browns and grays. There were two other foreigners as well and I remarked to Natsuki "We all have the same book."
The bus takes about 30 minutes to get to Kurodani as it goes first to the Gulliver camp grounds, where everyone but us got off. Natsuki began to get skeptical as there wasn't a crowd anymore. The bus then backtracks to an intersection and heads towards Kurodani. One smart loner had gotten off at the intersection and walked to Kurodani, cutting about 15 minutes off of his time. We got off the bus by a small cabin serving pasta and started up into the village. Natsuki's skepticism turned to incredulous as I told her "There's the vending machine where we turn left." Whatever. There is a reason there are no Japanese space pirates. Kurodani is a nice little village that looks like the winters are hard. The road has crystal clear water flowing down both sides. A road leads into the woods were a sign stands saying declaring the hike to be dangerous, for serious hikers with proper equipment who know what they are doing. People die here every year. You might die to so fill out a card. We did and Natsuki was grateful that I talked her into buying boots instead of wearing tennis shoes.
May I take this opportunity, while not doing too much foreshadowing, or overhinting at not so existent excitement, to declare that this IS, indeed, a very hard hike. Not always. And not in some ways that other hikes can be. But this hike has a very, very slim margin of error where you getting all deaded up real quick is entirely possible. This isn't a fun day in the woods that you decide to just go do. Even though it is, without a doubt, fun. And it is in range to just go do. Wear boots. Be in shape. Think about what you are up to and have the confidence to do. Check the weather. Be serious about it.
From the sign the hike is a nice 50 minute stroll in the woods by a stream. The trail can be a little hard to read at times, but there are red marks around to help you. In general, stick to the right side of the river.
The falls start at Gyodome Taki (魚止滝）．Which means, "Where the Fish Stop." And I guess they would. Here we ran into about 8 Japanese people in dry suits and helmets working their way up the river. In the river. I suppose a trail drops down from Gulliver camp grounds as we also ran into the white guy from the bus here. Just below the falls there is a bit off a false crossing. The trail is marked on both sides, so we crossed. But you just cross back again about 50 feet up so you should just stick to the right.
And that's when the CHUDs came after me. From here on it gets real life, batshit crazy. I wish I had pictures but I wasn't sure about the wet factor and the death factor so I left my camera at home. An excuse to go back. My shoes were soaked already though from the false crossing. You start making your way up to the falls by a system of chains nailed into the rock. Some are old and brown, some are new and shiny, but they all seem like a fucking joke. I think I screamed and laughed in terror as I saw each new challenge. In this early area, when you cross back to the left of the river, you have to crawl over a few slippery boulders and trust a log that is lodged in the water. If you make it across that, you have to go on chains and pegs to a narrow ledge and a slippery ladder. It is like playing at being a monkey. A crazy, thrill obsessed water monkey. My kind of monkey.
I could describe each section in detail, but all I could yell at the time was "This is crazy and scary and beautiful!" And that is what it is for the next 1-2 hours. Midway through the falls section you intersect with a trail down from Gulliver. You already think of these people as despicable civilians and you pity and despise them. Keep going because you will be scaling a 75-degree, wet cliff in a few minutes. I also saw a Hibakari (a slim brown snake) on the trail just above this section. The further you climb, the less people you see. The less people you see the more ridiculous Robin Hood fantasy land you enter. The top sections of these falls might be the most beautiful terrain I have seen on earth, but I am prone to capriciousness and overstatement.
Above the falls, the valley narrows and gets stuffy and close. It began to smell like a dump wrapped in an old wet rug, which is to say it smelt like bear. Very possible. We had been passing crushed acorns for a while. We started talking loud and clapping and quickly came over a ridge where everything got hot and dry and sandy. Flies swarmed around us and we had a great view of Biwako (琵琶湖）。
From here on it is what is described in the book; a series of ridge lines run together and you get insane views of the world below. We saw a few other hikers along this stretch, but not many, and we weren't sure where they came from. The flies were the real nuisance through this section. There were at least 30 on me at all times. You drop and climb between the summits and this wore on Natsuki's spirit and my shoes. The last few drops are much steeper and more difficult than the book lets on. Maybe the terrain has changed, or maybe the writer is a descent specialist, either way it got a little rough. A lot of the climb down is through gullies or washes. As I was placing my hands to steady myself a medium sized black snake took notice and gave way a bit. Things got very bear like again and we were joined by brown frogs who were also on their way down. The last two hours went on forever and the sole of my right shoe decided to slip its mortal coil, which made the going quite comfortable. Walking strangely to compensate my pinkie toes began to swell like little pigs in a blanket.
When you finally hit the road at the bottom you feel it is about time. There were "campers" sitting around wooden houses playing with DSs and smoking. I disobeyed most advice I have heard and took of my broken shoes immediately. I walked the last bit to the train station bare foot only to find, of course, that my shoes wouldn't go back on my swollen feet. The train was also swollen with holidy tourists so I got to stand back to Kyoto, try to walk in my shoes to the subway and go shoeless home.
I recommend the hike highly, but it is rough. The last 5 hours are spectacular but nothing to compare to the thrill and beauty of the first 2. I might suggest doing the falls part and taking the cable car back from Hira.
As a side note, I am usually a fairly fast hiker and I finish most hikes an hour or so under the suggested time. Not so here. It took me 7 and a half hours from the trailhead to Kitakomatsu station.
Have fun.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Geology
I had a conversation with a stubborn, smart geologist when I was home. I have found that many of this type think global warming is trifling and silly. Of course, they are geologists. They don't take notice of crazy shit like this.
Monday, September 14, 2009
The People Who Died
A haven't kept a commentary on the recent rash of important deaths. Partly because I was in America and now I have no internet, partly because I risk turning into the Crypt Keeper, turning over cyber graves like compost and revelling in the pity. I passed on Steve McNair joining the Len Bias Fan Club; on the wall their with Spider Savidge and Steve Olin. I passed on Les Paul because it was too large and graceful a thing to treat with any kind of appropriateness in a hurried fashion. I passed on Cronkite because it was historic and expected. That brings us, incompletely, to today, which brings passings that might not be so noticed but seem and, in fact are, important.
First up is Norman Borlaug. I would wager that the majority of people out there have no idea who that is. I am not saying that as a snob, I am saying that because you probably have no idea who the Club of Rome, Barry Commoner, Ken Venturi or Samuel Mockbee are either. Their names ring out in very specific circles. If you aren't into agronomics or urban planning or environmental theory then these people and their viewpoints don't have much to do with your lives. Except that Norman Borlaug did. He had a lot to do with millions of peoples lives. And when you effect millions of peoples lives on this planet you effect everyone. But, Borlaug is a difficult case for me, and a lot of other people. He was a compassionate agricultural genius who set out to save the world, did, and yet people still argue vehemently against his actions. I am one of those people.
How is that possible? What could be wrong with making plants resistant to disease and not as susceptible to draught. What is wrong with making sure that millions get fed? I can't make a reasonable argument in the ten minutes I have to write this, but I can point you in the right direction. It is an argument straight out of Star Trek (The Next Generation of course.) Or maybe Back to the Future. Borlaug changed the world. He permitted millions to live. Millions to live an reproduce who produced millions more. Millions more to be fed by Green Revolution crops. Millions more to sustain a population bubble with the end transforming from slope to cliff to overhang right before our eyes. The problem in the world is that when you save millions of people you have to keep saving millions more people and you are never in the wrong saving people. As the Japanese t-shirt reads: It Is Problem.
As you can see the argument is complicated and I firmly believe that Borlaug was a super genius out for good. I understand that I could just as easily be wrong but I largely see the Green Revolution as an unsustainable aberration, although I hope more super geniuses can prove me wrong.
Next up: Jim Carroll. Patty Smith says he was the best poet of his generation. I doubt that. All I really have to say is that when Jim Carroll kicks it and you can't say he died particularly young, some kind of age is over. Something great is done. I wish I had some hair to cut off or an earring to take out. I spent a few years there doing you proud Jim. I hope it was enough.
First up is Norman Borlaug. I would wager that the majority of people out there have no idea who that is. I am not saying that as a snob, I am saying that because you probably have no idea who the Club of Rome, Barry Commoner, Ken Venturi or Samuel Mockbee are either. Their names ring out in very specific circles. If you aren't into agronomics or urban planning or environmental theory then these people and their viewpoints don't have much to do with your lives. Except that Norman Borlaug did. He had a lot to do with millions of peoples lives. And when you effect millions of peoples lives on this planet you effect everyone. But, Borlaug is a difficult case for me, and a lot of other people. He was a compassionate agricultural genius who set out to save the world, did, and yet people still argue vehemently against his actions. I am one of those people.
How is that possible? What could be wrong with making plants resistant to disease and not as susceptible to draught. What is wrong with making sure that millions get fed? I can't make a reasonable argument in the ten minutes I have to write this, but I can point you in the right direction. It is an argument straight out of Star Trek (The Next Generation of course.) Or maybe Back to the Future. Borlaug changed the world. He permitted millions to live. Millions to live an reproduce who produced millions more. Millions more to be fed by Green Revolution crops. Millions more to sustain a population bubble with the end transforming from slope to cliff to overhang right before our eyes. The problem in the world is that when you save millions of people you have to keep saving millions more people and you are never in the wrong saving people. As the Japanese t-shirt reads: It Is Problem.
As you can see the argument is complicated and I firmly believe that Borlaug was a super genius out for good. I understand that I could just as easily be wrong but I largely see the Green Revolution as an unsustainable aberration, although I hope more super geniuses can prove me wrong.
Next up: Jim Carroll. Patty Smith says he was the best poet of his generation. I doubt that. All I really have to say is that when Jim Carroll kicks it and you can't say he died particularly young, some kind of age is over. Something great is done. I wish I had some hair to cut off or an earring to take out. I spent a few years there doing you proud Jim. I hope it was enough.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Barney Frank
In case I haven't said it enough before, I generally love Barney Frank. He is in the right of it again in saying that calling President Obama a liar is challenging him to a debate, which is in turn "like tugging on Superman's cape or pulling the Lone Ranger's mask."
That is one thing I never get about Democrats, I would show up at people like Glenn Beck's house and say, "So what was that again?" But that is why I can't even get elected to graduate school I guess. My approach is decidedly not about building consesus and inviting good will.
Back to Congressman Frank's point, isn't yelling at the President that he is lying, aside from being unseemly and childish, a public challenge? If I was affiliated with the White House I would step on the accelerator and never look back. It would be like that scene in the Goonies where the training wheels come off the bicycle as the convertible goes around the turn. Bye Congressman, thanks for the question. Have fun in the basement with Sloth. Or, as Michael Stipe put it, "A simple prop to occupy my time." Just use Joe Wilson for all of his limited abilities. Make him the poster boy for opposition to health care like Ross Perot with NAFTA. "Ladies and gentleman, the Great Health Care Debate starring President Obama vs. Joe Wilson. No, not the smart Joe Wilson who was ambassador to Iraq....this guy!" Have you ever seen a fight where someone is getting so beat that they just kind of roll over and curl in a ball. Yeah, that. That is pretty much what I want to see. "Here I am Joe Wilson. I am the lying President coming to your hometown to debate you on health care. What? It hurts where? What the fuck do I care? Shut up and take it."
That would be my advise anyway.
That is one thing I never get about Democrats, I would show up at people like Glenn Beck's house and say, "So what was that again?" But that is why I can't even get elected to graduate school I guess. My approach is decidedly not about building consesus and inviting good will.
Back to Congressman Frank's point, isn't yelling at the President that he is lying, aside from being unseemly and childish, a public challenge? If I was affiliated with the White House I would step on the accelerator and never look back. It would be like that scene in the Goonies where the training wheels come off the bicycle as the convertible goes around the turn. Bye Congressman, thanks for the question. Have fun in the basement with Sloth. Or, as Michael Stipe put it, "A simple prop to occupy my time." Just use Joe Wilson for all of his limited abilities. Make him the poster boy for opposition to health care like Ross Perot with NAFTA. "Ladies and gentleman, the Great Health Care Debate starring President Obama vs. Joe Wilson. No, not the smart Joe Wilson who was ambassador to Iraq....this guy!" Have you ever seen a fight where someone is getting so beat that they just kind of roll over and curl in a ball. Yeah, that. That is pretty much what I want to see. "Here I am Joe Wilson. I am the lying President coming to your hometown to debate you on health care. What? It hurts where? What the fuck do I care? Shut up and take it."
That would be my advise anyway.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Mountain Top Removal
Here is a good piece with some interesting numbers. People need to realize that it is industry that gets rid of lots of industrial jobs and then blames it on the goverment or environmentalists. Layoffs due to automation or moving to a foreign country are just the price of progress, but loss to regulation or a shift in priorities is a cause for violence.
Give Us Our Free!!
I think Atrios is largely in the right of it here. I can never fathom why our Democrats are so stupid. I think it is institutional. Do they not get that Republicans will oppose whatever they come up with and they would be loved if they just went out and fought and passed the health care that people want? It is just systematic that we can only promote people who would otherwise get spit out for being lukewarm but instead get carresed and elected. Just come out and say, "We are going to pass whatever we want because we are the majority and you tell us how you like it in a few years." Instead we get the same weak sauce, shivering in the corner wondering why it is beaten by those it loves so much. Give us helath care now suckers.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Huge Japanese Erection (as per david's request)
The internet in school has no block! The internet in school has no block! Yet I still have the internet block in my life known as "not having internet." What an experience. I don't even know that Ted Kennedy is dead yet.
It is a lazy cynics game to say, "Oh, elections never change anything. They are all the same guy anyway." It is generally a cover for never having the guts to put yourself out there for anything and the security to not have things like abortion gag rules have any effect on your life. That is why it is with great reluctance that I say that the significance of this election is.......?? Fuck, I don't know. Sure The LDP has been in power since forever but as Pete Townsend told us, "I love having sex with children." No, no...that other thing about the bosses being the same as the old bosses new bosses. I have no real faith in another empty suit in another drab Japanese office deciding that the safe course is safest. At least Hatoyama's wife is a complete nutcase. That is re-assuring. Although you would think she could come up with something more original than "I was with Tom Cruise in a former life where he was Japanese." No, no Ms. Hatoyama, that was a movie with Tom Cruise filmed in New Zealand where you have probably been on vacation. And it kind of sucked. Strange coincidence though, that out of all the dead people on the planet you would have been partnered with a movie star who is popular in their home country. I was Kurt Rambis's caddy corner neighbor in Moorish Spain. His house smelled of almonds. Strange that. All that can really be said on the matter is that Aso was a tremendous dumbass to crash a party so resolutely into the ground. All the election meant to me was some more noisy trucks and white gloved hands. Now, ask me when the Japanese Communist Party unseats the DPJ, that will be a huge erection.
It is a lazy cynics game to say, "Oh, elections never change anything. They are all the same guy anyway." It is generally a cover for never having the guts to put yourself out there for anything and the security to not have things like abortion gag rules have any effect on your life. That is why it is with great reluctance that I say that the significance of this election is.......?? Fuck, I don't know. Sure The LDP has been in power since forever but as Pete Townsend told us, "I love having sex with children." No, no...that other thing about the bosses being the same as the old bosses new bosses. I have no real faith in another empty suit in another drab Japanese office deciding that the safe course is safest. At least Hatoyama's wife is a complete nutcase. That is re-assuring. Although you would think she could come up with something more original than "I was with Tom Cruise in a former life where he was Japanese." No, no Ms. Hatoyama, that was a movie with Tom Cruise filmed in New Zealand where you have probably been on vacation. And it kind of sucked. Strange coincidence though, that out of all the dead people on the planet you would have been partnered with a movie star who is popular in their home country. I was Kurt Rambis's caddy corner neighbor in Moorish Spain. His house smelled of almonds. Strange that. All that can really be said on the matter is that Aso was a tremendous dumbass to crash a party so resolutely into the ground. All the election meant to me was some more noisy trucks and white gloved hands. Now, ask me when the Japanese Communist Party unseats the DPJ, that will be a huge erection.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Today's Republican Party (in training)
Something makes me think that old dad wouldn't be too unhappy with new mom.
Friday, August 28, 2009
And the Winner is......
In case you missed it:
James won camp in a bit of a runaway. I think he might have a lock on it for a while.
Congratulations.
James won camp in a bit of a runaway. I think he might have a lock on it for a while.
Congratulations.
Back in Kyoto
Back in Kyoto with no Internet for a while. Late plane in JFK then over the North Pole and Siberia to flight delays and a free hotel room. Rental car to old shithole where the boxes come out like newspaper deliveries and no one who lives there is upset. No landlord fights and a lot of junk that wasn't mine after all. Question; Where are my clippers? My latent proto mullet reaches Miguel Angel Torres proportions. My chest hair turns gray. Jet lag allows for early morning running. The river is spectacular and Daimonji looms over my new address. Five minutes to the river, across the street to the imperial palace. First priority; bookshelves. I decide that The Hobbit and Prince of Tides go in the classics section. Am I wrong? Usually not. Kyoto University calls to harangue me about not picking up my mail that I have told them at least four times that I am not in the country to receive. Harangue I tell you. The new neighborhood is awash in grocery stores, all of them designed for old people by old people for the benefit of old people. Cheap canned tuna. Inexpensive mercury. The old hunchback with he fruit stand is the only guy up as early as me. We aren't on terms yet. Due to PSP I have become a full time Scrabble addict but can't understand why every Egyptian term for the human soul is a word, yet "ken" isn't. "Kip" is. Why can't I stop singing Chicken Fried? Thank you James. Country music invades my being, but why the obsession with homemade wine? I must have missed out on that. Cheap cappuccino in the mangakisa and I enjoy paying by the hour, Internet that is. As Ryan points out, "You are paying either way, sometimes it is just at the time." He was referring to his shower. Mission America to a large degree accomplished and as usual at this point I would rather go back although cutting through the palace grounds, vacant and dark, to retrieve my bicycle is a compelling argument.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Identity Politics?
I think Eugene Robinson is pretty much in the right of it. Conservatives largely see white and largely see male as the objective standard instead of just another form of identity with its own biases and notions. If anyone outside of those narrow parameters...well, being male is half the population of the world roughly so it isn't that narrow, references their identity it is seen as something off limits that shouldn't be a factor, never acknowledging that who they are is also a factor.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
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!
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
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.
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.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
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.
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.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
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.
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.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
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.
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.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
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.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
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.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
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.
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！
ナツキ ： このリンクを見て！
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
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.
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.
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