Politicus

Yesterday, coming home form work, I finally got to hear Conan O'Brien's farewell speech. I had read it beforehand, but hadn't realized the emotional impact it had. How it communicated dignity and integrity. I have loved Conan since I stayed up late to watch his debut. Listening to his good-bye, I felt this weird pang of what I felt during the Obama campaign. Does that make sense? Not that Conan is a political force or the face of a movement. Certainly I never felt that Obama was either. But that it was someone who understood the goodness in the hearts of most of the people of my generation and the generations that surround it. The way people rallied around Conan, and candidate Obama, seemed more like us rallying around ourselves, and I liked that. Friday I started to long for it again on the political front. And then today, President Obama went out and did me a solid. In a month where I have been waiting for him to cut loose Geithner and Summers and Bernanke, and recapture the spirit of populism that Republicans are attempting to fake, he had sadly disappointed to me. But. But. He did turn up at the Republican Retreat in B'More and turned it from a mere retreat into a full-scale clusterfuck. President Obama walked into a room full of hundreds of people who have made their bones painting him as a Manchurian candidate. He responded by making them look like a gym of petty junior high students. How will teleprompter quips fly now? How will they fly when Mr. Obama broke down their questions by presenting their arguments better than they could and then describing why they wouldn't work. I especially enjoyed how he pointed out that saying that you "have ideas" isn't the same the same as having actual working ideas. Of course, the President was much calmer in the situation then I would have been, but to his credit his approach probably played better. I would have had trouble biting my tongue as the gentle lady from Tennessee repeatedly referred to the "Democrat Party." Really grown up that. And then went on to make little sense about why she didn't like health care. It really appeared as if the Republican argument was "Why don't you get behind Republican policies 100%? It is only natural. We could support that." They looked like the lost party that, deep down, under the costume parties and parade float politics, they really are.

Stikeforce: Vice City

I sat down to write this and realized I didn't care so much. There are fights that I like, but since Strikeforce focuses so little on development there are few interesting plot lines or up and coming fighters. That being said, one of my top-five favorite fighters of all time, Nick Diaz, is on the card.

I will be brief.

Walker vs. Nagy

Nagy is there to lose. This has little relevance to the sport, however, I like Herschel Walker and he has always strived to do interesting things as a person. Walker wins early by 1,000 push-ups and sit-ups and then drinking a milkshake.

Lashley vs. Sims

A guy who has always sucked gets a week to train for a guy who might or might not suck. If Lashley is going to really do MMA, he has to quit pro-wrestling. The toll it is taking on his body must be immense. Even so he hurts Sims and wins by poundage in the 1st.

Hieron vs. Riggs

One of the few real fights on the card isn't being televised. Riggs has always been a talented guy. Hieron is a little more talented. His boxing isn't as powerful, but more technical. Also, he is not encumbered by an awful tattoo. Hieron by decision.

Lawler vs. Manhoef

If Lawler was a smart fighter he would just wrestle, which he is good at and put Manhoef on the ground, which he is bad it. Asking Lawler to be smart is like asking a non-volcanic rock to float. Manhoef by KO in the 2nd. Unless Lawler wrestles.

Santos vs. Coenen

I haven't seen enough of Coenen, but she is fairly ok. No, she is pretty good. Santos is just a plague of violence. A physical force. I think she hurts Coenen in the 1st for a TKO.

Diaz vs. Zaromskis

I was able to see Zaromskis fight live this year in Osaka. He was impressive, winning with his signature head kick, but his opponent obliged him by standing in front of him. Nick Diaz also has a habit of standing in the pocket instead of circling. I don't think he does this out of a lack of understanding though, indeed, I would assert that Diaz is one of the smartest fighters going. I am not sure how well Zaromskis fights of a real jab. With Diaz it will be tons of jabs after jabs after jabs. If the fight hits the ground it is over quickly. Diaz is one of the best in the world on the floor. I see him trying his judo hip-throw at least twice in the fight. How well can Zaromskis defend. This is a five round fight, which gives Zaromskis more time to score with the kick, but I think Diaz's strikes just add up and wear on Zaromskis for a 4th round submission.

Something Good

I haven't been posting in a while, not because I have nothing to say but because I still have to hold off on talking about the main thing that has been going on.

Amidst that...this!!

Landon Donovan scored a goal for Everton. Landon's continuing success and reception at Everton caused a happiness in me that is hard to fathom. Soccer is a rare thing where Americans are underdogs and the athletes who play it have to suffer through disrespect and anonymity. The Brits would like nothing more than for Donovan to fail, as it would hold up their world view. Now Everton fans don't feel that way. Good.

Martin Luther King Day

I am a little preoccupied, but this ties in with both. Here is what I think is, possibly, the best speech I have heard given. Especially under the circumstance. Remember that Robert F. Kennedy wasn't supposed to speak on the subject and had to break the news of the assassination to the audience. That, and he says the line "My favorite poet, Aeschylus..." That is when you know you are a rhetorical bad-ass.

Thank You

These are two Haitians digging on the Hotel Montana. Thank you guys, whoever you are. You are real human beings who will never get a $400 million contract.

Personal Hygiene Kits: For Haiti

Here is something easy you can do that actually feels like doing something. Get your students or kids or friends together and knock out a few of these badboys. Convoy of Hope is a Christian group (so) (but) (and)(?) they have a very good reputation for getting things done.

Jozy Altidore

Jozy Altidore hasn't been winning on the pitch much recently, but he is winning at the game of life. Right now players who hope to make their World Cup squads are jockeying for playing time so they show up on national team radar. Altidore, who recently moved to the English Premier League has left the team to help Haiti, where his parents are from. I will support his career for as long as he continues to play. Well done Jozy.

Hispanola is Good for Something

Apparently it was worth Rush Limbaugh's time to fly down to the Dominican Republic with his homeboys from 24 in order to score some action, if you will remember. Where is that plane now, one wonders? Where is that sense of adventure and Viagra fueled manhood. Can that plane not also carry medicine as it carries boner pills? Is Rush afraid that he will lose some of his yearly $40,000,000 is he cuts out of work for a few days. Seems like radio communication could be useful. Maybe he could just put in a few days of hard work. I know most of us would if we had a plane. Or enough to afford a plane ticket. Are you picking up on the idea that I think Rush Limbaugh is a worthless piece of shit? Am I giving of that vibe? Is it maybe because he said that the U.S. military, which does logistics very, very well, had been turned into Meals on Wheels? Is it maybe because that fat-ass got off military duty with an anal cyst? Is ti because he has finally proved that aside from no intellect and no shame that he has no balls? Yes. All of that.

Negro?

I have been enjoying Bloggingheads.tv lately. Here is a conversation I especially liked.

fuck

I had been not saying anything about Haiti as it is another disaster that I can't do anything about and that is personally frustrating but not nearly as important as how people are actually effected. Now, as it turns out, I am personally effected, as my friend, our friend for most of the people reading this, Diane is missing. I guess all of us that are stuck around the world can do is hope but that is a rather impotent feeling. Here is a link to a Facebook group with updates on the Hotel Montana, where she was staying.

Donovan

Landon Donovan started for Everton this weekend and I got drunk to honor his assist. Well done Landon. Nothing makes me happier than British soccer and its fans having to make allowances for the Yank.

Just to Set Things Str8

Trent Lott = I wished we had elected a regime in favor of apartheid, instead of a Democratic government. Integration was a problem we could have done without.

Harry Reid= Barack Obama talks like a white guy, who would have thought?

Reid= Dumb predictable old white man, who, it should be noted, was backing that cracker talking colored fella' for President.

Lott= In favor of apartheid.

Figure out which one you are more comfortable with.

100% Genius

Human Rights in Japan: Top Ten

Here were Debito Arudou's Top Ten human rights stories from 2009 in Japan. A good summing up of the year gone by.

Some commentary on each by me.

10. I think this is one of the hardest to explain to people who don't get it. It is the easiest to say "Lighten up" about. It is also one of the most personally vexing and tiresome. It effects my life directly more than any of the others on this list. In fact, I just got done having a conversation with a teacher which began, "Foreigners eat a lot of meat huh? Like in a big pile on a fire. Right?" My response was, as usual, "I don't. I think that is just an image someone has. Somebody might eat like that. I don't know."
The Mr. James debacle singles out so many undercurrents in Japanese society. One of the main, and most obvious, is the inability, or unwillingness to separate people who weren't born in Japan but live in Japan and tourists. There is no difference between the two in most people's minds. I live in a special sub-world of this as I reside in Kyoto, destination for both domestic and international travelers. Showing Mr.James as a buffoon who stumbles his way through Japan, frequenting McDonald's just held up to the Japanese public that we are all jokes and any way we function in Japan is just a representation of our personal strangeness. It makes it difficult to be a teacher. This is the image of us day after day on TV when in school I had to explain to a class what Setsubun was and why Japan has such an abundance of last names. I should also add for the record, that McDonald's is a completely Japanese experience for me. I never got to McDonald's in America and seldom did growing up.

9. Wakayama and anyone that supports what they do can go fuck themselves. When you have to make up a cultural identity to match your indefensible actions it is time to give up. No, not all of Japan ate whale forever. No, it is not because you are Buddhist that Christians can't understand it. Stop. If you really believe in what you are doing, don't hide it.

8. Hasn't affected me yet, but it could. Seems like a Tokyo thing.

7. Crazy stuff. Fortunately didn't affect my as a person but made me angry. Surprised that the Japanese police f'd something up? I'm not. As for NOVA, they f'd up the economy for all of us. Thanks.

6. Really? That's interesting.

5. We'll see. I strongly feel that is where Japan's future lies but...

4. Wash.

3. This got under my skin. Especially since I followed it in the Japanese press at first and was completely against the father. They did a really terrible job on the coverage. Mainly asking old people in the neighborhood how it had freaked them out. Natsuki's comment on the whole affair -and I only say this because I fell it echoes a lot of Japanese sentiment- was "Man, foreign people get divorced a lot." Sure, that is really the point.

2. Waiting. We'll see. At least it's something.

1. That was some B.S. right there. I believe that the government didn't understand what was wrong with their proposal. That was what was wrong with their proposal.

How to Stay Alive in the Woods

Of course we all know that the real answer is to develop a civilization over hundreds of year until we have pavement and HBO. Nevertheless I checked the Bradford Angier book of the same name out of the Higashi Osaka library (highly recommended) a few weeks ago. It is one of the most oddly written books I have ever come across.

"Both slingshots and bows and arrows are so familiar that, inasmuch as we will be limited in any event by the materials at hand, there will be no need to do more probably than to suggest them as survival weapons."

"We have boiled the noonday kettle, you and I, and now it is the halfway time when we should head back to camp."

This book, originally published in 1956 as "Living of the Land" also features a chapter entitled "What About Frogs?" Indeed.

Togo

Sad follow up to the Togo story. They have withdrawn from the Cup of Nations, even though the players wanted to continue.

Elvis Was a Hero to Most, But...

Public Enemy was and is one of my favorite groups ever. But one of their lyrics that I always felt needed some fleshing out was, "Elvis was a hero to most but he never meant shit to me. Straight out racist he was, simple and plain..." But what was simple and plain about it. Apparently a story has been floating around the African-American community for over 50 years now. A story that Presley said that the only thing black people were worth was "buying my albums and shining my shoes." No proof has ever been found for this statement. Here is a JET Magazine article from 1957 that debunked the controversy.

Togo Attacked

The Togo national team were machine gunned on their bus today while going to the Cup Of Nations tournament in Angola. The driver was killed and several players are wounded. Ridiculous.

And, Oh Yeah...

...This Happened

Go Bama, Roll Tide!!

Movies Movies Everywhere

Avatar
I went and saw Avatar this week. One of the few. The proud. I was reluctant to go see it at first having an inverse hype thermometer but on a few solid recommendations I ended up with greasy goggles and a smuggled bottle of Coke in the back of good old Movix Kyoto. There is one definite thing I will say for this movie; I didn't look away once. I didn't talk to Natsuki. I didn't fumble for the bottle cap. Once the goggles were on, I was locked in. Visually, of course it was insanely captivating. I don't think the 3-D worked all the time for me but it came through enough. It wasn't a gimmicky 3-D either. It was practical, if that is the word. I remember 10 or 15 years ago when we were told that in the future there would be complete CGI characters and we would accept them the same as actors. I had trouble picturing it at the time, but I completely forgot that I was not watching performers in this film. I am not one to swoon for effects, or effects based films, but it really is striking. Especially the floating ash. That really seemed to work.

Much has been made about the story being simplistic, and it is. But I wonder why this type of story can be simplistic. Is it that- and I say this choking on the bitterness of James Cameron's ever present douche bag- there is something so fundamentally true that we appreciate about exploitation, especially environmental and native exploitation, forgiving extreme violence? Make no mistake, the violence in this movie is extreme. Me, who found Inglorious Basterds superb, found the bloodshed in Avatar slightly disturbing. The audience seemed to have the opposite reaction. Call it the True Lies effect. True Lies is the one film, alongside Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer, that I cannot condone. I found the wanton killing in it truly disturbing. I have also never seen anyone else remark upon it. Oh well. Back to Avatar, it seems a bit of a quirk to me that the biggest movie in America, for that matter in the world, right now, features indigenous people ambushing and killing U.S. Marines. Or is it former U.S. Marines, that wasn't so clear. If one was to make a political case for the actions in the movie, they might indeed be arrested, if not tarred and feathered. It goes without saying that the movie could have been a little more intelligent, I don't think nature needs to be supernatural to be wondrous, but I do applaud the intelligence put into the technical side of things. It is, as most people are telling you, worth seeing.

Letters From Iwo Jima

This was part of the 100 Yen DVD promotion over New Years at Tsutaya. I rented it at Natsuki's behest and she made it about 20 minutes in. I thought it was amazing. There has been talk lately that Clint Eastwood is overrated as a director. I feel that he has some stronger moments and some weaker, but he is still in my top five. (Keep in mind that The Eiger Sanction is one of my favorite movies ever.) The hard part for me is that the best performance in the movie is given by a little twit that I want to smash with my shoe to clear him from my television screen. I am speaking of course of Ninomiya-kun, the candy-prop pop star of the sugar coated shit boy-band Arashi. Ninomiya, you are forgiven. Your job playing Saigo was absolutely great. Watanbe Ken is so consistently good, I won't even mention him. I will, however, single out Ihara Tsuyoshi as Baron Nishi. 100% good. Watch it. Natsuki's commentary: "It's interesting that America is always fighting wars but their country has never been attacked." Japanese school system, you win again.

Star Trek

Finally saw it. Would have rather seen it in the theater. Loved every second of it.