GorillaDust In Japan

MLB 2004

Today the opening of the 2004 baseball season was marked by a game between Tampa Bay and New York at Tokyo Stadium. The Yankees lost (thank god), but the Japanese news was certainly pumped up about the return of Hideki Matsui to Japan. Hope he does well this year, cuz I picked him up for my fantasy team.

On the health front - I'm typing with two hands! It's true that I took some painkillers tonight after a run in in a bannister today, but otherwise the shoulder is feeling OK. Stephanie's eye is no longer red after a bout of something-or-other, and she's feeling a bit more chipper than she has of late. Now if I didn't have to work these 6-day weeks...

Hanami on Friday - woohoo! Cherry blossoms are in full bloom in Kanto, so that'll be amusing. We saw the peach blossoms in Koga park last week, and they were...well, pretty. Flowers flowers everywhere, and it's raining now too, so 'it's all good'. Heh.

Statehood Quarters

A funny article about those wacky statehood quarters in the States. I was often surprised by the design on these quarters, and this article brings up some new and entertaining ones. Tourism or history - you decide.

Illinois has the most blood on its hands: cityscape, farmscape, stars, state outline, slogan, Lincoln and a ridiculous blip that reads "21st State [and] Century." In addition to clutter and confusion, the flatlanders add risk by tracing their famous downtown skyline, a move that New York thankfully sidestepped in early 2001.

Karaoke - Oyama Style

I mentioned that I would post about our karaoke (カラオケ) experience the other night, so here it is. 6 of us went to a tiny little restaurant not far from our house for some food and a few beverages. It all started off harmlessly enough with a few beers (ビル), some grilled fish (鮭), and a massive plate of yakisoba (やきそば). Well, the beers kept arriving, and finally we drained the place of all their beers, so the natural thing to do was to switch to sake (日本酒...maybe). Things were just peachy...

And this was about the time the microphones came out - 2 'older' men behind us began to sing Elvis songs between swigs of Japanese whiskey, and actually sounded really good. We clapped for them and tossed in a couple "Segoi!" (セゴイ！) for good measure, and then they passed the mics to us. Big mistake.

Foreigners in Japan seem incapable of carrying a tune from what I can tell. I have no idea why this is - maybe the locals are just more comfortable with the concept of karaoke, but still. I managed a somewhat-decent version of Sinatra's "My Way", Nick and Mark sang "Paint it Black" with their usual prowess, and Chris sang a Japanese song marginally well, and then there was Stephanie and her version of "Bridge Over Troubled Water".

Now before I continue, I must mention that if Stephanie injests any sake whatsoever, it sends her into raving fits of hiccups. I think you see why this goes so well with singing in public. Anyway, she proceeded to wander through the song interrupted by frequent, often violent attacks of hiccups...i.e: "Liiiiike a briiiidge *HICCUP* ooooover troubled *HICCUP* wateeeeer."

It was great, and best summarized by one of the old men at the restaurant.

"Is it imagination?" His, hers, it was amusing regardless.

BTW, the pictures were taken with our phone, so sorry about the size/quality.

Japanese Class

OK, finally figured out how to get Japanese characters in here. FYI -

Adrian Brandt - エイドレアン ブランツ
Stephanie Brandt - ステファ二 ブランツ

Oyama - 小山

Mobile phone fun

Hey, if you ever want, for some unknown reason, to send a message to our phone, give it a try here. Why? Why not!?!

Day 26 - Sling Free!

Yup, that's right, no sling - aww yeah! Pretty psyched to get rid of that thing though I'm not entirely used to having my arm free. I went to the hospital today and the doc said things are going well, and that I'm pretty darn lucky. I think I said before, but the bone is actually one large piece and 3 small chunks right now. I saw the X-ray and it looks pretty decent though, so another month of the brace and I'll almost be normal again. Very nice.

It's kinda funny at the hospital because random staff enjoy lurking about and watching the procedures on me, as well as marvelling at the docs who can speak English. You can almost hear the applause after the session is over - good times.

Now if I could only sleep in a bed instead of my makeshift nest I've got going on.

Ah, and stay tuned for a karaoke recap from the other night! Oh, a scarier rendition of "Bridge Over Troubled Water" has never been heard...at least in Oyama.

Yeesh

Pretty tired of this whole ordeal now. Today I'm just tired, sore, and generally worn out. I go to the hospital tomorrow for a follow-up and to see if I need surgery, so it's a pretty big day. I'll be happy to finally hear what the word is.

It snowed today for a few minutes...and did on Saturday too - excellent. The longer it stays cold, the less sweating I have to go through with this brace!

Also, the Spring Sumo Tournament is going on right now in Osaka. My favorite Ozeki, Asashoryu Akinori, is unbeaten at the moment and though he almost lost today, he's won 21 bouts in a row. Gotta love those scrappy Mongolians!

Sakura Time

Our home i-net has been down for a few days now, so that`s kinda a bummer. Had to come over to the internet place to get some writing done. It`s cherry blossom time here in Japan, so everybody is very excited about checking out the flowers. I think we`ll try to head down to Ueno park in Tokyo and see what we can see.

The arm is feeling a little better these days, but still pretty darn limited. I go to the hospital on Tuesday to find out if it`s healing, and if I`ll need an operation. Fingers are crossed! Now Stephanie is bumming due to bronchitis...yeesh. This country is killing us! Heh, just joking, but spring is coming, so things are looking up. Too bad I can`t go fishing!

Hope St. Paddy`s Day treated everyone well! I had a few Guinness close to home. I missed the special foods, but I had a good stew, so all was well.

Till next time...

またね！ モット　ビル！！

Posted by: Gorilla / 3/19/2004 06:29:22 PM  Send Comments

R.I.P - Dave Blood

In another sad development in the world of 'art', Dave Blood of the band The Dead Milkmen committed suicide yesterday. Yeesh, what is it with all these people I like killing themselves off. The Dead Milkmen were one of the bands that first got me interested in 'alternative' music around 1986. With such hits as "Bitchin' Camaro", "You'll Dance to Anything", and "I Walk the Thinnest Line", they'll forever be in my music collection. This was the band that got me interested in not-quite-mainstream tunes, and eventually led me to what I listen to now. Arrgh, very unfortunate...first Stiv Bators, then Dee Dee and Joey Ramone, and now Dave Blood. Yeesh...

Quiet Times

Well, the weekend has been nice and quiet. Got out yesterday and hooked up a fine haircut, so I'm feeling pretty dapper today. It was like spring yesterday, so I wandered around town for a bit before fatigue took its toll. Today I've been browsing the web and generally doing nothing, preparing for a full work week. Stephanie went down to Omiya today to look around and get som exercise, so I can play some PS2 baseball in relative peace. Good time I tell ya!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Goin' Native

I got a gift today to help my shoulder heal - shark gristle pills! Who knew, huh. From what I can read and figure out, they are very high in calcium and are supposed to help bones heal. Also, they're very expensive - $80 for a bottle. I'll give them a try and see what happens. I find out in 2 weeks if I need surgery, so anything will help.

I've returned to work and found myself with a very busy schedule. It's not too bad, but I'm damn tired at the end of the day. Tomorrow Stephanie and I head to Ikebukuro in Tokyo to do up some more training. Might be tough riding the trains, but it'll be nice to be out and about.

In some sad news, Spalding Gray was found dead in the East River, NY. If you don't already know him, he was a great monologue-ist/actor and can be seen in movies like "The Killing Fields", "Swimming to Cambodia", and "Monster in a Box" among others. Very unfortunate.

Day 11 and healin' up

Still alive and feeling better every day. Went out last night for some beverages with the Tochigi City faction, and I made it home in one piece. I'm heading back to work tomorrow so that'll be interesting. Can't say that I'm overly excited, but I'm pretty ready to be out of the house and back in regular society. I actually just watched some F1 racing, so I'd say that's a good sign that it's time to get out.

Stephanie and I got intrigued about designing our own house after watching this Japanese program about...well...that. Anyway, these people had this crazy concrete house built in Tokyo, and we got excited about doing one for ourselves. I spent a couple of hours today playing with this CAD-like home design software and I must say, it's pretty cool.

All in good time!

Day 8 and turning green?!?

I looked at my shoulder last night and it's turned a neon-ish green...is that normal? Well, I guess so, but it's still a tad disconcerting. I made a pledge to return to work on Monday, so I need to do some serious healing in the next few days. The pain has gone down (no meds yet today!) and Stephanie tightened up the brace last night, bless her soul, so all I can do is the same thing - sit around, watch TV, and attempt to type left-handed. I'm, as the kids say, da bomb.

So in other news Kerry seems to be the big challenger against Bush this November. Good to hear it'll be someone semi-viable, and I'll make a bold prediction here: he'll make Edwards his VP candidate. That'll help swing the labor vote his way, and might be the key to taking the boy-president out.

Also the bird flu was discovered at a Kyoto-area chicken farm. Excellent, there goes my diet of raw chicken entrails. Why is the world out to get me...this is the year of the monkey dammit! MY YEAR! Sorta anyway, considering I'm an Ox. Bah, too sore to write more - keep those emails coming, they help with the healing process!

Ugh, Day 6

Woohoo...arrgh, still injured. Spent this morning at the hospital getting a check-up. Turns out I probably won't need surgery yet, though if it doesn't come together in a few weeks they have a fine titanium piece to slip in there, complete with 6 shiny screws. Also it seems that the bone was broken into 4 pieces, so I did it up big time. Actually after the doc visit I went and treated myself to some McDonalds (sometimes it's the little things) and even completed 2 errands; took out the trash and bought a lightbulb! Aww yeah, but now I'm exhausted. Trying to exercise my right elbow too since it's getting pretty stiff from the sling. Good times, and only a couple months to go!

Day 5 and still kickin'

Still alive, and the shoulder is feeling a little better today. Not so much bone grindage, and I sneezed earlier without falling apart. Tomorrow morning I head to the doc to see how he thinks things are coming along and if surgery will be needed. Hope not! Last night I did as any doctor would suggest - went out and had a few drinks and sang some karaoke. Well, more like listened actually. The wing was pretty sore and I didn't really drink much, but it was good to see people. My manager at my school, Takako, is moving to another school and we went to say goodbye. Sux cause she's a great manager, but I'm sure we'll survive.

Also learned how to play Go online yesterday. Still losing quite badly, but can help to pass the time. Mmmm, neverending discomfort.

Movies viewed while injured:

• Quills
  
• Identity
  
• Men With Brooms
  
• Wonderboys

No doubt the list will grow with time!