Holy crap, it was Father's Day the other day. And I am a father. I didn't even notice. Of course Hana is too young to get me anything. I even talked to my own dad and didn't even realize it. I guess I'm pretty out of it. Because it's so hot. Yes, it's time to complain about the heat again.
On w him, I went to look at a model house the other day. We got an advertisement in the mail, or at least in the mailbox, advertising the all-natural, all-wood construction, which is actually pretty rare/expensive in Japan. It was really near here so we went to check it out. It was pretty nice. All the floors and walls and stuff were wood, to the point where it seemed wasteful to use so much wood. The heavy wooden chairs and tables were especially annoying. At least the fireplace wasn't wood. (There wasn't one.) But it was fun to look at anyway. Of course there's no way I'm planning on buying a house; I barely spend any time in the one I have now. The last thing I need now is a more expensive, all-wood place to store my stuff and my family.
Drug smuggling submarines - I don't know why, but I really want to drive one of these.
Some wacko thinks this guy is the Zodiac Killer.
少年メリケンサック
Review:This was a fun movie. I saw it in the theater in Japanese, so I may have missed a few of the finer details, but it's not really that hard to follow. In the movie, Miyazaki Aoi is a worthless A&R girl at a record company who discovers a cool punk band through a video circulating on Mixi. So she has to sign them to her label and get them through a tour of Japan. it's a comedy, but I didn't find it too slapstick or farcical, like a lot of Japanese movies. The acting and writing were good, although some of the acting was over the top. And the music was really good.
So I went to the dentist the other day. It was the first time I had been in a while, so I had a pretty thorough cleaning. I have always thought that my dentist is cute; or at least, I have always imagined that she is. I have never seen more that the upper half of her face, because she's always wearing a surgical mask. But I have nothing better to do than stare at her face while she's picking at my plaque; in fact, I can't really see anything else. So I have filled in the blanks in my mind. She's got glasses and a little mole next to her eye. Sounds cute right? She kinda looks like this:
Not bad, right? Anyway, the other day I saw her with her mask off for the first time, because she had to answer the phone. The reality did not match my expectations at all! Instead of two rows of dainty white, nicely aligned teeth, her mouth took up pretty much all the space behind the mask, and it was filled with teeth of all different colors going all different directions. She wasn't really bad looking or anything; it's just that you always kindof expect a dentist to have good teeth for some reason. I always thought that it was for hygienic reasons, but I guess that's why she wears that mask all the time.
So graduation is over. It was a really weird experience, because the kids in my school don't really graduate. At the other, public schools I worked in before I came to this one, graduation was a big deal that seemed to last for days, with crying and speeches and yearbook signing and all the stuff that you would expect from a high school graduation. In Japan compulsory education ends after junior high, so the students go their separate ways after that, although they seem to maintain their junior high friendships for life. They even have junior high reunions in Japan, with their old teachers and everything. Having to apply and compete for spots in high school really seems to put some pressure on the kids to grow up, arguably too early. Some of them even have to accept the fact that their not cut out for an educated life and get a job at the construction site instead of going to high school.
But none of that happens in my school. The school is a six year course encompassing junior high and high school. Passing the junior high entrance exam automatically earns you a free ticket into the (admittedly mediocre) high school. So there is no real entrance exam pressure, and after graduation the kids just move downstairs and start calling themselves high school students. A few of the highest level kids take exams and get into higher ranked high schools, but most of them just continue on like nothing happened. So the graduation was a really weird experience, because it didn't have that "spreading your seeds to the four winds" feeling to it. There was all the same sappy singing and speeches and photo-taking of normal graduations, but it didn't carry the same emotional impact at all for me.
Dead At Your Age - enter your birthday and find people who died at the same age you are now.
So this Saturday we had the second annual English speech contest for the third graders at school. It was a success again, and I think that we have managed to create a yearly tradition at the school. The third graders this year are a lot better than the third graders last year I think. Because last year's were the first class in the new school, they had no upperclassmen to keep them in line, and they were treated as some sort of special pioneer class. Having been spoiled for three years during junior high, they were completely unprepared to go to high school and taken completely by surprise by the rigors of every day life. They hate all their new teachers, who actually expect them to listen in class and do homework and stuff like that.
As for this year's speeches, they were pretty good. The winner talked for a really long time about going on a homestay in Hawaii, and how hard it was to teach Japanese pronunciation to foreigners. Second place went to the president of the student council, for her speech about what it's like to be president of the student council. Third place was a girl who had to do housework for a week when her mom went away. All of the speeches were good, but I think that those three won because of their stage presence and ability to speak in front of people. There were a few kids whose English was even better than the winners', but they couldn't stand in front of everyone without starting to blink wildly or exhibit some other serious twitches.
So I'm over my stomach thing that I had. I still have no idea what it was, but it lasted 3 or 4 days. I think it might have been food poisoning from this one raw oyster that I ate, but I never had any violent shitting or puking; just some general malaise. Anyway, it's over now. At school, we're into the final test period now. Ostensibly, Japanese school lasts until the end of March. But really, they take the last tests in the middle of February, and then get ready for graduation in the first week of March. So right now I am all busy with making tests and correcting tests and that kind of stuff. It's seems like it should be easier because I don't have to actually teach classes, but really I'd rather badger 44 kids into speaking English than sit around drawing Xs on paper for 6 hours a day. But once the tests are all finished, it's pretty much clear sailing until April!
By the way, I just realized that tomorrow is my birthday! It's on a Sunday this year. I never seem to remember until the last minute when my birthday is coming up. So yeah, I have no big plans. Here is my Amazon Wishlist in Japan. Those of you who are inclined to buy presents can do so here. I actually just like looking at people's lists because of the insights they give into their personalities. I'm not really sure what mine say about me other than that I want a lot of stuff though.
I've got some sort of weird stomach thing. I don't know what it is. Since yesterday I have felt like vomiting, and my whole body has been really weak and irritating. I can't concentrate or get anything done/ It's not the flu or anything; I don't have a fever. But I slept almost all day today.
I just watched the Japan-Australia World Cup qualifying match, which ended in a scoreless draw. But since I wasn't home to see it o live TV, I downloaded it, and I got the Australian broadcast with the Australian commentaries. And it was so refreshing! The Australian commentators actually said nice things about the Japanese team when they did something well. If you listen to a Japanese broadcast, it's all rah-rah Japan with some whining about bad referees or being too sportsmanlike to compete with brutal, physical teams like the Australians. The Australian guys were level-headed and fair, even going so far as to point out times when they should have been called for fouls. It was a welcome change from the normal coverage of the Japanese team.
Watchmen
Review:How do you review something like Watchmen? Published in 1986, It's one of the greatest graphic novels ever written, and is largely responsible for the graphic novels being considered anything other than a long comic book. The deconstruction of the superhero genre that occurs through placing the story in a real-ish world opened the door for so many things that came after, including all the dark, brooding superhero movies we get these days, for better or worse. Either way, it's the definitive nail in the coffin of the Adam West era. But even without all that historic importance, it's just a great read.
Zodiac
Review:An all-around great movie. Brilliantly directed, filmed, and acted. Based on the true crime book written by the guy who turns out to be the main character, even more than the killer. Well, of course he's going to be the main character in his own book. But the way the movie shifts from police procedural crime drama/newsroom drama to a more psychological look at the author's self-destructive and futile drive to find the culprit really helps keep the movie engaging for its 3-hour running time. Refreshingly, the movie makes almost no attempt to take us "into the mind of a killer," instead finding far more fertile ground in the minds of the characters surrounding the case.
Taken
Review:I liked this movie. Fundamentally, it's another "ex-spy goes on a rampage" movie. But it's got a little bit of something else to it. The action is good and all, but I think that it's the performance of Liam Neeson as the CIA dad whose daughter is kidnapped that makes the movie. He brings a certain gravitas and depth to a role to a movie that is, as required by the genre, preposterous. The pacing and cinematography were also right on. I can't think of any standard by which this movie doesn't compare favorably to the most recent James Bond movie. Of course this movie still has all the limitations that comes with the genre, but it does a better job than most of exceeding them.
Quantum of Solace
Review:I can't say that I really liked this movie too much. It was boring. The evil mastermind, the dastardly plot, the shadowy criminal organization; none of it held any interest for me. The Quantum group, whatever it is, could become interesting later I guess. Bond himself is dour and depressed, without any of the flair or fun that makes him James Bond. Even the action is somehow unexciting.
The Wrestler
Review:This was a great movie. Everything from the cinematography to the anti-climactic story to the soundtrack to Mickey Rourke's performance helped convey the image of this wrestler on the way down, as well as giving a harshly accurate picture of what the career of professional wrestling is really like. Soft-spoken, pitiful, and touching. Even Marisa Tomei almost deserves an oscar for this one.
Chris Rock - Kill the Messenger
Review:An HBO stand up video, mixed between 3 performances in London, New York, and Johannesburg, South Africa. Of course, it's hilarious, but maybe not as funny as Bring the Pain, which is admittedly setting a pretty high standard. I don't think that there's anything that will enter into the lexicon like tossing salads, but you never know.
