Tag Archive for 'self..improvement?'

Dance, just dance…

Published
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eroku
on November 11, 2007
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In addition to the normal judo and aikido routine, I have added in some cultural training in the form of dance. (un)Fortunately, japanese dance is not interesting to perform (one could also say to watch also..) The movements are all so precise and repetitive and do not vary much. This may reflect the tendency towards anal retentiveness that the japanese have perfected.

Ballroom is dance is alright, but it more of a competition thing here.
Salsa, it extremely fun and energizing, but it is really popular here which equates to it being really expensive…

So the jist of it, I was invited to go to an african dance class. More so, sabar wolof from Senegal.

Going into it, my mind was abound with images of just what the hell is sabar wolof.. Images of jamacian style dancing with the influence of more tribal drums (instead of the pot and kettle drums that I am familiar with) a long with voodoo influenced movements that I remember from previous experiences.

Anyways, it was energizing! I have always been a big fan of the so called “tribal drums.” The rich resonant bass and the amazing tempo that the drummers can sustain.. It is impressive, and it makes you hate hippies even more for bastardizing something that sounds so wonderful when used by a person that is skilled with more then the ability to hold a lighter to a bong and say “groovy.”

The movements are nothing like western dance of any form, with perhaps the exception of conceptual dance and the footwork resembles the ginga of capoeira (makes sense a bit considering the history of capoeira..) I lack the proper vocabulary to describe it even further, if one even can. You can check youtube and google for plenty of videos and examples:

Senegal Music and Youtube.

I also went to Enoshima this weekend with Momoko, a french friend, his son and his soon to be girlfriend (perhaps..) It is wonderful being around people that are not so enamored with what they have and have to buy to feel good about themselves. You don’t need that tiffany’s necklace and ear ring set, nor the LV purse, nor the new ipod and coach wallet. As much as you pretend and try to mask it with the bling, it won’t hide what low self-esteem you have. In fact, it’s just another bullet point to the list of the endless stupidity.

日本一番。。*sigh* You are just so cute. *sigh*

Another reasons china is such a great country…

Published
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eroku
on August 13, 2007
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China Enacting a High-Tech Plan to Track People

You can read the article.. basically the government is going to a full mesh surveilance network where all citizens must carry RFID id cards that contain not only their names, SS#s, sex etc but also religious and ethnic background, criminal record, work and health histories and more. All in the name of public safety.

In addition, all citizen must proudly display a velvet painting of Chairman Mao in their homes at all times..

Give america 10 years and this is where we will be. Thanks Bush.

Head north young lad!

Published
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eroku
on August 13, 2007
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Why the hell does it cost so much to travel in Japan? It just blows my
mind, it really does. This weekend I went to Akita-ken for O-bon. A
time when most people will return home and remember their dead family
members and enjoy time with the living ones.

Now for a bit of background.. Akita is in northern honshu (the main
island,) on the Sea of Japan. Partially in the mountains and partially
flatlands, it offers a mix of tanbos(rice paddies) and mountains.
Along with some great beaches. I stayed in Mitane, which used to be called Hachiryu (八竜町　- 8 dragons village, how cool is that??) It is a bit north of the Oga peninsula, maybe 20km.

We spent Saturday sunning on the beach and enjoying a most fabulous weekend  weather. After spending the day on the beach and teaching 桃子 how to drive a manual, we headed to the north to do some hiking and enjoy japanese nature at its finest. By this I mean, we arrived at the mountain, parked the car and started to hike only to get attacked by horseflies! I don’t mean 1 or 5, but a lot! Maybe 30 or more. So we get back in the car and go to another trailhead, get out, and same thing! One more time! Same thing! Later we found out it is common this time of year and these horseflies are everywhere in the mountains here. So in the end, we drove some of the roads and went to an onsen to relax and de-stress. We ended the night watching the sunset into the Sea of Japan from the beach followed up by watching the Perseid meteor showers from the middle of the rice fields.

When you are living in a city with an over abundance of light pollution and rarely see the stars, you can easily forget how beautiful a clear night sky is.

Sunday was spent at the beach again, in the morning, followed up with meeting some more family including 桃子’s aunt, cousin, older brother and sister in-law. Of course, followed up with a good-bye sushi dinner including some of the best Sanma and konpachi I have ever had.

Highlights of the Weekend include:

-Seeing where 桃子　grew up and teaching her to drive.
-Eating a lot of fresh sushi.. maguro, sanma, salmon, aburo and so much more.
-Experiencing Akita style food, very salty, but still delicious.
-Getting stung by jellyfish ( wow, what a weird sensation…)
-Conversing for 3 days almost entirely in Japanese..
-Watching the meteor showers from the tanbos
-Driving!
-Sneaking around like being in high school again!

I took a lot of photos, but all in RAW. So I have to process them and upload them.

And now back to the heat and bustle of the Tokyo desert.

Pentagon Papers and the Vietnam War

Published
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eroku
on June 13, 2007
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Having just been to Vietnam and at a current lull in my current reading, I have been hitting the web for materials. Recently finishing Robert Mcnamara’s “In Retrospect” I was seeking more information about the Vietnam quagmire, more so how we became entrenched there. I came across this..

Pentagon Papers:
The report that would later become famous as the “Pentagon Papers” was the United States-Vietnam Relations, 1945–1967: A Study Prepared by the Department of Defense, a 47-volume, 7,000-page, top-secret United States Department of Defense history of the United States’ political and military involvement in the Vietnam War from 1945 to 1971.
(Taken from Wikipedia.)

You can browse through most of this at: Origin and depth of the US Goverments involvement in Indochina from WW2 to the Vietnam War. Follow to the bottom for the other volumes.

FDR seemed to have a solid grasp on reality. Too bad current adminsitration members don’t.

And because, obviously I don’t read enough, check out here for more information about american foreign policy from the end of WW2 through the withdrawal from Vietnam.

I wish the damn e-readers or UMPCs were cheaper. Printing out these pages at work and taking them home is killing a lot of trees.

Hanami — 花見 — Cherry Blosom viewing season

Published
by
eroku
on April 5, 2006
in japan
. 1 Comment

Well it is that time of year again. The end of March and the first few weeks of April usher in another reason for the Japanese to drink excessive amounts of alcohol and be outdoors.

Last weekend we had a barbeque party here, but due to a recent cold front the cherries had not blossomed yet. Yet, I managed to hear one of the best quotes (two actually.) One relating to hanami..

“mmmm.. The cherry is so swollen and ready to pop. I hope to enjoy it.”

I think the sexual connotations are not just in my own filthy gaijin mind. Spring is definitely the season of love, especially in Japan. It is quite common now to walk through a parking lot at night and see young couples enjoying the sex in their cars. Just like high school, but most are in there 20s.

Next weekend I will have a midnight hanami party, which I am not quite what it entails and then afterwards a going away party for a good friend who has decided that 5 years here (without getting a wife) is enough. There will be a lot of liquor consumed.

and the other was a good statement that sums up how a lot of people feel about Koizumi and Bush..

“Koizumi and Bush are like homosexual friends.”

To that I could only reply … Sensei, you are wise beyond your years.

How to be great at what you do…

Published
by
eroku
on March 7, 2006
in Uncategorized
. Closed

Interesting article on how to be an expert at something..

This makes a lot of sense to me along with expanding upon ideas that I couldn`t quite vocalize but had started formulating.

Basically, what makes you good at something? A natural ability or practice.. while this is probably highly debatable, this is my take. Some people are “naturals” at some things, geniuses/savants/nerds etc. But their skills are that of mental superiority. What about physical superiority? Is it innate or learned. I think learned as this article points out.
Continue reading ‘How to be great at what you do…’

happy turkey day!

Published
by
eroku
on November 24, 2005
in Uncategorized
. Closed

Happy turkey day all. No thanksgiving in japan, but we did have a federal holiday wednesday. So we went to a viking restaurant and ate enough to feel that post-feast legathic tsunami hit.. no pecan or pumpkin pie though :(

Some new sites of interest, web2.0 stuff…

riffs.com
root.net
google.com/analytics
digg.com

Taco sensei gets his own energy drink..

Published
by
eroku
on August 24, 2005
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So I guess everyone is hopping on the energy drink wagon… Aikido master and master herbalogist Steven Seagal is releasing an energy drink that he has formulated from years of perilous study in asia. Guarenteed to make you mumble and the have the pores on your face increase in size by 10x.

From Newswire.
Check this out also..

BOCA RATON, Fla., Aug. 22 /PRNewswire/ — Energy drinks get all the hype
these days, but a healthier alternative with an enormous potential is hitting
the shelves in the sizzling nutraceutical beverage market. The growth in
nutraceutical beverages has been truly amazing, with formulation from Steven
Seagal, who can now can add “Energy Drink formulator” to a list of talents
that already includes veteran actor, singer/songwriter, guitarist, Aikido
black belt and master herbalogist.
Continue reading ‘Taco sensei gets his own energy drink..’

Time shifting drugs..

Published
by
eroku
on July 12, 2005
in Uncategorized
. 2 Comments

Modafinil - the time-shifting drug.
Continue reading ‘Time shifting drugs..’

what are you reading now?

Published
by
eroku
on July 10, 2005
in Uncategorized
. 3 Comments

As digital as our(my) lives is, I ask this question.. what are you reading right now? And what was the last thing you read. Let me clarify by saying: newspapers, blogs, websites, pdf’s, ebooks and digital mediums do not count. Magazines and books.. more so books.

Currently I am reading Quicksilver. Good book but damn it is long and difficult to read at times. Typical Stephenson.

The last book I read was Dune. Quite a good read.