Friday, October 31, 2008
Halloween
Happy Halloween to everyone for whom it is still that magical night, and happy belated birthday to JLink. Thanks to everyone who acceded to my demands with that last update. And I did remember it was garbage day.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Fruits
Greetings one and all. Fall is here and so are the fruits of the season, which is awesome.
The orange one to the far right is a persimmon. They are only around in the fall, and are just one of the many reasons why it is the best season. I think the ones in this area are a little slower to ripen than in other places because we're up here in the mountains, but the local ones just started appearing at the farmer's market-type place, so it is good times. The Japanese word for persimmon is kaki, 柿, and there are two types, sweet and astringent. Both types are pretty sweet, though. This one is sweet, if I recall correctly. The astringent ones are longer and less tomato-looking. I don't think I ever had a persimmon until I came here, and they are so good they make me not want to leave.
The green one is a hayato uri, with uri being gourd. By far, they are the weirdest fruit I have ever eaten. It took forever to find out what they are in English. According to wikipedia, they are called chayote, among many other names. They're very thick and heavy and don't have much flavor, at least raw. I haven't tried cooking them yet. They do leave a weird layer of slime in your mouth and on your lips that is very hard to get off.
The little brown one in front is a chestnut. About a month ago, these were all over the place, and one time while walking home in a part of town where nobody lives, I picked up a bunch. If you boil them, the insides get soft and you can break them open with your teeth. I don't know what else to do with them. They taste a bit like sweet potatoes.
The Japanese word for chestnut is kuri, but the French (?) loanword marron has also become common, so I've had multiple occasions of Japanese people talking to me about them and guessing that marron was the English word. They're always surprised that it isn't.
I recently found out that in addition to making shouchuu, a kind of liquor that is kind of like vodka but from Korea (soju in Korean), out of wheat or sweet potatoes, it can also be made out of chestnuts, which to me tasted much better. Shouchuu in general is terrible and only good for mixing with hot water on a cold night.
Lastly, the red one is a mystery fruit. There were two of them at the store in a package by themselves in the marked down food thing, so I bought them. They are really good. At first I thought they were peaches, but now maybe I think they are nectarines or something like it because they don't have fuzz on the outside.
I just watched It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown today and I was still amazed by it. Happy Halloween, if I forget to update again before then!
The orange one to the far right is a persimmon. They are only around in the fall, and are just one of the many reasons why it is the best season. I think the ones in this area are a little slower to ripen than in other places because we're up here in the mountains, but the local ones just started appearing at the farmer's market-type place, so it is good times. The Japanese word for persimmon is kaki, 柿, and there are two types, sweet and astringent. Both types are pretty sweet, though. This one is sweet, if I recall correctly. The astringent ones are longer and less tomato-looking. I don't think I ever had a persimmon until I came here, and they are so good they make me not want to leave.
The green one is a hayato uri, with uri being gourd. By far, they are the weirdest fruit I have ever eaten. It took forever to find out what they are in English. According to wikipedia, they are called chayote, among many other names. They're very thick and heavy and don't have much flavor, at least raw. I haven't tried cooking them yet. They do leave a weird layer of slime in your mouth and on your lips that is very hard to get off.
The little brown one in front is a chestnut. About a month ago, these were all over the place, and one time while walking home in a part of town where nobody lives, I picked up a bunch. If you boil them, the insides get soft and you can break them open with your teeth. I don't know what else to do with them. They taste a bit like sweet potatoes.
The Japanese word for chestnut is kuri, but the French (?) loanword marron has also become common, so I've had multiple occasions of Japanese people talking to me about them and guessing that marron was the English word. They're always surprised that it isn't.
I recently found out that in addition to making shouchuu, a kind of liquor that is kind of like vodka but from Korea (soju in Korean), out of wheat or sweet potatoes, it can also be made out of chestnuts, which to me tasted much better. Shouchuu in general is terrible and only good for mixing with hot water on a cold night.
Lastly, the red one is a mystery fruit. There were two of them at the store in a package by themselves in the marked down food thing, so I bought them. They are really good. At first I thought they were peaches, but now maybe I think they are nectarines or something like it because they don't have fuzz on the outside.
I just watched It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown today and I was still amazed by it. Happy Halloween, if I forget to update again before then!
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
A Special Second Update
A couple blogs to read:
Dan's New Blog - I just added the link to the side, there, too. It seems pretty excellent, and I am only basing that a little bit on the fact that of the seven updates I read, four mentioned me directly. It's a lot of commentary on what my broha Dan is watching or reading.
John's Blog - Awesome as always, but worth noting especially today for the pictures of/update on Buckethead and That 1 Guy. I don't want to spoil the surprise, but it involves everyone's favorite Star Wars robot. The link is always on the right, so check it out if you haven't.
Dan's New Blog - I just added the link to the side, there, too. It seems pretty excellent, and I am only basing that a little bit on the fact that of the seven updates I read, four mentioned me directly. It's a lot of commentary on what my broha Dan is watching or reading.
John's Blog - Awesome as always, but worth noting especially today for the pictures of/update on Buckethead and That 1 Guy. I don't want to spoil the surprise, but it involves everyone's favorite Star Wars robot. The link is always on the right, so check it out if you haven't.
Electro-Shock Blues
Electro-Shock Blues is a wonderful album from The Eels. I'm not going to look up all the information about it because that's not really relevant and if you want to know, wikipedia is only a click away, I should think.
If you do decide to listen to it, keep in mind that it is a rather depressing, though ultimately refreshing (I can't come up with the right word at the moment), look at suicide, among other things.
The album opens with the short and somewhat cryptic "Elizabeth on the Bathroom Floor," which really only made sense to me after having heard the album all the way through. The album starts off, thus, interestingly, as it introduces what is the central narrative obliquely and through the eyes of the object of the main narrator's emotions. Keep in mind that if you listen to that YouTube link (I'm not sure if it will work outside Japan), there are no beeping sounds on the original track.
"Going to Your Funeral Part 1," is on first listen rather hard to listen to. E uses two different styles, one of which is fairly dissonant to highlight different emotions, which I think is fairly obvious. It gets better on repeated listens.
Oddly enough, "Cancer for the Cure" and "My Descent into Madness" are actually relatively light-hearted tracks and provide a much needed break from the main narrative while staying fairly consistent with the overall feel of the album. "Cancer.." in particular shows E's ability to arrange for instruments outside of the typical guitar/drum/base setup an appropriately dark sense of humor. "My Descent..." is just pretty in that Eels way.
"3 Speed" seems to be a song set at a particular point in time without being clear. It just seems to be right at dusk to me. It contains the wonderfully blunt lines "Life is funny, but not ha ha funny/Peculiar, I guess."
"Hosptial Food" again breaks from the theme with more dark humor and is just great. "Electro-Shock Blues" returns to the mourning and confusion. It's probably not a track for everyone, with it's very minimalist sound. "Efils' God" is a strange mostly instrumental track. I don't have that much to say about it other than I don't know what is going on with it but it fits nicely.
"Going to Your Funeral Part 2" is really where the album raps up, in a way, though not where it ends, so I suppose E had a bit more to say. It's instrumental, which would sort of be a fitting way to end it. But it leads to an even better track, "Last Stop, This Town." It's pure pretty pop, with E's flat delivery fitting perfectly over the moving music. The lyrics are astoundingly good in that they meld with the music and are fittingly simple and blunt but exactly what is called for in the context. The lines "What if I was not your only friend in this world/Would you take me where you're going if you're never coming back" are probably the best example. Listen for them.
There are still six more tracks to cover, but I've got more to do than that, so I'll let you get to those on your own time.
If you do decide to listen to it, keep in mind that it is a rather depressing, though ultimately refreshing (I can't come up with the right word at the moment), look at suicide, among other things.
The album opens with the short and somewhat cryptic "Elizabeth on the Bathroom Floor," which really only made sense to me after having heard the album all the way through. The album starts off, thus, interestingly, as it introduces what is the central narrative obliquely and through the eyes of the object of the main narrator's emotions. Keep in mind that if you listen to that YouTube link (I'm not sure if it will work outside Japan), there are no beeping sounds on the original track.
"Going to Your Funeral Part 1," is on first listen rather hard to listen to. E uses two different styles, one of which is fairly dissonant to highlight different emotions, which I think is fairly obvious. It gets better on repeated listens.
Oddly enough, "Cancer for the Cure" and "My Descent into Madness" are actually relatively light-hearted tracks and provide a much needed break from the main narrative while staying fairly consistent with the overall feel of the album. "Cancer.." in particular shows E's ability to arrange for instruments outside of the typical guitar/drum/base setup an appropriately dark sense of humor. "My Descent..." is just pretty in that Eels way.
"3 Speed" seems to be a song set at a particular point in time without being clear. It just seems to be right at dusk to me. It contains the wonderfully blunt lines "Life is funny, but not ha ha funny/Peculiar, I guess."
"Hosptial Food" again breaks from the theme with more dark humor and is just great. "Electro-Shock Blues" returns to the mourning and confusion. It's probably not a track for everyone, with it's very minimalist sound. "Efils' God" is a strange mostly instrumental track. I don't have that much to say about it other than I don't know what is going on with it but it fits nicely.
"Going to Your Funeral Part 2" is really where the album raps up, in a way, though not where it ends, so I suppose E had a bit more to say. It's instrumental, which would sort of be a fitting way to end it. But it leads to an even better track, "Last Stop, This Town." It's pure pretty pop, with E's flat delivery fitting perfectly over the moving music. The lyrics are astoundingly good in that they meld with the music and are fittingly simple and blunt but exactly what is called for in the context. The lines "What if I was not your only friend in this world/Would you take me where you're going if you're never coming back" are probably the best example. Listen for them.
There are still six more tracks to cover, but I've got more to do than that, so I'll let you get to those on your own time.
Monday, October 13, 2008
A Field Guide to Mountain Flowers
This is the start of a wonderful adventure.
White flowers.
More flowers.
Very small yellow flowers.
Little red berries.
Little yellow flowers.
Little white flowers.
Long purple flowers
Little purple flowers
Spiky alien-looking purple flowers.
Light purple flowers.
These things.
More of these things.Yeah, I hiked up a mountain on Sunday. It was glorious. But there's more to it than flowers. There are also ponds.
Some of them have carp in them.
Others have lilies.There are also shrines.
And there are trees.
It's nice being up high, but it's also nice here down in the cleared rice fields.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Blister
I have a blister on my foot. I walked 20 miles home last week from another town, which may have been why. Also, yesterday I ran a 1350m race, then rested, then ran another 1000m. Maybe that is it; I don't know. Also, mad props to anyone who has the patience to check this blog for updates. Oh, and it's my birthday next week, so if you know me and don't at least send me an email, I will figure you don't like me or are living in Africa without internet access or something.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
I'm just listening to Dylan's new album via NPR, which is amazing for what it is. I was listening to another one of his songs all day, though, in my head. It's a little song called "Up to Me," which you can find on the Biograph compilation album. The album is mostly stuff any fan would have heard, but there are a couple outtakes and the like, which "Up to Me" is.
It's an outtake from Blood on the Tracks, which is pretty obvious just from listening to it. It's got that guitar from another place sound, with Dylan just singing simple verses over it, each ending with "...up to me." It's so reminiscent of some other songs on the album that it's no wonder that it was left out, and, really, it wouldn't have added anything. It would have just doubled part of the album and messed up the flow. If you don't appreciate the album as it is, then probably you've never heard it, never had your heart broken, or never had any taste to begin with.
Somehow it's better for not being on the album, though. It's just out there in the lost sea of songs that never got put anywhere. It's the album without being on it, a cold dawn breaking on just the next day. It's always something real happening, but you don't know when. "Well, I watched you slowly disappear down into the officers' club/ I would've followed you in the door but I didn't have a ticket stub."
Sometimes there's just a throw away Dylan line, "In fourteen months I've only smiled once and I didn't do it consciously," and sometimes there's a bizarre image that recalls simultaneously his psychedelic era and no time in particular, "So go on, boys, and play your hands, life is a pantomime/ The ringleaders from the county seat say you don't have all that much time." It's somehow like "Idiot Wind," another Blood on the Tracks track, which is full of strange, seemingly unrelated events. Somebody who is better at analysis than I was wrote about how that's just him trying to make sense of the world.
I went to a talk in college where the professor talked about how poems need to have a turn, somwhere where meaning changes. Or something like that; I don't really remember. "Idiot Wind," though, has a pretty nice example of that just as the last chorus starts. "Up to Me" seems to have a nice one, too, though it's not so big. So, that's nice. And that's all I have for now.
It's an outtake from Blood on the Tracks, which is pretty obvious just from listening to it. It's got that guitar from another place sound, with Dylan just singing simple verses over it, each ending with "...up to me." It's so reminiscent of some other songs on the album that it's no wonder that it was left out, and, really, it wouldn't have added anything. It would have just doubled part of the album and messed up the flow. If you don't appreciate the album as it is, then probably you've never heard it, never had your heart broken, or never had any taste to begin with.
Somehow it's better for not being on the album, though. It's just out there in the lost sea of songs that never got put anywhere. It's the album without being on it, a cold dawn breaking on just the next day. It's always something real happening, but you don't know when. "Well, I watched you slowly disappear down into the officers' club/ I would've followed you in the door but I didn't have a ticket stub."
Sometimes there's just a throw away Dylan line, "In fourteen months I've only smiled once and I didn't do it consciously," and sometimes there's a bizarre image that recalls simultaneously his psychedelic era and no time in particular, "So go on, boys, and play your hands, life is a pantomime/ The ringleaders from the county seat say you don't have all that much time." It's somehow like "Idiot Wind," another Blood on the Tracks track, which is full of strange, seemingly unrelated events. Somebody who is better at analysis than I was wrote about how that's just him trying to make sense of the world.
I went to a talk in college where the professor talked about how poems need to have a turn, somwhere where meaning changes. Or something like that; I don't really remember. "Idiot Wind," though, has a pretty nice example of that just as the last chorus starts. "Up to Me" seems to have a nice one, too, though it's not so big. So, that's nice. And that's all I have for now.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
A Taste of Fall
Today was the first day that smelled like fall. Here's a picture of some low alcohol beer that I had for the first time last night.
Here's to you, Emily K!, wherever you are.
Here's to you, Emily K!, wherever you are.
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