August 23rd, 2008
...and ready to fight spam-bots!
Over the last two weeks or so it appears that my site has been discovered by spammers. I haven't so much as touched my PHP text, but it still was a relatively easy task to institute a bare minimum of anti-spam feature goodness in my comment form. Hopefully, despite its simplicity, it will keep out all but the most determined sellers of viagra and penis-embiggening juice...
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May 13th, 2008
Ever since my dad and his wife headed home after their visit to Japan I haven't had the drive to pick back up any of my studies. The fact that the weather has taken a turn for the worst this last week hasn't helped things any either. Still, there's something a bit magical about curling up with a good book or a movie while the rain plays out a staccato rhythm on your windows. In that spirit I'd like to share three things I've recently become caught up in.
Internet Comedy Radio
I'm sure many of you know this, but if you have iTunes on your computer, you have a quick and easy access to a variety of Internet radio stations. Since I'm far too much of a fuddy duddy to know what all the young hep cats are listening to on their boom boxes, I tend to avoid stations which deal solely in music and focus instead on those which offer comedy broadcasts. My current favorite is
Social Crime Radio which broadcasts a selection of standup from both the recent and venerated greats. Comedians like Robin Williams, Dean Cook (who apparently has built up quite a base of people who hate his guts), Patton Oswalt, and Bill Cosby, among others.
The only thing I can fault Social Crime with is the frequency of repeated standup acts. Since they broadcast entire acts, when Bobcat Goldthwait comes on for the umpteenth time, that's basically a 40 or so minute block of time which you'd best spend on some other pursuit.
One of the things I really like about listening to Internet comedy radio is that it's exposed me to comedians I never got much of a chance to listen to before. I've gained a new respect for the likes of Chris Rock and George Carlin, and had my faith in Lewis Black reaffirmed.
Scrubs
What a great show! The first season of
Scrubs aired just before I left for Japan some six years ago. I think I got to watch about half of the season before it was time to hop a jet plane for this land of dancing, sushi-making robot geishas. A friend of mine just recently turned me on to a site for watching streaming videos of each episodes and I've taken up where I left off six years ago in catching up with the episodes I've missed. Although I know the one absolute certainty regarding American TV is that the creative juice behind the shows starts to dwindle after the first or second season(
Deadwood being the sole exception I'm aware of), I'm enjoying the ride so far.
There's something very cute and whimsical about this show, and although each episode is required by federally mandated law to have some sort of moral where our hero learns a Valuable Life Lesson, Scrubs is able to avoid the usual vomit-inducing aftereffects by never taking itself too seriously. And by having a heart. The relationship between Turk and JD is, I believe, central to the show, and made all the more real by the fact that these two seem to generally be friends offscreen as well as on. Which is why I wasn't surprised to learn that Zach Braff (the actor who plays JD) and Donald Faison (Turk) are friends in real life as well.
Blade of the Immortal
I read several of the English translations to this comic series when I was in college and always told myself I'd pick it back up again in the future. Although I've been in Japan six years now, I somehow never found the time or the motivation to get back into this series. Until recently that is.
More than just the artwork, which is very good, however, it's the depth of the story and the characterization which makes reading
Blade of the Immortal such a treat. None of the characters are treated in black and white, and all have their own reasons for what they do. The story centers around a young girl (16, I think she is) named Rin whose parents are murdered by Anotsu Kagehisa and his followers, and details her quest for revenge. Realizing she can't defeat Anotsu, a master swordsman, by herself, she employs a cynical, world-weary and foul-talking bodyguard, Manji who has his own penance to undergo.
One of the highlights of this series for me so far has been when Rin realizes the men she and Manji are killing in the name of vengeance have families and friends, people who will miss them when they're gone. And that by avenging the deaths of her parents, she'll be putting others through the same ordeal she herself has undergone. Definitely not your average fare.
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April 19th, 2008
As I'm constantly reminded by some of the people closest to me, I do have a tendency to veer into darkness. Naturally pessimistic wouldn't be far off, but I prefer to think of myself as pessimistic in the particulars, and optimistic in the long term. I'm not a complete sourpuss.
Anyway, I stumbled across this video for the Discovery Channel and it immediately put a smile on my face. This is easily the most feel-good thing I've seen in a while.
Oh, and I agree. OOm-be-aDA.
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April 5th, 2008
Today I attended a farewell BBQ for my good friend of six years. He's going back to Britain, and will be doffing his English-teaching cap and picking back up his camera.
Although we didn't always see eye to eye on everything, and there were times when he drove me absolutely batty (as I'm sure I did him), he's been one of my longest friends in Japan, and I'll be sad to see him go. There are only so many of us old-timers left from that first year on JET, and we're all the poorer for every one of us who leaves.
I'll miss you, Al. Take care of yourself.
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April 4th, 2008
I headed to Makuhari the other weekend with a couple of friends who share a similar interest in photography. We spent a very relaxing and pleasant day strolling hither and yon, and pausing to snap photos. Summer is just around the corner; I can feel it.
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