| Katamari Damacy |
[Feb. 15th, 2006|03:53 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  bouncy | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Don't have soundtrack to Katamari Damacy :( | ] |
Mega64.com has produced yet another hilarious spoof!
----> Katamari Damacy
Some of my other mega64.com favs:
----> Ghost-N-Goblins
----> Metal Gear Solid
----> Hitman
----> Tetris
----> Shenmue
Quick update:
All is well and busy in Japan. I will be visiting Portland from March 2nd until March 31st and really look forward to the vacation and seeing everyone at home!
-Jake |
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| Earthquake!!!! |
[Nov. 15th, 2005|01:37 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  busy | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Winnie the Pooh - I'm rumbly in my tummy.mp3 | ] |
Beating my alarm to the chase, I was rudely awakened this morning by a minor earthquake at 6:55am. It wasn't anything too crazy, but the thought did cross my mind to jump up and head over to the nearest doorway. My building is rather old (15 - 20 years???), so ya never, never know. But fortunately, all is well!!! ;)
Information on the on the quake can be found HERE. The website is pretty cool and allows you to zoom up and see specific information pertaining to a specific region. Here is some earthquake info on the city I live in: Sapporo.
The thing I find funny about earthquakes, as I've experienced around 5 or so here in Japan, is that they seem to always happen at night (early morning). But I guess that earthquakes aren't the only things that come out at night, as little Newt (Aliens '86) once pointed out, "We'd better get back, 'cause it'll be dark soon, and they mostly come at night... mostly." |
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| First snow! |
[Nov. 9th, 2005|08:30 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  optimistic | ] |
| [ | music |
| | The Bangles - Hazy Shade of Winter.mp3 | ] |
It snowed today......and it snowed hard! It's amazing how cold it got here in just a short time! Just 3 or 4 days ago I was wearing a t-shirt outside, now I have to bundle up in layers of clothes! Right now the temp outside is right around freezing and is definately bound to get colder.
Sapporo is known for pretty cold and snowy winters....oh yeah, they're pretty long, too! Pretty much until mid April or something. Yay for extended snowboarding and winter sports!
Hey, I think around the 2:00 minute mark, The Bangles used a cowbell in their song "Hazy Shade of Winter"! Reminds me of that SNL skit with Christopher Walken and The Blue Oyster Cult. <---- Warning: cowbellsnl.mpeg file is around 30MB. I love this clip!!!
Gotta go put my gloves back on ;)
Later.....aimaiteki |
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| winter sports! |
[Nov. 5th, 2005|03:43 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  productive | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Beethoven - 9th symphony.mp3 | ] |
Once a week for about 2 hours I teach English to this guy named, Mr. Sasaki. We've been at it for about 3 or 4 months now, and his communication skills have really improved drastically within that short timeframe. Specifically, his is grammar and listening skills.
What sparked his interesting improving his English skills is quite interesting. He works for an organization that is currently preparing for an upcoming nordic championship to be held here in Sapporo in 2007. This tournament, the FIS Nordic World Ski Championship has been traditionally held in Europe. This upcoming event is the first time that the championship will be held outside of Europe. Sapporo, and surrounding mountains, is so well known for its superb ski conditions that Sapporo is being honored with this event.
Anyways, Sasaki works as a personnel manager (staff and athletes), so he will be required to communicate with many foreigners. In fact, starting this next year, a manager from Belgium will be acquiring a desk right next to Sasaki and this guy from Belgium doesn't speak any Japanese - at all. So it's interesting for me, because Sasaki really wants to learn to communicate in English and tries very hard. In 2007, maybe Mizuho and I (picture from this year's Sapporo marathon) can snag a seat at one of the Sapporo ski jump events ;) <----cool link!
But one thing I do find it a bit ironic that a German speaking person is coming to Japan, so Sasaki seeks an English speaker to help him out ;) Yay for international standards or something! |
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| aah, yes. Tables tennis.... |
[Nov. 4th, 2005|08:44 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | rejuvenated | ] |
| [ | music |
| | nothing | ] |
Today I went to the Ping pong club building and played for like 3 hours or something with some of the members. One of the guy's I played against was pretty good. We practice played for like 40 minutes and then started some real games. He ended up beating me two out of three, but they were really close!
I haven't played for quite some time and the rubber on my racquet is really worn - that means poor spin :( After we played, we talked for a little while about school and stuff. We loosely set some play times so we can play again together. But little does he know, after we went our separate ways, I went to a nearby sports store and purchased a sweet new offensive Sriver rubber. It's the same brand I've used since I was in high school! So, the next time play him I hope to pull off some sweet serves ;) I had almost forgotten how much I enjoyed fast-action table tennis!
aimaiteki |
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| Napolean Dynamite in Japan!!! |
[Nov. 2nd, 2005|09:15 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  amused | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Chevelle - Closure.mpg | ] |
Napolean Dynamite came out on video here in Japan. To my surprise, it wasn't titled, "Napolean Dynamite" though. It's called "Basu Otoko" or "Bus Otoko". This is actually a spin off of another word "densha otoko", or "train otoko". For reference, "Otoko' actually translates as "man" or "a man". Thus, in English, "train man" or in the case for Napolean Dynamite, "Bus man".
For those familiar with Japanese pop culture, the terms "densha otoko" and "bus otoko" are different names for the famed "otaku", which Wikipedia has explicitly defined as the following.
Otaku: Fat, unshaven, wearing glasses, a ponytail and fantasizing with an anime girl doll, a popular stereotype of an otaku.
So, think of "densha otoko" or "basu otoko" as train riding or bus riding otakus. Though there are various kinds of otaku, the definition above is the most common. There are also game otakus, anime otakus, etc....
The funny thing is that just recently a teevee series came out that more or less officially put the word "densha otoko" into the Japanese dictionary as another word for Otaku. The show was called Densha Otoko and was about this really geeky, yet cool Otaku guy and his daily attempts to talk to this cute girl that he often saw on the train. Then every night after he got home from work or wherever, he would log onto an online blog/chat and post his stories and attempts to become noticed by this cute girl. The show was hilarious during this scene because as everyone he was chatting with would respond to his posts, the TV show would quickly flash to the next responding person's bedroom or office. Click here for some screenshots of scenes from the show. The densha otoko eventually hooks up with the cute girl, but after much comical stress on his part. The show was quite entertaining and very popular all throughout Japan.
So I guess that a movie version of the show is going to be released next year. Here's a link with some previews of some scenes:
Densha Otoko movie
Not sure if it will be as successful as the teevee series.
In discussing the essence of the Otaku, I remember when I was a young teenager and riding the bus on a daily occasion. My friend Bryan D., who was also an experienced bus rider, came up with a really funny word. The word is a grampus and does not refer to mammals in the sea. A "grampus", as Bryan would put it so elegantly, described a situation on a very crowded bus where the only open seat happens to be the one next to yours. The bus stops and a lonely traveler gets on. This lonely traveler, a grampus, has become "the fat hairy, heavy-breathing person that sits next to you on the bus... or a whale." (Bryan D. 1993)
Now, granted, Napolean Dynamite is not a fat hairy, heavy-breathing person, but don't forget that he was only a high school student in the movie. Who knows what the future holds for him. So in a sense, the Napolean Dynamite title in Japan, translated back into English could potentially be "Grampus".
"Gosh!" That movie kicks ass!
Jake E. |
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| Beethoven for everyone! |
[Jul. 4th, 2005|10:10 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | energetic | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Symphony 9 - Beethoven - BBC Philharmonic | ] |
Slashdot recently relayed information that the BBC is providing free downloads of Beethoven's 6th - 9th grand symphonies. It's too bad I wasn't aware of this until today, because as the BBC is only allowing a 7-day window for each symphony, I was only able to retrieve 6, 7, 8, and 9. Just a few days ago, all 9 symphonies were available for download! Each symphony is only available for download within seven days of its recent radio broadcast.
Download them while you still can!!!!! The sound quality is really awesome!!! Enjoy!!
Later,
Jake |
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| 26th Birthday in Sapporo |
[Jun. 26th, 2005|03:35 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  giddy | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Happy Birthday - Marilyn Monroe | ] |
Well, I'm now 26 years old. This whole weekend so far has been very eventful and fun-filled. In celebration of my birthday, friday night some friends and I got together and watched two of my favorite Kurosawa movies, Yojimbo and Sanjuro. We also enjoyed some wonderful, long-awaited Pizza Hut pizza while watching the old b&w flicks. It was a great a time!!!
Then today, on my actual birthday, I had lunch with a group of different friends at this little Japanese restaurant with great food and great prices! One of my aussie friends, Georgie, came up from Tokyo and was able to join us for lunch, too! She just graduated from my same uni from the Law department - something else worth mentioning is that Georgie was just rewarded a full-paid scholarship to go to Geneva to work at the UN doing an internship. She will be working on some international law-related stuff. I think that is totally cool! Congrats Georgie! Anyways, the food was awesome! As a teishoku (set lunch) I had some assorted sashimi, salad, some natto, miso soup and of course some rice.
Then, later in the afternoon, my girlfriend (Mizuho) and I did some shopping and we found some pretty good deals on some summer clothes (shorts and stuff). We ended up eating some tastey Mexican food for dinner - yes, they have Mexican food in Japan. Later in the evening, my German friend, Alex, joined Mizuho and I at Crossroads (a small Classic Rock club mentioned in an earlier post) for a few hours of rocking tunes and great dialogue with Koichi, the master, lead guitarist of the club's band - which also happens to be called Crossroads. Koichi bought me a birthday beer, toO! yay! We ended up staying out till about 1:30am and since the subways stop running at midnight, we had to walk home. The walk is only about 20 minutes from the clubbing/bar district in Sapporo called Susukino. I love living in the center of Sapporo!
All in all, it was another great and memorable birthday! I only wish I could have spent my birthday with my friends back in P-town, too. It's amazing that I've been here almost 3 months now. Time has truly gone by in a instant! I hope all is well with all of my peeps back home! Mmmmm....peeps....
G'nite,
Jake |
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| Medical questions |
[Jun. 23rd, 2005|12:52 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | thirsty | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Hurt - The Downward Spiral - Nine Inch Nails | ] |
Ok, this one's for my brother and sister, or any of their nursing friends who read this blog...
A couple days back I woke up to a slightly swollen right tonsil. At first it was hard to eat solid foods, but I could manage - painfully manage. But now, three days later, I really can't eat solid food due to the pain.
The really funny thing is that despite my tonsils being swollen, I have no other symptons. I don't have a cold. I don't have a fever. I don't have a cough. I don't have headaches. I don't have stomach pains. AND I DON'T HAVE A SORE THROAT. Only my tonsils hurt when touched by food while eating. So I've completely ruled out strep throat because I've had that many times before during my mid-teens years and strep throat feels completely different...fever, night sweats, sore throat, cough, etc.
I've been gargling salt water and eating stuff like (salty) soups, eggs and oatmeal. Oatmeal is expensive here in Japan!!! I also went to the university doctor yesterday and the clinic was really busy, so I didn't get much time with him. I told him the situation and he basically gave me three days worth of anti-biotics and a bunch of different meds for coughing, headaches, sore throat, and stomach pain. Even though I told him that I didn't have any of the latter symptons. But he sent me on my way. hahahah! So I am not and do not plan on taking the various other pills he gave me for my stomach, coughing, headaches, etc. I'm just taking the anti-biotics - twice a day.
I find that when I sleep at night swallowing doesn't hurt at all, like I didn't have a tonsil problem at all. Thus I've been sleeping a lot.
I've read various online medical websites and people describing similar symptons to mine, but not exactly the same. And various web doctors have mentioned stuff like:
tonsil stones [tonsiloliths] <- clickable link
So, my medical questions are:
As much as I hate going to the doctor for the very reason described above, I feel a bit compelled to go to a real doctor (ENT? an ear, nose and throat doctor) to see what he says about my situation. Or should I not worry about it and just let the antibiotics I'm taking do their work? Then if they don't work, go see an ENT?
I don't have that much experience with doctors but do they always just give you their patients blanket prescriptions and send them on their way, hoping that it was the right solution and the patient won't come back?
When I look into the mirror and see my swollen tonsils, they don't look *that* big, but it is noticeable. I mean, they are not inhibiting me from breathing or anything. But my right tonsil is definitely bigger than the left one. Has anyone experienced these symptoms before? Remember, I have NO fever, cough, headaches, stomach pains....nothing. Just swollen tonsils.
Could my situation be a product of stress? I've been really stressed since being here mostly due to having to learn linear algebra and complex operations management optimization algorithms in Japanese. That stuff is hard to understand and follow in English! Anyways, I've really slowed down a lot since my tonsil swelled, so I don't feel too stressed out right now. Mostly I'm hoping that my body can heal itself soon.
One last thing, this tonsil crap is really irritating because my 26th birthday is on the 25th and I'd like to go out with friends. On Friday I want to fork out the $30 for a Pizza Hut pizza while watching some movies with friends. At this point, it'd be pretty painful to eat some pizza....and the movie night is tomorrow evening....Also if I'm on anti-biotics, I not supposed to drink alcohol, right???
So, if anyone has any thoughts or suggestions regarding my current situation, let me know!
Thanks,
Jake |
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| Star Wars stuffs |
[Jun. 20th, 2005|02:56 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  hungry | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Fiddle and The Drum - Emotive - A Perfect Circle | ] |
I mentioned a few posts ago that I had put up an Ebay auction for some Japan-only Star Wars stuff that I was able to pull out of some UFO Catchers here in Sapporo. A UFO Catcher is another name for those crane games in arcades that have teddy bears and in most cases, other stupid shit that is not worth trying to retrieve from the plastic encasing.
In this case, however, the Star Wars Japanese Fan set that I was able to put together by only spending just under $20, sold for $42.50 on Ebay, not including the $13.50 charge for shipping and handling. Thus the grand total for my auction was $56! woohoo! That's a perty good investment...
Oh yeah, here's another Star Wars related item worth viewing. It will make you laugh....
Grocery Store Wars
Join the Organic Rebellion!!!
Later,
Jake |
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| Classic Rock in Japan |
[Jun. 9th, 2005|09:47 am] |
| [ | mood |
| | chipper | ] |
| [ | music |
| | The New Year - Death Cab for Cutie | ] |
I was recently introduced to this club here in Sapporo called "Crossroads". It's not a dance or a techno club housing a live DJ, but a live rock club. Crossroads is relatively a small club, seating only 20 people in total. Though the club is quite small, the layout is noteworthy, as those sitting in the front row sit roughly 5 feet away from the band. This makes for close and personal experience, and also allows for interaction with the band.
The band, who consists of the 4 people who work at the bar, is a cover band and is led by a Japanese guy in his late forties named, Koichi. Koichi is simply amazing at the guitar (Got a lot of his experience while living in Hollywood as a musician in the early 80's). Koichi loves Classic Rock and has mastered almost every meaningful song since the 60's. He also plays a lot of 80's rock as well. And when he plays, he plays each song, each guitar solo like he really wants to show you some newfound deepness he's found in the song. If you ask around, Koichi is known to the best guitarist in Sapporo. My Irish friend, Cornelius, who has lived in Japan for 17 years, asserts that Koichi is the best guitarist in Japan.
Every night of the week, the band plays four sets. One at 9:00pm, 10:30pm, 12:00am, and the last one at 1:30am. The first time I visited Crossroads, I ended up sitting at the bar with friends from 9:00pm until 2:00am, when the band finished their last set. Each set runs for about 30-45 minutes. Koichi's band plays Zepplin, Cream, Jeck Beck, Pink Floyd, Van Halen, and so much more! In fact, a couple Sundays ago, they played 2 straight hours of Pink Floyd. It was awesome! Reminded me of the Roger Waters Live show my siblings and I saw a few years back at the Rose Garden. And the greatest thing is that after each set, Koichi and the band joins everyone at the bar for interesting stories and laughs. It's a lot of fun!
Later,
Jake |
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| Star Wars stuff in Japan |
[Jun. 8th, 2005|02:17 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  tired | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Midterm tomorrow | ] |
I recently found that various arcades (specifically Taito arcades) throughout Japan have special edition Star Wars collectibles in their UFO Catcher machines. A UFO catcher is another name for one of those cheesy crane games they have in American arcades. But in Japan, UFO catchers are really popular, so beyond a cheap teddy bear for a prize, a UFO Catcher may contain a cool Gundam robot figure or in this case, a Star Wars collectible item.
So, over the past two months, I've been able to win items such as: a few Star Wars patches (cool designs...Darth Vader and the Star Wars symbol), R2D2 and Boba Fett Keychains, Darth Vader head and Yoda head couch cushions (really funny looking and nice quality!), and perhaps the coolest item I've ever seen in a UFO Catcher, a Lightsaber Japanese Fan (sensu).
I was finally able to win the entire set and have opened an auction on EBAY. Check it out!
Star Wars Japanese Fan
I've searched all over the web (in English) for any sign of these Lightsaber Fans existing in the States and still haven't found anything.
Anyways, if you're interested, these fans are really nice quality and would look really nice mounted on a wall or something.
Good night!
Jake |
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| Memories.... |
[May. 31st, 2005|04:37 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | energetic | ] |
| [ | music |
| | B-Dash! - Tongari Kids | ] |
So, this crazy Japanese techno, rap song just came out here in Japan a couple of months ago by a group called the Tongari Kids. The song brings back memories of playing Super Mario. And yes, my Mom was notorious for resetting my Nintendo system while in the middle of intense play....there is nothing more frustrating than having to play a level over again!
Anyways, I translated it into English. The lyrics are really funny in Japanese, so I hope it's as funny in English. If anyone can think of a better way of saying something, post it!
Here's the song for download: B-Dash.mp3
Enjoy, it's hilarious. :)
| バンド名：トンガリキッズ |
Band Name: Tongari Kids |
| 曲名：ビーダッシュ |
Song Name: B-Dash! |
| ちょっとはやすぎるかもよ ビーダッシュ！ |
You might be goin' a little too fast, B-Dash! |
| 穴に落っこちるかもよ ビーダッシュ！ |
You might fall into a hole, B-Dash! |
| カメに激突かもよ ビーダッシュ！ |
You might run into a turtle, B-Dash! |
| ドカン地下室かもよ ビーダッシュ！ |
You might discover an open pipe, B-Dash! |
| 海で息できるかもよ ビーダッシュ！ |
You might can breathe underwater, B-Dash! |
| 山も飛び越えるかもよ ビーダッシュ！ |
You might can fly over a mountain, B-Dash! |
| マリオ使いすぎかもよ ビーダッシュ！ |
You might be using Mario too much, B-Dash! |
| ルイージすねてるかも ビーダッシュ！ |
And Luigi might be pouting, B-Dash! |
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| キノコノコノコ、徒歩で登場、 |
A mushroom is getting away from you; |
| 想像以上に足はやい |
It's faster than you thought! |
| カメも空飛ぶ、時代ですよ、昔じゃ考えらんないね |
Flying turtles...people never thought of that a long time ago. |
| コイン集めは、ただの趣味です、５０年代の貴重だわ |
Coin collecting, I thought that was for old people. |
| ブロック壊して、許されてたよ、今じゃ裁判沙汰だもん |
You were once allowed to break all the blocks, but now you might get sued! |
| も〜、ちょっとお母さん、も〜、コンセント抜けたじゃん |
Go~sh! Wait, Mo~m! Go~sh! You reset my game! |
| も〜、クリアできたのに、掃除機かけるのやめて |
Go~sh, I was about to clear the level, why do you have to vacuum now?! |
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| ちょっとはやすぎるかもよ ビーダッシュ！ |
You might be goin' a little too fast, B-Dash! |
| 花火もらえないかもよ ビーダッシュ！ |
You might not get to see the fireworks, B-Dash! |
| コインもらっちゃうかもよ ビーダッシュ！ |
You might get all the coins, B-Dash! |
| キノコ食べちゃうかもよ ビーダッシュ！ |
You might eat a mushroom, B-Dash! |
| それははやすぎるかもよ ビーダッシュ！ |
That's too fast, B-Dash! |
| 急に止れないかもよ ビーダッシュ！ |
You can't stop suddenly, B-Dash! |
| 地下は焦っちゃうかもよ ビーダッシュ！ |
You might get impatient underground, B-Dash! |
| 姫は偽者かもよ ビーダッシュ！ |
The princess might be a fake, B-Dash! |
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| 空でふわふわ、雲に乗って、下界の民に思いはせて |
While you're flying in the clouds, you might think of those below. |
| 海じゃ優雅に、２５分、素潜り記録は新記録 |
You elegantly swim underwater for 25 minutes; It's a new record! |
| ドカンもぐりも、ただの趣味です、コインが拾えりゃ大吉 |
Diving in an out of pipes is a hobby; if you're lucky you may find some
coins! |
| お花摘むのが、好きだった今じゃ、どいつもこいつも所有権 |
You used to be able to pick flowers freely, but everyone now complains
about property rights. |
| も〜、ちょっとお父さん、も〜、チャンネル変えないで、 |
Go~sh! Wait, Dad! Go~sh! Don't change the channel! |
| も〜、いいとこだったのに、相撲は昨日も見たでしょ |
Go~sh, I've never gotten that far in the game before! Didn't you watch
the Sumo match yesterday??!? |
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| しゃがんだままでその場ジャンプ。。。。 |
Jump while squatting.... |
| なんかちょっと愉快。。。 |
...something about it just makes me smile..... |
| 猛烈ダッシュしゃがみジャンプ。。。。 |
Super jump while squatting...... |
| これはかなり愉快。。。 |
...Now that's really amusing.... |
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|
| ちょっとはやすぎるかもよ ビーダッシュ！ |
You might be goin' a little too fast, B-Dash! |
| 穴に落っこちるかもよ ビーダッシュ！ |
You might fall into a hole, B-Dash! |
| カメに激突かもよ ビーダッシュ！ |
You might run into a turtle, B-Dash! |
| ドカン地下室かもよ ビーダッシュ！ |
You might discover an open pipe, B-Dash! |
| 海で息できるかもよ ビーダッシュ！ |
You might can hold breathe underwater, B-Dash! |
| 山も飛び越えるかもよ ビーダッシュ！ |
You might can fly over a mountain, B-Dash! |
| マリオ使いすぎかもよ ビーダッシュ！ |
You might be using Mario too much, B-Dash! |
| ルイージすねてるかも ビーダッシュ！ |
And Luigi might be pouting, B-Dash! |
| ちょっとはやすぎるかもよ ビーダッシュ！ |
You might be goin' a little too fast, B-Dash! |
| 花火もらえないかもよ ビーダッシュ！ |
You might not get to see the fireworks, B-Dash! |
| コインもらっちゃうかもよ ビーダッシュ！ |
You might get all the coins, B-Dash! |
| キノコ食べちゃうかもよ ビーダッシュ！ |
You might eat a mushroom, B-Dash! |
| それははやすぎるかもよ ビーダッシュ！ |
That's too fast, B-Dash! |
| 急に止れないかもよ ビーダッシュ！ |
You can't stop suddenly, B-Dash! |
| 地下は焦っちゃうかもよ ビーダッシュ！ |
You might get impatient underground, B-Dash! |
| 姫は偽者かもよ ビーダッシュ！ |
The princess might be a fake, B-Dash! |
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|
aimaiteki 曖昧敵 |
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| I'm gonna be 26 in June! |
[May. 12th, 2005|12:29 am] |
| [ | mood |
| |  blah | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Silence | ] |
Your Birthdate: June 25 |
Your birth on the 25th day of the month (7 energy) modifies your life path by giving you some special interest in technical, scientific, or other complex and often hard to understand subjects.
You may become something of a perfectionist and a stickler for details.
Your thinking is logical and intuitive, rational and responsible.
Your feelings may run deep, but you are not very likely to let them show.
This birthday makes you a more private person, more introspective and perhaps more inflexible.
In friendships you are very cautious and reserved.
You are probably inventive, and given to unique approaches and solutions. |
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| I guess I'm a drunken, horny, nerdy, cat........ |
[Apr. 25th, 2005|01:02 pm] |
 | You scored as Nerd Cat. Holy crap, poindexter. Try buying some new specs instead of taping them together. Yeah, Bill Gates made a lot of money, but he's also the devil. You've got a long way to go.
Drunk Cat | | 75% | Nerd Cat | | 75% | Love Machine Cat | | 75% | Derranged Cat | | 50% | Ninja Cat | | 50% | Pissed at the World Cat | | 42% | Couch Potato Cat | | 33% | </td>
Which Absurd Cat are you?
created with QuizFarm.com |
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| My fourth time in Japan...third time in Sapporo...... |
[Apr. 16th, 2005|09:04 pm] |
So it's been FOREVER since I've posted. All I can say is that moving out and then moving to another country all in the same week is rather time consuming. The only thing I regret forgetting at home are my rock climbing shoes! GOSH!
Though I've only been gone and in Sapporo for two weeks now, it feels like I've been here a little bit longer than that. It feels more like 2 and a half weeks! Well at this point, my Japanese skills are truly coming back to me and just in time, because last week school started an all of my classes are in Japanese.
I'm taking 6 classes in total:
1. Kanji Intermediate level 2
2. Intermediate Writing
3. Intermediate Reading
4. Java programming
5. Information Analysis math class
6. and a Graduate level seminar where I have to give 2 presentations in
Japanese.
My classes are actually really fun! I have to give two presentations in Japanese in the grad level seminar, so I'm stressing those two days....Beyond that everything is really fun and developing ;)
I still don't have internet yet at my house, BUT I will have everything up and working by the end of this month or early next month. Someone from the phone company has to come out and setup the phone line and stuff. I will soon have a VOIP phone that will allow me to call America for pretty cheap, too. I do have a cell phone right now, however. It's pretty sweet because I can email with it, take pictures with it, it can even record 20 second-long movies. And the coolest thing about it is that it only cost 1 yen. Amazing.....
The temperature here in Sapporo is still rather cold, but it has gotten much warmer than it was when I first got here two weeks ago. Now it just really windy with lots of rain...I can't wait for summer to come! In the summer, the weather is quite similar to Portland, with continuous days in the high 80's. On those days, many people go to a nearby beach called, Dream Beach. Honestly it's not that dreamy, you know, with unicorns and/or something, but it's a nice place to chill out on the beach with friends. I guess that's pretty dreamy for a place like Sapporo that gets almost 2 meters of snow in the winter.....
So, Starr is graduating from school. That's soooo awesome. Good job Starr!!! I'm totally proud of you! How is James doing these days? You enjoying your new apartment? I wish I could have had the time to stay the night up there at your place and play games all night. That'll have to wait till next time, huh? I really miss you guys a lot. Starr, Miz and I will certainly come see you for Christmas, later this year. Make sure you keep in touch and stuff ;)
Speaking of games! Japan's got all these new versions of games I haven't ever seen before. They have a new Virtual Fighter version out that has all these new moves and stuff. But the game I just can't get enough of is the new shooter game Raiden 3. It just recently came out here and I play it whenever I have the time and money. See the only problem with arcades in Japan is that each and EVERY game, no matter how new or how old it is, costs 100 yen ($1). So if you play a game 10 times, you've put $10 into that machine. So I have to pace myself ;)
Well, It's 1:30pm here and I'm hungry.
Later,
Jake Edge |
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