log web page visits Blaaarrgh!: 08/01/2004 - 09/01/2004

土曜日, 8月 28, 2004

The laughs never stop when you don't understand!!!

So, in an effort to entertain myself while studying Japanese, I have been forcing el esposo to rent me videos from Tsutaya. "Why not rent them yourself?" you might ask. WELL, that would be because back a few months, Tsutaya decided that one card was for one person, even if they're from the same family. They apparently know I am not a man, which, I suppose I can forgive them for. However, this means I have to apply for my own card, which is just a pain. Mada-mada.

ANYWAY. Inuyasha. For our readers at home who are confused, it's about this girl who timeslips back to the Warring States period in Japan and begins to have these adventures with this half man, half dog demon thing. Less evil than it sounds, but ohhh so much more confusing!! Started the manga, and really, it is kind of difficult (vocabulary issues, you see?? always talking about the Sengoku Jidai hrmph), but I rented the first tape to see about backing up what I'd read and BA-DAAA!! it's a breeze to understand the second time around, hearing it. Plus!!! I can rewind, and have denchi-jisho-san onhand to QUICKQUICK look up words I hear well enough to look up.

But... I find that the anime is far more interesting than slaving through the manga, so I have been watching numerous episodes per sitting. There is only one tiiiiiny thing. I don't understand everything. This anime (and the manga) are so serial that normally, I'd be tearing my eyes out from boredom, screaming for it to stop. The characters are typical, the monsters unimaginative and the plot, well, relatively nonexistent.
Go. Fight. Get next shard of the magical broken jewel thing. But because I am trying to use this for both entertainment and EDUCATIONAL value... I am loving this!! And let me tell YOU! It's fast paced, you get to see Inuyasha getting the crap beat out of him in EVERY episode (only to have him beat up the bad guy in the end) and you get to see people fall down!! Every time I understand a sentence completely, or even better, catch a joke!!-- I am crowing with laughter. Physical humor has NEVER been so rewarding. I rewind the really sweet bits to catch every word(Inuyasha, fully human for a night, injured in the heroine's arms, murmuring, "You smell nice." Uaaahh!!), and I giggle hysterically and am moved close to tears by the sweet, sappy romance. Inuyasha is a sympathetic villain/hero with an incredibly deep and moving backstory!!!

...This is because I don't understand it. Every piece of anything I understand is a triumph, and I shall enjoy it to its fullest. "Oh no! Inuyasha is gonna die!! (again) WHAT WILL HE DOOOO?!?" I am only halfway through the first season, so, to fill up some more time, I watched the first movie, which by my guess takes place at the end of the first season. It is, essentially, a long, long episode, with an animation style that was closer to the manga (which I didn't really like--something about humongous candy eyeballs). And... it's utterly incomprehensible! What is happening? Who are these people? Why is Kagome necessary to the plot? (Ever, really, I still don't get that.) Who cares about the bloody broken jewel thing anyway? Was the Warring States period really full of demonic creatures attempting to conquer EVERYTHING?!?

I can't
wait to see how this works out!!! But please, never make me watch it, heaven forbid, with dubs, or with subtitles. I may be acquiring a taste for this that might permit me to ignore how mundane and stupid it will become, but I doubt it. My imagination is making this the BEST. ANIME. EVER. ...I think I might be able to do a passable Kagome imitation, with a little practice. Just scream (imagining that oh,no, maybe he's died... again.): "INUYASHA!!!" Pretty good, huh?? Shippo is next: "Uwaaahhhh!!"

Needless to say, I have quit reading the Inuyasha manga. Maybe one day I will pick it up again, but it isn't likely. On a friend's recommendation, I have begun reading Bleach. (It shows up in the weekly Shonen Jump comics, but I prefer to try and go at it bookly, instead of trying to focus on a ten page weekly installment.) But so far, so good. I'm on page 5. Ohhh, yeah. Studystudystudy!!!

Wife. Out.

木曜日, 8月 26, 2004

Thoughts

I saw an interesting video report on Japan on the BBC's Asia-Pacific news page.

火曜日, 8月 24, 2004

Thoughts Well, school is starting again, and I'm looking forward to it. After the "Coffee and the Computer" incident, I enjoyed working with one of my professors on a research project that is still ongoing, but, in general, had a very relaxed summer (several days I was working 16 hours). In fact, I read an interesting extract from the Guardian Unlimited, entitled, "The Virtue of Idleness." I took it to heart and spent a few days in purposeful laziness, looking at where I am now, and where I want to be. It has led to some goals, new year's resolutions, if you will. They cover a range of interests and pursuits, but in order to preserve them I thought I should record them.
  1. Swim 5000(m) in one and a half hours
  2. Swim 40 (km) in a week
  3. Swim in the Japan Masters
  4. Visit the battle field at Sekigahara
  5. Do better in my classes (not that I have been doing poorly, just want to do better)
  6. Pass the third level JTest (Japanese language proficiency test sponsored by the Japanese government)
  7. Find a job in Edinburgh, Scotland
That's all I can remember currently, guess I'll have to spend another few hours in directed idleness.

I also played tennis for the first time in about seven years. That was embarrassing. I didn't really expect much, and I was not surprised; still, given a little bit of time, I think the rust will come off.

Other recent events...
Went to a party at the Bitter Baron's. For those of you that don't know, the Bitter Baron is The Wife's co-worker from Britain. It was quite fun. I spent most of the night talking to some Japanese guys that worked part time jobs and spent their free time playing shogi, go, and fishing. One of them told me he would teach me shogi and go, but only if I helped him with his English so he could impress women. I think it is a fair trade. We didn't get home until about two, but we had the advantage that we could walk home, many of the people were stranded by the trains.

Sunday a group of us went to a concert. It was billed as a punk rock concert, but there were various genres present. One of The Wife's favorite students was playing, but the crowd ended up being mostly The Wife's students (90%). I was informed not to do anything that might possibly embarrass her, but I failed in my mission. Oh well, life goes on.

We have a trip planned to Fukuoka in October and from there we will take a brief day/night trip to Nagasaki. I think that will be the next big opportunity for pictures, but I'm always on the lookout. Hopefully the typhoon will pass overhead this Wednesday and I can get some good pictures of the Yasugawa at full force. I think that is about all I have to say... Oh one more thing, Goal 8: Get myself onto a normal sleep pattern.

金曜日, 8月 06, 2004


This is a picture of Hiroshima. Visiting Hiroshima is a draining experience emotionally, but an experience much worth having.


Okay, the last picture wasn't really in Hiroshima, it was in Himeji, and this one is inside of picture hall on Miyajima. I have no idea what this picture is about, but apparently Japan is home to some very large spiders.


This is a friend and I chilling with some Ashigaru. They were glad for the rest. My Japanese isn't that great but they mentioned something about a Honda really working them or something.


While our friends were here we went out and visited Kinkakuji. We are amassing a number of places to visit on our weekly trips to Kyoto, and I'm torn between Kinkakuji and Nijojo; though, to be perfectly honest, I prefer Ishiyamadera to them all.

木曜日, 8月 05, 2004

The Ninjutsu Yashiki in Konan. The head of the Koga ninja clan resided here. This particular building is about 300 years old, but the site is much older. The original building burnt down 300 years ago, hence the age of the "new" building. This was my fourth visit, and first with camera. The house is filled with traps to aide in escape and confusion. We also learned that the ninja, while spies and assassains, were actually quite well known for their medicines. In fact, they have a special blend of herbal tea which I must procure, for myself, but also for our friends. Terribly delicious tea, that, still, we can't explain why we suddenly flipped out and killed stuff.


Some Shuriken from the Ninjutsu Yashiki.We learned that most ninja only carried one, or two at the most due to the fact that they were hand made and thus, very expensive to produce.

A picture of traditional ninja things from the Ninjutsu Yashiki (House of Ninja) in Konan-cho.