Tsukiji Fish Market

From our recent exploits in Tokyo.

Here's a slice of life from the largest fish market in the world.

The Office: Humor AND Wit

OK, I am totally gay for the Office and went to the NBC website to see when the new episodes start this year (since we have no commercials overseas). Make fun all you want, but at least I'm not this guy, who posted to the message board:

I am absolutely crazy about The Office!! it is HYSTERICAL!!! even though it is mostly humor, it still does have some wit. but 4 a comedy show, humor is better than wit, though there should always be some.
TheOfficeLover
August 30 - 10:07pm PT

Anyway- watch The Office! Thursday, September 21! Yay!

Banzai!

Back from Japan, and what a place!! We spent four days there and it was too short. Plus, the weather was poor (read:rain) for the days that we were there, but miraculously cleared up on the last day that we were there. Jessica was feeling under the weather for some of the trip, so that plus the rain plus a two year old cut a little into what we were able to due during our time there; however, we were able to hit some pretty cool stuff while we were there. For example:

• Saw the Imperial Palace
• Caught a Kabuki show
• Went to a sumo match
• Visited the world's largest fish market
  

Here's a quick picture tour from the "Land of the Rising Sun".

Our first stop was the Imperial Palace. Much like the White House, you couldn't really waltz up into the palace. They had a huge moat (50 feet wide at least) all around the castle. I thought it was a great way to keep the "undesirables" out. Maybe something to consider, George W.?


Next was the sumo match. Tickets were a little high, but we were there for hours and had pretty good seats. I'll throw a sumo video up to give you a taste of the action In the meantime, here some looks from the stadium. These flags are displayed out in front of the stadium and I think are the wrestler's banners. Colorful!

Here's a couple of the dudes squaring off for a match. When they touch their second hand to the ground, then the wrestlers start fighting. It was pretty intensive stuff.


On the last day, I went solo to the Tsukiji Fish Market, one of the largest in the world. I was there early at 6:00 AM to see the action. It was amazing. The place takes up probably three city blocks or more and is crammed with every thing that comes out of the sea that you can eat. The biggest thing there was the tuna, and it was huge. Most people think of tuna coming in a little can, but these monsters was huge. Have a look:


Those tuna are resting on one of those huge shipping palette. Each of them was probably 150-200 lbs each. And there were hundreds of them all around the market. While I was down there, I found a small sushi bar that had the best, freshest sushi I've ever had. Indescribably good.

If you get a chance, check out Japan. A little pricey, yes. But totally worth it the visit.

Toyko = Awesome

Also, Tokyo > Seoul.

More to follow.

Ice Age 2: Electric Bugaloo

So, we're here in Tokyo, and I am stuck in the hotel doing some school work for a couple of hours, and I'm watching The History Channel. A show comes on called "MegaDisasters: Mega Freeze," and I am immediately cynical; Aren't we supposed to be preparing for global warming? I better check it out- after all, it is "Violent Earth Week."
In the first ten minutes, I am BLOWN AWAY by what a hyperbolic "The Day After Tomorrow" piece of promotion work this show is. Apparently, it's going to get about 15-20 degrees colder "in the blink of an eye," changing our climate "like a light switch," resulting in a Northeastern U.S. and Western Europe that will be "a relic of what it once was." They use the uber-technical term "rapid climate change" to describe this, and list a "chain reaction of calamities" including Black Death, the American and French revolutions, canibalism, volcanic erruptions, the economic collapse of European countries (not named specifically, sorry), and more, all due to the weather dropping "a few degrees." Holy S!
Thankfully, we might only experience a temperature drop of only a few degrees- but with greater disasters! The graphic they show looks like the Sherwin-Williams logo, but with a can of "Decorator White" spilling over the top of the globe. Don't think you are safe in the south- you'll get floods, famine, hurricanes, and more. Get that boating license now, because this will all happen in "our lifetime," of course.
On a serious note, ahem... I am so frustrated by the climate change discussion. Which is it, we have brought ourselves to the brink of climate disaster, or we can change it by making minor lifestyle changes like driving hybrids? I just don't see how both are possible. Either we made a huge mess and need to make major changes accross the world to correct it, or it's not that big of a deal and we can affect the changes we do make with minor, simple changes like recycling and deciding what we want from the fride door before opening the door (an actual item from an Earth Day brouchure from our power company last year).
So, let's just clear up the confusion here, OK? I'm sure this blog attracts physicists, climate change experts, geologists, right? I'll take a Marine Biologist, if that's all we've got...anyone??

Enter the Dragon

Without looking ahead, can anyone guess what this is a picture of?

Aidan and I were cruising around Seoul killing some time on a Saturday. We pass a major intersection that usually has a fountain next to it. The fountain hasn't been running lately, or at least I haven't see it because I've been out of town for a couple of weeks. In its place, however, is a giant wicker dragon! And by giant, I mean on the order of four or five stories. The picture above is a close up of the undulating body. Here's a better side shot of the whole thing. Check out the kids sitting up on top.

That's not exactly to scale, as the dragon didn't dwarf the 30+ story buildings in the background. But it was huge. More importantly, it wasn't there three weeks ago. It's a temporary structure that was erected for some reason and will be taken down in the near future, I'd imagine.

Driving down the street and happening upon this giant dragon made of bamboo and steel skeleton, I couldn't help but being overcome by delight. As hackney as that sounds, it's true. How wonderful is it to be surprised by the extraordinary when you're not expecting it? After seeing this beast up close, I took some liberties to spruce it up a bit with Photoshop to make it a little more fantastic. Don't know about you, but I always thought dragons should be green.

Cricket Update

I'm back from my exercise in Korea. Good news: we won. We always do.

Some of you might remember the Crickets!! post from a few days back when I was talking about the cricket in my bathroom. If not, it's a few posts behind this one; take a look to refresh your memory. The cricket in that particular post had a distinct pattern to his song that I talked about there. This afternoon, I was parking the car in the parking garage and I heard another cricket with a different sound altogether.

Instead of the "chirp-chirp pause chirp-chirp" pattern that the other cricket had, this one played a continuous, droning chirp. Like a broken record. What's the deal with this cricket? Is he a more contented cricket? Or was the first one happier and this one the scared one? Or are the completely different species of crickets altogether, each with a distinct song? If I had to wager a guess, I'd say that the first cricket (aka toilet cricket) sounded under duress while the second cricket (aka garage cricket) seemed more at ease. But who's to say?

By the way, at Jessica's request this will be the last cricket post.

Athiests who are afraid of death- I have bad news for you

I know I've been making a lot of posts lately- can you tell I have important schoolwork I'm putting off?- but here is one more hilarious thing I found on another person's website, "Depression, Anxiety, and Worry - What Can an Atheist (Or Anyone Else) Do About Them?"
It basically lists anxious or depressive thoughts people might have, and compares the way a religious person and an athiest would handle those thoughts. I was scanning down the list when I saw this one:

4. Overcoming the fear of death
The religious solution
The Christian religion promises its followers eternal life. Death is merely a transition from living this life to living the next life. Our death in this world is the opening to a much more wonderful world in the afterlife.
The atheist solution
(under development)

Under development!! Haven't quite figured that one out yet, huh, Harvard scholar? It does seem to put a big black mark on your case for atheism, but I will certainly give you credit for unapologetically laying your shortcomings out there for all to see.

He also suggests an unusual remedy for feelings of anxiety:
"Next get a hammer and touch the cold metal to your bones: cheek bones in turn, forehead, nose, shoulders, hip bones, elbows, knees, ankle bones, and soles of the feet."

Hope you're not feeling anxious AND full of guilt or depressed with that hammer in your hands.

However, you just CAN NOT MISS this ridiculous, self-important tyrade he has posted against his daughter-in-law. The sheer amount of time and effort he put into writing this, without ever realizing how insane he is and how he should just let this go, is proof-positive why you should NOT believe anything on his other site. One of my favorite parts is when he thinks an article about a school shooting, in which bullying is named as a contributing factor in the episode, is relevant to his relationship with his daughter-in-law, by whom he feels bullied. Boo-hoo!!! She had better make up with you before you start wearing that black trenchcoat around school (by the way, he and his wife are teachers).

Maybe you want to checkout his other sites:
You Should Have Told Me - Home Hygiene and Home Routines
Health Tips: How to Prevent Hemorrhoids, Bladder Infections, and Heartburn
The Sherlock Holmes Diet - Losing Weight Naturally by Knowing How to Eat

Oh, if only there was some way to contact him...oh, yeah, there is: interlac@erols.com

For parents who can't afford those steep pageant fees

Clicking a link led me to a page that led me to this page: www.babyvsbaby.com
It's like "Am I hot or not: Baby Edition." I went through a few of the "battles," as they call them, and felt gross judging one baby over another, none of which were really that cute (let's just say there are no baby Gap modeling contracts in these kids' futures). If, on the other hand, you enjoy harshly judging children that aren't even old enough to consent to being put on public display, you will probably also enjoy clicking on the "Losingest Babies" section. Enough said.
On that note, let's take a look at Jbaby, the most losingest baby, located on the right.