rain and pain
Truly stunningly mad hard rain tonight during practice. I was teaching the students' class and explaining to a new guy and the thunder is thundering and the lightning is lightninging (?) and the gym roof sounded like it was going to collapse under the pressure of the rain. Kinda neat.
We've started cranking hard for the tournaments coming up -- I'm not going to practice anything other than the forms inchuyo, yochuin, musogaeshi, migi-no-teki, and shiho for the next few months.
We've started cranking hard for the tournaments coming up -- I'm not going to practice anything other than the forms inchuyo, yochuin, musogaeshi, migi-no-teki, and shiho for the next few months.
Gasshuku
Got on the Odoriko 105 from Tokyo station and made it to Ajiro in Shizuoka Prefecture in about an hour and a half.
Ajiro is a dinky little seaside town known for its seafood and not much else.
We headed straight for the practice hall and started practice with about 75 people.
Practice lasted a couple of hours, and then the three people testing for 4dan and 5dan did the cutting portion of their test before we called it a day and headed back to the hotel, Ajiro Daiichi. Trying to beat the rush I dropped my stuff in the room, grabbed my towel, and headed down to the bath. Tanaka-sensei and Naganuma-sensei where already there, and Sano-sensei showed up a moment later. The water was nice and hot and kind of salty -- maybe they were using sea water.
Changed into our hotel yukata and headed to the dinner hall. Speeches, food, huge quantities of beer and sake, some karaoke, and more beer and sake.
Dinner ended promptly at 8, and most folks headed down to the bar in the basement for more drinking and karaoke. Most of the students headed back to their (my) room and proceeded to wage their own war against sobriety (a rousing victory.) Somewhere after midnight I dragged a futon across the hall into Otsuka-san's room and attempted to sleep, but Yokoshima-san was bellowing his trademark giggle up and down the hall and the students across the way were in full swing. Yokoshima-san, in his drunken stupor, stumbled into the room in which I was attempting to sleep and commented, in his thunderous voice "Someone's trying to sleep in here!" Trying is the operative word, thanks.
Later in the evening, just as I was embracing the sweet cloud of slumber, someone stumbled in and knocked the shoji sliding screen down. On top of me. I remember a feel of distinct heaviness, not from the lightweight paper screen, but from the body on top of it squishing the sleep from my skull.
After a couple of hours of sleep we got up and headed down from a 7:30 breakfast. I managed to get back into the bath to wash and wake up, and then we headed back to the hall for more practice. By now most folks were completely sleep-deprived, hungover, and/or voiceless from too much karaoke. We attempted to practice, I leading the students group, while Niina-gosoke ran everyone else through the basics and Naganuma-sensei ran the promotion exams.
The students were uninspiring to say the least. Most of them were so hung over they could barely stand, let alone swing a sword, but they gave it their best effort, and Shiokawa-gosoke watched and smiled.
When we finally ended in the afternoon, everyone was dead and hungry. We headed into town for a lovely meal of fresh seafood before getting the 2:17 train back into Tokyo.
Ajiro is a dinky little seaside town known for its seafood and not much else.
We headed straight for the practice hall and started practice with about 75 people.
Practice lasted a couple of hours, and then the three people testing for 4dan and 5dan did the cutting portion of their test before we called it a day and headed back to the hotel, Ajiro Daiichi. Trying to beat the rush I dropped my stuff in the room, grabbed my towel, and headed down to the bath. Tanaka-sensei and Naganuma-sensei where already there, and Sano-sensei showed up a moment later. The water was nice and hot and kind of salty -- maybe they were using sea water.
Changed into our hotel yukata and headed to the dinner hall. Speeches, food, huge quantities of beer and sake, some karaoke, and more beer and sake.
Dinner ended promptly at 8, and most folks headed down to the bar in the basement for more drinking and karaoke. Most of the students headed back to their (my) room and proceeded to wage their own war against sobriety (a rousing victory.) Somewhere after midnight I dragged a futon across the hall into Otsuka-san's room and attempted to sleep, but Yokoshima-san was bellowing his trademark giggle up and down the hall and the students across the way were in full swing. Yokoshima-san, in his drunken stupor, stumbled into the room in which I was attempting to sleep and commented, in his thunderous voice "Someone's trying to sleep in here!" Trying is the operative word, thanks.
Later in the evening, just as I was embracing the sweet cloud of slumber, someone stumbled in and knocked the shoji sliding screen down. On top of me. I remember a feel of distinct heaviness, not from the lightweight paper screen, but from the body on top of it squishing the sleep from my skull.
After a couple of hours of sleep we got up and headed down from a 7:30 breakfast. I managed to get back into the bath to wash and wake up, and then we headed back to the hall for more practice. By now most folks were completely sleep-deprived, hungover, and/or voiceless from too much karaoke. We attempted to practice, I leading the students group, while Niina-gosoke ran everyone else through the basics and Naganuma-sensei ran the promotion exams.
The students were uninspiring to say the least. Most of them were so hung over they could barely stand, let alone swing a sword, but they gave it their best effort, and Shiokawa-gosoke watched and smiled.
When we finally ended in the afternoon, everyone was dead and hungry. We headed into town for a lovely meal of fresh seafood before getting the 2:17 train back into Tokyo.
more for your money
Explain to me how this is going to help the US economy, even remotely...
Senate Passes $350 Billion Bush Tax Cut
John Breaux, D-La., failed in his attempt to repeal a tax increase on Americans working abroad. Those workers would no longer be able to exclude the first $80,000 of their foreign income from U.S. taxes, but they could claim a credit against any foreign taxes paid.
Senate Passes $350 Billion Bush Tax Cut
John Breaux, D-La., failed in his attempt to repeal a tax increase on Americans working abroad. Those workers would no longer be able to exclude the first $80,000 of their foreign income from U.S. taxes, but they could claim a credit against any foreign taxes paid.
rain rain go away
Getting a bit chillier these days, with a steady rainy drizzle. Went to practice and ended up teaching as Hohsina-san ran a mock-promotion exam for those testing this weekend. At the end of class two people ran through a mock exam in front of everyone, and at the end of the first one Niina-gosoke promoted him on the spot, after correcting some basic points about etiquette.
The Niina-gosoke ran the upper-ranks through his traditional hour of torment as we all got reminded just how lame we are.
The Niina-gosoke ran the upper-ranks through his traditional hour of torment as we all got reminded just how lame we are.
once again the magical joy that is the local japanese bureaucracy
So I finally got the police report filed correctly for my stolen Mighty Steed, and went to the local ward office to file an application for termination of taxes on the scooter I no longer own.
I had the form filled out already, including the police report number. Handed in the form and was out in a couple of minutes. Simple! I was half-way out of the office when I heard the guy running after me shouting my name:
him: Mr. Kuroda! Mr. Kuroda!
me: yes?
him: You forgot to turn in your scooter registration.
me: Registration? I don't have it. It got stolen with the scooter.
him: Your scooter was stolen?!
me: Uh yeah. That's why I have a police report for a stolen scooter referred to on my application to stop charging me taxes for a scooter I no longer have...because it got stolen.
him: [deep thought, furrowed brow] Oh...right...could you come back here for one second?
So we went back to the desk. I discovered something at this point through Socratic Logic:
He was a desk head because the other people in the office called him "Kakaricho" (Leader of a subsection/division; middle-to-low-level management)
Deskheads spend all their time Heading their Desks instead of actually Doing Work, so he was totally incompetent
All Deskheads are incompetent
Not the most beautiful logic but you get the idea. First he had to cancel the previous Mystery Transaction. Then he had to verify my police report by calling the police station. (At this point I realized that anyone can call the police station, claim to be a bureaucrat in a government office, and get all kinds of supposedly private information about anyone by inquiring into matters of police activity). Next he had to input a new transaction to process my application, then correct the date from the default (today) to the day the stealing took place, according to the police report. Then he had to print the transaction confirmation.
All along he had problems and the lovely part-time housewife with the blue apron and the nice smile kept coming over and going "Remember you have to hit the enter key here..." or "The second page gets stamped, the first page initialled..." Our belov'd kakaricho couldn't get the paper into the printer. She dropped it in and got it to print on the first try. Our hero couldn't go back to the previous screen. He called the helpdesk (5209, if you're ever in the ward office on an internal phone) and stared at his keyboard, befuddled, going "F 1? OK I'll try..." and attempted to hit both the 'F' and '1' keys at the same time with his left hand, while his right hand held the phone to his sweaty ear. I could see the F1 key, I could just reach out and hit it myself, I could just run away and put all this behind me, I could just wrap the phone cord around his splotchy neck and pull until his eyes bugged out even more...
I had the form filled out already, including the police report number. Handed in the form and was out in a couple of minutes. Simple! I was half-way out of the office when I heard the guy running after me shouting my name:
him: Mr. Kuroda! Mr. Kuroda!
me: yes?
him: You forgot to turn in your scooter registration.
me: Registration? I don't have it. It got stolen with the scooter.
him: Your scooter was stolen?!
me: Uh yeah. That's why I have a police report for a stolen scooter referred to on my application to stop charging me taxes for a scooter I no longer have...because it got stolen.
him: [deep thought, furrowed brow] Oh...right...could you come back here for one second?
So we went back to the desk. I discovered something at this point through Socratic Logic:
He was a desk head because the other people in the office called him "Kakaricho" (Leader of a subsection/division; middle-to-low-level management)
Deskheads spend all their time Heading their Desks instead of actually Doing Work, so he was totally incompetent
All Deskheads are incompetent
Not the most beautiful logic but you get the idea. First he had to cancel the previous Mystery Transaction. Then he had to verify my police report by calling the police station. (At this point I realized that anyone can call the police station, claim to be a bureaucrat in a government office, and get all kinds of supposedly private information about anyone by inquiring into matters of police activity). Next he had to input a new transaction to process my application, then correct the date from the default (today) to the day the stealing took place, according to the police report. Then he had to print the transaction confirmation.
All along he had problems and the lovely part-time housewife with the blue apron and the nice smile kept coming over and going "Remember you have to hit the enter key here..." or "The second page gets stamped, the first page initialled..." Our belov'd kakaricho couldn't get the paper into the printer. She dropped it in and got it to print on the first try. Our hero couldn't go back to the previous screen. He called the helpdesk (5209, if you're ever in the ward office on an internal phone) and stared at his keyboard, befuddled, going "F 1? OK I'll try..." and attempted to hit both the 'F' and '1' keys at the same time with his left hand, while his right hand held the phone to his sweaty ear. I could see the F1 key, I could just reach out and hit it myself, I could just run away and put all this behind me, I could just wrap the phone cord around his splotchy neck and pull until his eyes bugged out even more...
kaily
Erikacchi brought her 2 year-old bundle of energy Kaily over to play. We bought a bubble-blowing duck at the toy store in Azabu-jyuban, then went up to the kid's playground in Roppongi Hills. She wasn't crazy about the woodchips on the ground, but she loved all the slides, so I had to carry her from the bottom of the slide to the platform. She had no problem walking up the long stairs from the bottom of the hill, as long as I walked behind her and she held onto my fingers.
We came home and made pizzas (note to self: if reborn as a chef, open a pizza restaurant; I'm that good) and drew pictures and ate blueberries and played hide-and-seek and watched tv and at crackers and drew pictures and jumped on the couch and ate strawberries and ran around and drank juice and drew pictures and ate a banana and played hide-and-seek and ate pizza and watched tv...
It was late so they stayed over (Kaily borrowed Hiroko's Crocodile Hunter t-shirt), and the next morning they were already up by the time Hiroko and I got up. Hiroko made scones and I fed Kaily a kiwi fruit and she wasn't too crazy about the tomatoes and eggs or the scones so she ate another kiwi fruit and then after playing with the mirror in the bedroom one last time they went home.
I went the iai in the afternoon and I was already damn tired. We had a seminar for kumitachi (paired forms) and Kiyokawa and I pummeled each other, but he had a black oak sword and my measely pine was no match for it, so Otsuka-san lent me an extra-thick (and heavy) wooden sword and Kiyokawa and I pummeled each other some more.
We came home and made pizzas (note to self: if reborn as a chef, open a pizza restaurant; I'm that good) and drew pictures and ate blueberries and played hide-and-seek and watched tv and at crackers and drew pictures and jumped on the couch and ate strawberries and ran around and drank juice and drew pictures and ate a banana and played hide-and-seek and ate pizza and watched tv...
It was late so they stayed over (Kaily borrowed Hiroko's Crocodile Hunter t-shirt), and the next morning they were already up by the time Hiroko and I got up. Hiroko made scones and I fed Kaily a kiwi fruit and she wasn't too crazy about the tomatoes and eggs or the scones so she ate another kiwi fruit and then after playing with the mirror in the bedroom one last time they went home.
I went the iai in the afternoon and I was already damn tired. We had a seminar for kumitachi (paired forms) and Kiyokawa and I pummeled each other, but he had a black oak sword and my measely pine was no match for it, so Otsuka-san lent me an extra-thick (and heavy) wooden sword and Kiyokawa and I pummeled each other some more.
three hours
Long practice again. Two hours of iai; Oki-san was there because he got of work early. Everyone else in the class were beginners so Oki-san and I ran ourselves through as many kata as we could. New handle on the sword feels pretty good. Not used to the thickness yet, but I like the silk better than the old leather wrap I had. But I should have gotten he tsuba (swordguard) fixed. I swing pretty hard, and it loosens up just hair, enough to let the tsuba rattle about. The whole in the center of the tsuba, through which the sword passes, had been widened sometime in the past (probably for some other sword) and it's too big for this blade. I guess I'll get it fixed some day, and also replace the seppa (washers) -- replace the brass and silver with dull copper or something that matches the rust color better. Might as well get a new silver habaki (sword collar) too.
So anyway after two hours of hot and sweaty practice (it was REALLY humid) Niina-gosoke runs us through another hour just like last week. Needless to say my back is sore, but I love it.
So anyway after two hours of hot and sweaty practice (it was REALLY humid) Niina-gosoke runs us through another hour just like last week. Needless to say my back is sore, but I love it.
4dan
Niina-gosoke called me this morning to tell me that since I didn't totally screw up in Kyoto, as of today he's promoting me to 4dan...I didn't deserve the promotion to 2dan last year, so how long will it take me to get to the point where I am worthy of 4dan?
This also screws ANY chance of placing will in the upcoming tournaments -- I'll be up against my own instructors!
This also screws ANY chance of placing will in the upcoming tournaments -- I'll be up against my own instructors!
x-men 2
Saw X-Men 2 at the shiny new Virgin Theater in Roppongi Hills, with Hiroko, Kevin, Z., Ericka (3 months pregnant) and Jeff.
The movie was a treat -- plenty of explosions and action, and the theater is what going to the movies should be: all seats in the theater are reserved, so no battling or waiting in line. Bought the tickets in advance (the day before), with a credit card. The armrests have cup holders, and also fold up for couple-friendly cuddling. The seats are big and comfy, with plenty of room to the seat in front of you, and the whole theater is properly sloped so that even the shortest person can see over the head of the guy in front of you. Add to that a good screen and Dolby THX, plus a giant bucket of caramel popcorn and every high school kid from the American School in Japan, and it's just like America!
If you could pick your seats and buy more than four tickets at once online I'd use the web all the time, but since the theater's up the street from my house, I'll just pop over to the box office when necessary.
The movie was a treat -- plenty of explosions and action, and the theater is what going to the movies should be: all seats in the theater are reserved, so no battling or waiting in line. Bought the tickets in advance (the day before), with a credit card. The armrests have cup holders, and also fold up for couple-friendly cuddling. The seats are big and comfy, with plenty of room to the seat in front of you, and the whole theater is properly sloped so that even the shortest person can see over the head of the guy in front of you. Add to that a good screen and Dolby THX, plus a giant bucket of caramel popcorn and every high school kid from the American School in Japan, and it's just like America!
If you could pick your seats and buy more than four tickets at once online I'd use the web all the time, but since the theater's up the street from my house, I'll just pop over to the box office when necessary.
oops
You'll notice some broken links on the right, specifically anything that was hosted at twics. I've had my twics account since I first came to Japan 10 years ago, and they've been through several buyouts, until finally being subsumed into the monolith that is inter.net. I assumed all my web stuff would be moved over automatically, but obviously that's not the case...where o' where have my web files gone...?
minor problems
Some blogger problems recently, sorry about that folks.
And yes, it is a fine and sunny day, and here sit I in the office. Joy.
And yes, it is a fine and sunny day, and here sit I in the office. Joy.
pop goes the shoulder
For some reason everyone showed up to practice: Naganuma-sensei, Yasuda-san, Sano-sensei, Orita-san, even Niina-gosoke!
Gosoke changed clothes, pulled out his sword, and practiced by himself for a while as Naganuma-sensei drilled us through some kata and got my brain all twisted trying to figure out how to make my cuts faster and yet not try too hard.
When the 2 hour practice was over and everyone was packing up to leave, Gosoke bellowed "Ren, NOW practice starts!" and with a smile sat down in a chair in the middle of the room. For another hour he had me and Orita-san and Hoshina-san do shin, the first form. "Stop cutting what's in front of you; cut bigger, cut farther, reach, extend! Ren, you've been cutting what's right before your eyes too much ! Cut through the wall on the other side of the room!"
Now my shoulder is killing me, but at least I'm more confused!
Gosoke changed clothes, pulled out his sword, and practiced by himself for a while as Naganuma-sensei drilled us through some kata and got my brain all twisted trying to figure out how to make my cuts faster and yet not try too hard.
When the 2 hour practice was over and everyone was packing up to leave, Gosoke bellowed "Ren, NOW practice starts!" and with a smile sat down in a chair in the middle of the room. For another hour he had me and Orita-san and Hoshina-san do shin, the first form. "Stop cutting what's in front of you; cut bigger, cut farther, reach, extend! Ren, you've been cutting what's right before your eyes too much ! Cut through the wall on the other side of the room!"
Now my shoulder is killing me, but at least I'm more confused!
Butokusai
We drove a few minutes to the Kyubutokuden (Traditional Martial Arts Hall)
on the west side of Heian Jingu and got set up. After various opening speeches and some other demos, we were up. The whole thing was over pretty quickly; I cut jinrai, Tanaka-sensei did jinrai and yu, and Naganuma-sensei did a couple of double roll cuts and ended with shofu.
In the afternoon the driving group left, I and Ohtsuka-san and Kiyokawa-kun had lunch with Kiyokawa's parents, and then the three of us got back on the bullet train and were in Tokyo by 5:30.
on the west side of Heian Jingu and got set up. After various opening speeches and some other demos, we were up. The whole thing was over pretty quickly; I cut jinrai, Tanaka-sensei did jinrai and yu, and Naganuma-sensei did a couple of double roll cuts and ended with shofu.
In the afternoon the driving group left, I and Ohtsuka-san and Kiyokawa-kun had lunch with Kiyokawa's parents, and then the three of us got back on the bullet train and were in Tokyo by 5:30.
kyoto
The Nozomi 700 series Super Express Bullet Train: Tokyo to Kyoto in 2.5 hours. Smooth, quite ride. Reclining seats. Cup holder.
Got to Kyoto about 3 in the afternoon, checked into the hotel, and immediately got lost in Kyoto. Finally found my way back to the hotel and hooked up with everyone who had driven in. We had dinner at some place along the river, then back to the hotel and to bed early.
Got to Kyoto about 3 in the afternoon, checked into the hotel, and immediately got lost in Kyoto. Finally found my way back to the hotel and hooked up with everyone who had driven in. We had dinner at some place along the river, then back to the hotel and to bed early.
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