senpokan
Tony and Bill arrived, and Neeley came back up from the seminar he was at, so it's a full house at Hotel Kuroda!
jenn & sushi
National holiday, so Hiroko and I cleaned. Cleaned the vacuum cleaner, took the covers of the bed and couch and went to the laundromat to wash them. Did lots of laundry.
In the evening we met up with Jenn at the Keio Plaza and wandered around Shinjuku looking for a certain sushi place. Couldn't find it, so went into the place with the biggest frozen fish head outside.
fake dead crow
If New York pigeons are flying rats, then Tokyo crows are flying coyotes. They are big, smart, and nasty. They'll tear through trashbags, abscond with small pets and children, and smoke and gamble all night, shrieking up quite a racket.
The one thing they don't like is other crows, dead. So Hiroko, a veritable wellspring of random knowledge, commanded me to find a fake dead crow. And lo! For twenty bucks I got a life-sized, plastic fake dead crow.
He's hanging stoicly on the balcony, and I swear since he's been put up I haven't even seen one crow in the near vicinity, though I can hear them far off in the distance.
Now I wonder if I could find a fake dead New Religion peddling old woman to hang on the front porch?
red rubbers
Went shopping Shibuya with Hiroko. I wanted to fix my broken watch band, and she wanted black leather boots. Turns out my watch band is no longer made and they have to check with the factory. Meanwhile I spotted the most stylin' Marc Jacobs red rubber, high heel, non-slip boots and Hiroko simply had to buy them. Ah, to consume. Small is the economic role we play, but proudly do we play it.
Also hit Muji for various supplies like a big cushion on which to sit, an incense holder, small useful plastic case, and bath salts that smell like a hot spring resort's fine soaking.
Back home it was an evening of massive cooking. Hiroko made meat pies and curry and I slaved away caramelizing onions for an hour to make a double batch of my mama's famous fake chicken liver pate. Calling it that doesn't do it justice though. Blend carmelized onions, string beans, walnuts, and hard-boiled eggs into a paste and eat with your favorite crackers. It is stunningly good and damn addictive. And probably healthier than anything else I can inhale.
okonomiyaki
Went over to Higashi Koenji to have Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki with Stevie and Eriko and Hye-won and Yon-sama and Eriko's family.
After dinner we walked over to Stevie's place and talked about the crazy times we had in Seoul. I brought the photos I took when we were there 10 years ago and totally embarassed Hye-won.
hye-won
Hye-won and her husband, the famous Korean Idol Yon-sama!
Ren and Hye-won
The Wonder Twins
Went to Yurakucho after practice to meet Stevie and his cousin Hye-won from Korea and her husband and everyone else.
Haven't seen Hye-won in like 10 years, since I went to Seoul with Ivan and Stevie and Hye-won showed us all around. I have a totally traumatized image of Korea now, because all I did was hang out with Hye-won and her friends, drink, and eat, and drink.
Hye-won's now 8 months pregnant, so she's not drinking for now, but she's making up for it by eating!
night of the polish heavy weights
So Lee goes to Madison Square Garden to see Night of the Heavy Weights.
His buddy Jud's write up was so good, I am blogging it here. Without permission, I might add.
His buddy Jud's write up was so good, I am blogging it here. Without permission, I might add.
Last Saturday, Lee and I attended the "Night of the Heavyweights" boxing match at Madison Square Garden. The featured match was a fight between a guy named Ruiz and the pride of Poland, Andrew Golota. The crowd was filled with thousands of Polish folk - faces painted, draped in red & white flags, yelling angrily in Polish (at least it sounded angry) and all absolutely bombed.
Lee, very proud of his Polish heritage, was like a kid in a candy store. As the night progressed, Lee proceeded to order trays of champagne for all of his Polish brothers sitting in the nosebleed seats in section 413. They were a bit confused at first and were not sure if they should thank Lee or kick his ass, but after explaining that he was a fellow Pole, they gave him a hug and chugged champagne together. (If you have not been to a boxing match before - they serve champagne like it is some kind of classy event, even though the crowd is roughly the same crew that hangs out in OTBs, with more fights in the seats than in the ring).
As the night progressed, Lee collected more and more Polish paraphernalia - every time Lee went to get a drink or go to the bathroom, he would return with a new Polish t-shirt, hat or flag given to him by a new friend. (The most interesting item he came back with was a doctor working for the polish mob, who gave Lee a business card and let us know that we could call him if we ever needed medical attention but required something more "discreet" than a hospital. I am not kidding - this actually happened).
At about 11, I turned around and found Lee leading a group of about 100 men and women in a Polish fight song. At midnight, Lee was at the front of a group of Polish people threatening to beat down some poor Ruiz fan. As I walked out of the Garden, my last image of the event was watching Lee crowd-surfing on top of a sea of people dressed in red and white.
I am sorry the rest of you were not able to witness Lee in all his glory - it was truly awesome.
sleep deprivation
Been trying an experiment for the past couple of days: since I generally don't get enough sleep as is (late conference calls, late practice, too lazy to get off couch, get in shower, get in bed, etc.) lately I've been swapped 20-30 minutes of sleep with 20-30 minutes of post-shower, pre-sleep zazen meditation. Well ok I call it that, but it's basically me sitting and staring at at an incense stick as it burns it way to gray ash. Fairly sure I have not reached a transcendental plane just yet, but I do know that as soon as I go to bed, I am dropping off to sleep in what I think is a shorter amount of time than if I just sit and stare at the tv, shower, and crawl into bed.
Of course, to do a properly controlled experiment I'll have to spend one week eating donuts right before bed, another week playing with action figures before I go to bed, another week reading comic books before going bed, etc. and see if any of them cause me to drop off to sleep more quickly than normal, too.
Such is the life I live, dedicated to the pursuit of scientifically backed truth.
Of course, to do a properly controlled experiment I'll have to spend one week eating donuts right before bed, another week playing with action figures before I go to bed, another week reading comic books before going bed, etc. and see if any of them cause me to drop off to sleep more quickly than normal, too.
Such is the life I live, dedicated to the pursuit of scientifically backed truth.
Hiroko and I saw Kakushiken Oni-no-tsume at Shinagawa Prince Hotel Cinema.
By the same director as Tasogare Seibei, and a very similar story: average Joe samurai, the woman he's always loved by can't admit it, the clash between old-world samurai and Western modernization, a challenge to friendship, a final duel, a secret technique. Not as good a movie as Seibei, but also better in some different ways. Not very much fighting; this is not a samurai flick. Someone told me it's a story told much more from a woman's point of view, and I sort of get that now that I've seen it. Anyway if you liked Seibei and Ame-agaru, you'll like this one. Assuming you ever get the chance to see it.
By the same director as Tasogare Seibei, and a very similar story: average Joe samurai, the woman he's always loved by can't admit it, the clash between old-world samurai and Western modernization, a challenge to friendship, a final duel, a secret technique. Not as good a movie as Seibei, but also better in some different ways. Not very much fighting; this is not a samurai flick. Someone told me it's a story told much more from a woman's point of view, and I sort of get that now that I've seen it. Anyway if you liked Seibei and Ame-agaru, you'll like this one. Assuming you ever get the chance to see it.
cutting practice
Had a mellow cutting practice. Honma-chan and Kobayashi-chan were cutting for the first time, and all things considered they did very well. Kobayashi-chan had one perfect cut that just passed through the target like butter, making that great sound kind of like a zipper being opened really quickly. Niina-gosoke came in from the other room going "That sounded good!"
Everyone else cut ok, too. Presley was pummelled from aikido the day before, so he was all sore but doing ok. Sakaguchi-san cut pretty well, too, and he brought a couple of killer wakizashi that he's selling for super cheap. His sword shop "Mugaido" will be open in Takadanobaba soon. He's going to cater to practitioners, so unlike most uptight arty sword shops, he'll sell to iai practitioners who want to get a feel for the sword before they buy it, etc. Can't wait for his shop to open. He said he's got a cutter from a modern smith in Chiba that is an absolute light saber that he can get for a ridiculous price. I told him my custom-forged cutter will be coming next month and he just smiled and said "When your sword comes, we'll compare, and then we'll see which one you want to keep."
After practice I went back to Shibuya with Presley and bought him a hotdog, talking smack as we walked down the hill from Aoyama. Nice weather so the crowds were out in full fall fashion, so we swivel-headed at Hachiko Crossing while he waited for his 7:30. Conclusion: Japanese chicks are in general too damn skinny, and if you look up the word 'grace' in a Japanese dictionary, there is most definitely no mention of 'walking in high heels' for most of the knee-knocking female population.
Everyone else cut ok, too. Presley was pummelled from aikido the day before, so he was all sore but doing ok. Sakaguchi-san cut pretty well, too, and he brought a couple of killer wakizashi that he's selling for super cheap. His sword shop "Mugaido" will be open in Takadanobaba soon. He's going to cater to practitioners, so unlike most uptight arty sword shops, he'll sell to iai practitioners who want to get a feel for the sword before they buy it, etc. Can't wait for his shop to open. He said he's got a cutter from a modern smith in Chiba that is an absolute light saber that he can get for a ridiculous price. I told him my custom-forged cutter will be coming next month and he just smiled and said "When your sword comes, we'll compare, and then we'll see which one you want to keep."
After practice I went back to Shibuya with Presley and bought him a hotdog, talking smack as we walked down the hill from Aoyama. Nice weather so the crowds were out in full fall fashion, so we swivel-headed at Hachiko Crossing while he waited for his 7:30. Conclusion: Japanese chicks are in general too damn skinny, and if you look up the word 'grace' in a Japanese dictionary, there is most definitely no mention of 'walking in high heels' for most of the knee-knocking female population.
roland reads
Went to the Pink Cow for the book release party of Kuhaku. Roland and others read some outtakes. Fun book, especially since, after a decade 'in country', every moment spoken to in the book was a 'been there, done that.'
ted's jingasa
The old man said "This is the jingasa the general wore when he was hunting wild boar in the forest."
It must be true because no one can make up a story that cool-sounding.
It's covered in chicken feathers, and in surprisingly good shape considering how old it must be.
will wants cake
Will came over for dinner a couple nites ago and brought cake. Hiroko ate the cake for breakfast for days. Bad Will, no biscuit.
nyc marathon
Dolph finished the marathon in five hours nine minutes.
See for yourself: Race results, runner #38042.
FYI, five hours nine minutes is the amount of time it takes me to watch Blade Runner 2.64 times.
See for yourself: Race results, runner #38042.
FYI, five hours nine minutes is the amount of time it takes me to watch Blade Runner 2.64 times.
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