Rode hiroko's bycicle to the dojo in the morning, but it was already 25°C and climbing. Trained for a bit and then after The King showed up we cruised down to Kudanshita for sandwhiches at Subway and some toy shopping at Sakuraya. The Scotland D bought out the place, loading up on gear for his students back home, and I bought the super lightweight hakama and keikogi for summer.
Hiroko was done with work so I came home, got my haircut, and cooked pasta for dinner.
Did I mention it was hot?
one too many in ginza
Had a lovely work out with D. from Scotland and ate too much greasy Chinese food afterwards, so decided to walk off a bit of it. Passed this gentleman on the way home and thanked my lucky stars I don't drink. What are the odds he still has his bag, wallet, and shoes when he wakes up? Could be worse; if this was Manhattan, he'd probably wake up naked and covered in spray paint. In New Jersey.
ayu ramen
Really, REALLY good ramen. Okinawan, the speciality being the full and complete ayu fish. Hint: eat the head first!
hata-chan
Hata-chan wore her purple yukata today, and it goes so well with her knife. She looks evil, don't she?
more kimonoage
Went to Ichikawa to Aunt Mari's place and watched as Mari-san spent hours helping Hiroko figure out how to wear the kimono correctly. It's official: my job is to tie the obi (belt) as there is simply no way any normal human can do that behind her own back without having inhuman reversable elbows or something.
I threw on my lightest kimono and as the always styling couple that we are, we took the train back into Tokyo and walked home from Mita Station. And it was hot and humid and nasty.
Got home and I was totally inspired by how cool (at least 5°C cooler than upstairs) the basement was, so I went on a mad cleaning spree. I think I'll drag the futon down there and sleep in cool, air-conditionerless comfort for the rest of the summer!
women's club
My mom is president of the Stamford Women's Club, which has just celebrated its 100th anniversary.
hiroko's wisdom
As y'all may know, Hiroko writes an interestingly random anecdote in her company newletter. Now, we have collected those anecdotes into Hiroko's Hitokoto ("Hiroko's Last Word").
isekan
Hiroko and I were looking for some good fish, and happened upon a fairly new place called Isekan in Azabujyuban. Sat at the counter and watched them pull lobster, giant oysters, and fish out of the tank and slice-n-dice them right there. Only in Japan can you get your food so fresh it's still wiggling! We had all kinds of stuff; sushi, clams, grilled fish...it was all fresh and damn good. Service was a little buggy because the place is still new, and it was a tad pricey, but we ate way too much and enjoyed it thoroughly. Definitely a good place to take (and freak out!) the tourists.
journalists in jail
The United States of America now officially puts journalists in jail. In relation to a grand jury investigation of whether or not senior White House officials broke the law by knowingly disclosing the identity of an undercover agent, a reporter (who didn't even write about the exposed agent) is going to jail for not revealing her sources. Not the reporter who originally did expose the agent, not the government official who originally exposed her.
I don't care what your party affiliation is, not even Kafka could make up a story this assinine. This is not about the letter of the law that every citizen is compelled to comply with a grand jury investigation. It is about the spirit of the law; the right of a free press to investigate exactly these kinds of blatant political machinations.
The saddest part of this story is the Silent Majority of American citizens who are too drunk on reality tv to get off their couch and care, or worse yet who shrug and say the loss of the very freedoms that define America is a necessary evil because of the "war on terrorism" whatever that means. Most of them get their so-called "news" from Fox, so issues of journalistic integrity are a non-starter anyway.
A century from now, students of American history will look back on the early 21st century and compare it to the days of McCarthyism and Stalinism...assuming by then citizens still have the right to study history freely.
I don't care what your party affiliation is, not even Kafka could make up a story this assinine. This is not about the letter of the law that every citizen is compelled to comply with a grand jury investigation. It is about the spirit of the law; the right of a free press to investigate exactly these kinds of blatant political machinations.
The saddest part of this story is the Silent Majority of American citizens who are too drunk on reality tv to get off their couch and care, or worse yet who shrug and say the loss of the very freedoms that define America is a necessary evil because of the "war on terrorism" whatever that means. Most of them get their so-called "news" from Fox, so issues of journalistic integrity are a non-starter anyway.
A century from now, students of American history will look back on the early 21st century and compare it to the days of McCarthyism and Stalinism...assuming by then citizens still have the right to study history freely.
gajoen demo
Put up the photos from the demo we did last week at Gajoen in Meguro. Niina-gosoke looks bad-ass, as always. Amazing how good things look when a pro takes the photos. Plus, Gajoen is just a stunningly beautiful place. A bit overly gawdy, but awesome nontheless.
miri & carrot cake @ cravings
Miri is the owner/chef of Cravings. She cooks Real American Food, and she's funny and cool. My mission(s):
1) Help her set up a wireless LAN so that I can hang out all day w/my laptop
2) Hook her up with my poppyseed cake and apple pie recipes
3) Get her to Supersize my brunches
congrats moka!
A lovely wedding at the Westin Hotel in Ebisu. Fairly lavish affair with your standard speeches, college football buddies and flight attendant friends' antics, teary-eyed flowers-to-parentals, and of course damn good food.
More photos on flickr.
lost liberty hotel
I apologize, but the United Supreme Court has gone bonkers. Good thing someone's trying to do something about it.
antiques
Hiroko and I slogged through the humidity to ride the monorail and check out the quadrannual Heiwajima Antique Fair. I was looking for sword parts and Hiroko was looking for kimono parts. One of got a bunch of great stuff. Hint: my bag was full of Hiroko's stuff.
Actually I did find a bunch of cool items, but they were SO overpriced that even negotiating a 20% discount wouldn't have helped. Hiroko, on the other hand, got last-day-please-take-it deals on a tons of stuff.
Came home, cranked on the ceiling fan, watched a couple more episodes of Kimmy-Must-Die season III, and had some self-rolled sushi for dinner. Bliss.
Actually I did find a bunch of cool items, but they were SO overpriced that even negotiating a 20% discount wouldn't have helped. Hiroko, on the other hand, got last-day-please-take-it deals on a tons of stuff.
Came home, cranked on the ceiling fan, watched a couple more episodes of Kimmy-Must-Die season III, and had some self-rolled sushi for dinner. Bliss.
cutting and cutting
Construction dudes were putting in the new windows so we could only use half the dojo, but it was enough. We cut. Alot. Niina-gosoke broke out the wakizashi (short sword) and man that thing is fun to cut with! Elvis was in terrible form -- massive sinus infection (but at least the stink of summer-ripe cutting targets didn't get to him -- but a good time was had by all.
After cutting we cleaned the dojo top to bottom and then chilled under the air conditioner with beverages and grapes.
Did I mention it was stupendously, unebarably hot? As in 30°C outside, easily 35°C inside. Where in the world has the typhoon season gone?
After cutting we cleaned the dojo top to bottom and then chilled under the air conditioner with beverages and grapes.
Did I mention it was stupendously, unebarably hot? As in 30°C outside, easily 35°C inside. Where in the world has the typhoon season gone?
Izumo Daijo Ishibashi Masamitsu
My new friend. 2.3.7 length, 1070 grams of pure Edo Period joy.
Went by Sakaguchi-san's shop to pick it up, after having new fittings and tsuka (handle) put on that are more to my liking.
Actually not as heavy as I remember, with a decent profile and a fair amount of meatiness. Will try it in class on Friday, and will probably try cutting with it on Saturday as well. Not too much fear of bending it unless I try something stunningly silly.
Will be a trick getting used to a sword with so little audible feedback. The lack of bohi ("fullers" as the grooves that run lengthwise along the sides of the blade are called in the West) means a lack of the distinctive ha-oto (whistle or woosh) that you get with a decent cut. The geometry of this blade means it displays enough air to make a slight noise, but nothing like the whining-two-year-old-wants-a-Barney-DVD-and-some-apple-juice-RIGHT-NOW that my previous blade makes.
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