tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81940572011-06-24T05:57:43.190+09:00Musings from an Oregonian living in Kyoto . . . or what the Western World looks like from this side of the Pacific. dozo yoroshiku oneigashimasu.half-bred monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15842622963652766960noreply@blogger.comBlogger221100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8194057.post-1129698674388081492005-10-19T13:40:00.000+09:002005-10-19T14:11:14.440+09:00

Sartre lays it out like this: "The object is essential because it is strictly transcendent, because it imposes its own structures, and because one must wait for it and observe it; but the subject is also essential because it is required not only to disclose the object but also so that this object might exist absolutely" ("Why Write?" 1948).Humans disclosing to humans the presence of objects and

half-bred monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15842622963652766960noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8194057.post-1110107954342953192005-03-06T20:19:00.000+09:002005-03-06T20:22:42.740+09:00

This is what "bento" looks like in Kyoto. In Portland, where bento stands are everywhere, we associate the word "bento" with chicken and rice. Actually, "bento" means box lunch or just lunch and they come in wide variety of types . . . What surprised me the most when I first ordered a "chicken-bento" was that it came with shredded egg, mayonaise, and seaweed. Yes, the Japanese put mayonaise on

half-bred monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15842622963652766960noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8194057.post-1109931542282595732005-03-04T19:12:00.000+09:002005-03-04T20:16:31.736+09:00

Here's the Breakdown for early March 2005--Who's Out:1. Martha Stewart's outta quasi-prison.2. Maurice Cheeks and The Lebanese prime minister are outta of a job.3. Madonna is outta style.4. The environment is way outta wack.5. I'm outta wine.Who's In:1. Martha Stewart is in Home Confinement.2. Suicide bombers are heavily in and throughout Iraq.3. Syria is still in Lebanon.4. Pursuing big

half-bred monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15842622963652766960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8194057.post-1109484109721766222005-02-27T15:01:00.000+09:002005-02-27T15:06:14.603+09:00

Trying to figure out how to post pictures still . . . I think I've got it now. Click on the photo and you can see a bigger size. There's nothing quite like grocery shopping in Japan. The aisles are tiny, and there's all kinds of mystery foods on the shelves. I remember when I was in Portland for Christmas and being floored by the size of the aisles at Safeway. The road I live on in Kyoto is

half-bred monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15842622963652766960noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8194057.post-1109483576932697882005-02-27T14:52:00.000+09:002005-02-27T14:55:15.050+09:00

"Heihachi-Jaya"--400 year old 'ryokan' (inn) in Kyoto where samurai ate fresh "ayu" and soaked their wounds in hot baths after returning from battle. This inn sits on what used to be the only road from the Sea of Japan into the old capital of Kyoto. I can see it across the river from where I live. I often imagine what it must've been like so long ago . . . weary samurai returning from battle in

half-bred monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15842622963652766960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8194057.post-1106278546351366312005-01-21T13:19:00.000+09:002005-01-21T12:35:46.350+09:00

It would be a whole lot cooler if thwarters, blockers, and enemies of tolerance were actually sent directly to Dante's 8th Circle of Hell. Today, in a CNN article, Conservative Christian groups (Harbingers of Cluckdom) criticized (and probably took a deep gasp of air with their hand over their mouth, eyes-wide and all) a new Sponge-Bob Square Pants video for its advocacy of homosexuality. In

half-bred monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15842622963652766960noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8194057.post-1105421121345420762005-01-11T14:11:00.000+09:002005-01-11T14:25:21.346+09:00

Living in japan for over a year has had its effects on me. This became very clear during our 3 week stint in Portland. 1. Everything in America is uneccessarily big. It's almost as if the amount of space and land in America created pressure on the craniums of everyone who first created roads, food packaging, cars, buildings, homes, etc. to make things big, to fill the space up, to, perhaps,

half-bred monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15842622963652766960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8194057.post-1097564829324587982004-10-12T15:42:00.000+09:002004-10-12T16:07:09.323+09:00

I've been reading "Essays in Idleness" (Tsurezuregusa) by Kenko Yoshida recently. Basically, this is required reading for students in Japan . . . written in the 1300s, it articulates much of what defines Japanese manners, aesthetics, appreciation for nature, and so on. I guess it could be compared to something like Pope's Essays or Augustine's Confessions. In any case, here is a sample:

half-bred monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15842622963652766960noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8194057.post-1096854164158364942004-10-04T10:05:00.000+09:002004-10-04T10:42:44.156+09:00

hyprocisy--false claim to virtue; insincerity, pretense (Oxford Dict. of Current English). It's comedy, in the most absurdist sense of comedy, to watch the media portray the results of the recent presidential debate. I guess sitting this far across the Pacific Ocean taints a lot of what i read and watch in american media, 'cuz what strikes me most is the incessant need to declare a

half-bred monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15842622963652766960noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8194057.post-1096121086913664622004-09-25T22:55:00.000+09:002004-09-25T23:05:29.326+09:00

So, Oregon had two of its colleges place in the top 5 for campuses in which marijuana is most widely used. What a shocker! Ironically, Lewis and Clark beat out Oregon--rated #2 and #5 respectively. This will defintely have the cats over at Reed in a fit . . . maybe next year the Princeton Review will come out with "Campuses where fungi and 'doses' are most widely used" which will undoubtedly put

half-bred monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15842622963652766960noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8194057.post-1095779480120422532004-09-22T01:03:00.000+09:002004-09-22T00:13:06.786+09:00

WOW. . . so it looks like the admitted family killer has made out quite well . . . Ore. family killer Morris to serve four life sentences 4 life sentences? What the %@&**&ck is that? Given that life after killing your family sucks beyond recognition, the penal system has created a way for cluckers to admit their heinous doings and serve imaginary time . . . ' cuz we all know "FOUR LIFE

half-bred monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15842622963652766960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8194057.post-1095596813295431602004-09-19T21:12:00.000+09:002004-09-19T22:43:30.886+09:00

It would definitely be a whole lot cooler if the video producers of hip hop videos were able to raise their originality above the mental capacity of my sphincter . . . Imagine the think tanks behind the scenes who produce most of these videos . . . . . . umm, okay so, we got this club right, and these bimbos in thongs, and a close up of (fill in the blank with any clucker mc) work a couple a

half-bred monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15842622963652766960noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8194057.post-1095211993932292292004-09-15T10:28:00.000+09:002004-09-15T10:36:37.386+09:00

Today, in Japan's Daily Yomiuri a record number of living centarians has been accounted for in the year 2004. "The number of people aged 100 and older is forecast to be 23,038 by the end of the month, up 2,477 people, or 12 percent, from the previous year, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said Tuesday. The figure, including those turning 100 by the end of the month, is the highest ever.

half-bred monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15842622963652766960noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8194057.post-1095132822203678412004-09-14T13:22:00.000+09:002004-09-14T12:36:04.340+09:00

So, it appears as if "common sense" has taken on new, albeit absurd, significance. The International Corporation, you know the makers of semi-trucks, the scout, and other vehicles, has just launched is newest creation . . . THE NAVISTAR, and its slogan is "The brilliance of common sense." WOW! Go here to peep it out . . . and see how "common" this manufacturer's sense is. Ohh yeah, by the way,

half-bred monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15842622963652766960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8194057.post-1094865139970658952004-09-11T10:03:00.000+09:002004-09-11T10:12:19.970+09:00

It'd be way cooler if the U.S., NASA, or anybody for that matter, spent as much money on education as was spent on the mission to collect solar dust . . . Scienists " . . . were surprised to find some wafers intact, meaning the $264 million mission may not have been a total loss." Washington Post 04/Sept/10 Yo, this was a "total loss" from the word go. Let's see, $264 million to

half-bred monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15842622963652766960noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8194057.post-1094858864126057282004-09-11T08:17:00.000+09:002004-09-11T08:27:44.126+09:00

It'd be a whole lot cooler if getting on the presidential election ballot were as easy as it is, say, in China, Afghanistan, Iraq or other "less democratic" countries. Ralph Nader in his frustration and anger over access to the presidential ballot has a very informative article in the Washington Post. "This summer, swarms of Democratic Party lawyers, propagandists, harassers and

half-bred monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15842622963652766960noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8194057.post-1094452935637699532004-09-06T15:40:00.000+09:002004-09-06T15:42:15.636+09:00

Read yesterday that OSU barely lost to LSU . . . damn close one. Apparently there's more to football than just the marching bands in Lousiana . . . whatta you do?

half-bred monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15842622963652766960noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8194057.post-1094452684420711802004-09-06T15:31:00.000+09:002004-09-06T15:39:24.046+09:00

Whoa . . . Two strong earthquakes, one magnitude 6.9 and the second magnitude 7.3, rattled western Japan within hours of each other Sunday night, injuring 14 people, shaking buildings in Tokyo and triggering tsunami waves. The first one wasn't so bad, but it lasted for about 1 min. The second just kept shaking. jen and I were watching a movie and the apartment started shaking, we

half-bred monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15842622963652766960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8194057.post-1094281805475511482004-09-04T16:10:00.000+09:002004-09-05T13:46:01.590+09:00

This is one of the giant Kanji characters lit during Kyoto's Daimonji Festival. This one is called "Myo" which represents "Law." Sorry for the bad picture. Aside from this character, there are about 7 others lit on hillsides around the northern part of Kyoto. The street are packed with people many of which are wearing Yukatta . . . Posted by Hello

half-bred monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15842622963652766960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8194057.post-1094276651944299012004-09-04T14:41:00.000+09:002004-09-04T14:44:22.933+09:00

Here's the link i used to get the necessary forms for voting abroad . . . after you read the information on this page, you will need to visit your specific state's site. Federal Post-Card Application Good Luck with this . . . even though i'm still not convinced it will matter.

half-bred monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15842622963652766960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8194057.post-1094276273140555392004-09-04T14:32:00.000+09:002004-09-04T14:37:53.140+09:00

Alright, alright . . . so here it is, my first web-blog. Lots to comment on, narrate about, and all the rest. My perspective on things from Japan seems somewhat tainted, but are all things tainted? Been peepin' the presidential race and have figured out how to register and vote from Japan. if anyone else is interested in how to do this . . . then I will post the link below. It actually looks

half-bred monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15842622963652766960noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8194057.post-1094275870006220182004-09-04T14:31:00.000+09:002004-09-04T14:31:10.006+09:00

Hangin' with the Sunflowers of Tsunan 

half-bred monkeyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15842622963652766960noreply@blogger.com1