Sunday: Where did the Week Go? and Voter Registration Information

iPod morning commute music: N/A

Here I am, at home on Sunday afternoon. It was one helluva week. Tests began on Saturday the 4th, with both of my levels (9th and 10th grades) falling on Monday. While on paper I was on a half-day schedule, the reality was pretty much full days. I did cook more meals than usual, making sloppy joes on Monday, when I also started some beef stew, which we could just add the veggies for Tuesday's meal. I also made chili from scratch, with chunks of beef instead of hamburger. Last night, Kaoru and I made a Paprika Chicken together.

I got the tests all marked and grades recorded, attended umpteen meetings, and finally got the time to go through the new voters Assistance Guide (I am the Vice Chair in charge of voter registration, Democrats Abroad Japan-Kansai, motto: "I'm so liberal I even register Republicans"), my overview reported below.

The main reason I failed to post last week is that the computers at work were all being used all the time for legitimate school work! Hogging by blogging would NOT have been appropriate nor appreciated by my co-workers. My home computer is pretty much being used by other members of the family as the second trimester winds down at the international school. But hey, it was a pretty boring week, and this week promises to be the same.

The following is US voter registration information. If anyone reading this in Japan isn't registered to vote and needs assistance, please leave a comment including (for once, though I hate making a practice of this) your e-mail address. If you live in the Osaka area, I can meet with you and help you through the process.

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I finally had a chance to sit down and read over the 2006-7 Voting Assistance Guide (VAG). A lot of improvements have been made since the 2004 version.

First off, it appears that overseas voters from EVERY state and territory can register to vote, though a few still require a notary (available at the Osaka Consulate) and one, Alaska, requires photocopied proof of residency. Second, the Federal Post Card
Application (FPCA) has been greatly simplified, especially the section (now at the top of the form) identifying what category of overseas voter you are. However, individual states and territories still require varied information to fill out the rest of the form; you wouldn't want to help someone fill out an FPCA without being able to consult with the VAG.

Most states and territories now allow you to send in your FPCA by fax (and a couple by e-mail), some will fax you your absentee ballot, and a few will allow you to return the ballot by fax as well. Anyone who wants and is allowed to fax in either the FPCA or ballot can use this toll-free Japanese number: 00531-1-20833.

As I've mentioned before, most states and territories require annual filing of the FPCA, and the VAG recommends this even though a single filing should now be good for two years (hence the 2006-2007 in its title). Many states and territories provide ways to apply for permanent registration through the VAG, but this greatly varies from state to state, and even if
permanently registered, the voter will still need to submit the FPCA to get a ballot.

I've also checked out (but not thoroughly) the Democratic Party's voter registration site below:

http://www.democrats.org/registertovote

It appears that when choosing your 'state' in the drop-down menu, overseas voters should choose 'living abroad'. It then directs you to a page stating that if you don't have a legal residence in the States, you should use the FPCA, NOT their website, and give you the following link to the Federal Voting Assistance Program.

http://www.fvap.gov/pubs/onlinefpca.html

Been here/done this two years ago: this is NOT a user-friendly site. You can click to fill out an on-line form to be printed out and sent in if you don't have access to the FPCA, but they advise you to check out the VAG (linked) before you write anything.

Hopefully, Democrats Abroad or some other group will create a better way to register on-line, though it doesn't appear there will be any way to submit the forms on-line; they'll probably need to be printed out and mailed in or faxed, if allowed. If anyone out there knows of such a site, please let me know.

Finally, all of the following upcoming primary elections allow you to fax in your FPCA.

MIDTERM ELECTIONS: UPCOMING PRIMARIES
April 11: California Special Primary to fill the seat
vacated by Randy Cunningham. (Registration Deadline
March 27)
May 2: Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio
May 9: Nebraska, West Virginia
May 15: Kentucky, Oregon, Pennsylvania
May 23: Arkansas, Idaho

Not Just a Blogger Anymore...

iPod morning commute music: Talking Heads, Popular Favorites 1976-1992: Sand in the Vaseline, 1992 (disc 2)

Talking Heads was a band I missed the first time around. Their debut album came out in 1977, the same year I graduated from my first college. I didn't have much money and tended to listen to the music I loved from the '60s: The Beatles, Stones, and Dylan. Then, after two years of working as a landscaper/gardener (NOT a good job in Western Washington's 9-month rainy season!), I went back to school, graduated as a teacher, subbed (NOT a good job anywhere ever!) and finally wound up here in late 1983. But good music has a way of finding me eventually. In the case of Talking Heads, my co-worker Bob turned me on to this 2-disc greatest hits set. I was hooked immediately, and bought it within the week. Really cool music that fits so perfectly with New York's punk club CBGB's scene (The Ramones, Patti Smith, Television, Blondie). This is still the only Talking Heads I own. It may be enough.

This week has been dominated with trying to decide on who to hire as our new part-time teacher. As I've written before, every candidate had so many strong points that it was nearly impossible to decide, but decide we did, and are hoping we really made the right decision. I think we did.

I taught my last class of this Japanese school year today. Tomorrow, final exams begin. It feels like heading home.

Finally, this is my 70th post on Craig in Japan. It seems a nice, round number, a good post to announce that the TOEIC textbook I co-authored, Basic Listening Strategies for the TOEIC Test, was just published by Kenkyusha, a famous textbook publisher here in Japan. It isn't even listed on their web site yet. The book looks great, and it really is a kick to see my name on the cover! So, I'm not just a blogger anymore. I'm also an author.

Wednesday Already!

iPod morning commute music: Steely Dan, Citizen Steely Dan, disc 2 (1993)
Steely Dan was one of the great bands of the '70s, but I didn't have any of their CDs in my collection at the time this box set was released. Basically, this set is just everything they every recorded in chronological order, which means if you own any of their music already, you would never want to buy this. For me, however, it was a perfect purchase, and another example of music Tatsu put on my iPod when he reprogrammed it.

Not much to report. I've only got three classes left before final exams start (and this is the end of the Japanese school year, which runs from April through March as I'm sure anyone reading this already knows). It's time to shift thinking to next year, i.e. April, and start really looking at how I want to stream my lessons to meet the needs of the ability grouped students. Of course, the end of year paperwork will be a pain, but I won't really need to think about that until after the exams finish next week. Oh, yeah, the Junior High Graduation is something else coming up, but again not till the middle of the month.

I do have some decisions to make about increasing my involvement with Democrats Abroad Japan on a national level, but I'm taking a low-keyed approach on that one. They're looking for a National Chairperson for Voter Registration (I'm the regional chairperson for voter registration here in the Kansai). I'm just not sure what extra responsibilities go with the position, so it's wait and see the job description. It is nice to know, however, that our regional chairperson thinks I might be a good candidate for the position.

Lunchtime!

A Good Weekend for a Change

iPod morning commute music: Ray Davies, Other People's Lives (2006)
My birthday present to myself, this is Ray Davies' first true solo studio album. It couldn't be finer! One of my very first iPod morning reports dealt with a Kinks greatest hits album, and this has gotten me listening to that again, along with my favorite of their mid-sixties albums, Face to Face, Something Else by the Kinks, and The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society. But I digress...Other People's Lives is very good by any standard. Davies is a writer's songwriter, and his wit and observations come through clearly here. Musically strong as well, Alisa, my 15-year-old, said she couldn't believe Davies was 62. My friend Brad G. also commented that his voice sounds as young as ever. If you are a Kinks fan, you will love this CD.

And it was a very good weekend indeed. I turned 52 with a bullet. Kaoru got me a new wallet, Tatsu bought me Rickie Lee Jones's first CD (Chuck E's in Love) and Alisa got me a small birthday teddy bear that could hang in my car if I wanted to be cute.

On Saturday, Alisa and I joined my friend Aaron for a professional basketball game (The Basketball Japan League, unfortunately known as the BJ League) The Osaka Evessa vs the team from Niigata. The father of Matt Lottich (sp), a point guard out of Stanford and a team leader, was in attendance, and Aaron got some free tickets courtesy of his father-in-law to give to other Americans to keep the dad company, which we did. He was sitting directly behind Alisa. The hightlight for us came before the game started. I guess the team also throws out 4 autographed team balls to the crowd, and Alisa managed to snag one. Needless to say, she was thrilled. The game was excellent, fun, exciting, really noisy, with our team winning. I would love to go again!

When we got home, Kaoru had made my birthday dinner, lasagnia, and a delicious chocolate birthday cake.

Sunday was spent just kicking back, watching the Olympics, sipping beers. Tatsu, unfortunately, couldn't watch much because of several school papers all due on March 1st. It appears he finished his Theory of Knowledge (TOK) essay, but still needs to work on the final draft of his Extended Essay. Reading over the TOK, I have to admit I was impressed with his writing and thinking skills. Of course, there were a lot of small mistakes, but overall, it was pretty well done. As a dad, I am pleased.

Birthday Boy

iPod morning commute music: Keren Ann, Not Going Anywhere (2003)
I bought this on a hunch based on a review I read somewhere and gave it to Kaoru as a birthday present. It's one of the quietest CDs I own. She reminds me of Nick Drake. Beautiful, laid back music, perfect for early morning commutes.

And yes, today is my birthday. Not much to report. My ESS Club members bought me a Beanie Baby Birthday bear, which Alisa will put with all of her Beanie Bears, and a small box of chocolates. I'm meeting my family for an okinomiyaki dinner in Kawanishi tonight, with the proper b-day dinner and cake coming tomorrow, after Alisa and I get back from the basketball game. I think I'll buy myself a new CD.

Happy birthday to me.

Jobs That Just Aren't There

Yesterday's iPod morning commute music: Jackson Browne, The Next Voice You Hear: The Best of Jackson Browne [Japan] (2001)

Today's iPod morning commute music: James Taylor, Sweet Baby James (1970)

Jackson Browne and James Taylor were the top of the sensitive singer/songwriters of the 1970s and '80s. Both wrote (and I guess continue to write) great songs. The Jackson Browne best of just doesn't compare to Taylor's second, and probably best, album. Sweet Baby James, Steamroller, and especially Fire and Rain are simply killer cuts. Fire and Rain will forever put me back in high school, where my friend Nan, here friend Mary B. and I participate in a 26 mile (I think) Walkathon to raise money for some worthy cause or another. It was brutal, and as we crossed the finish line we were singing the chorus. I was stiff and sore for at least a week afterwards.

We're in the midst of conducting job interviews for a part-time native teacher. The people we're interviewing are very qualified, almost overly qualified. You can tell that they would make excellent full-time teachers, but the full-time jobs just aren't there anymore. The new reality is two or three year non-renewable full time contracts, especially at the university level. You're almost better off (almost; full-time still pays better than part-time, particularly when you consider the Japanese bonus system which most part-timers don't get to participate in) landing several part-time jobs at good schools, as part-timers are NOT subjugated to non-renewable contracts. It's a sad situation. My co-worker, Bob, and I were lucky to both get hired in the '80s. Qualified teachers were few and far between back then, and there was at least a small demand for full-time native teachers (I interviewed at 2 schools, and was offered a position in both). Now you have teachers with Master Degrees and teaching qualifications from their home countries unable to find full-time work. It hardly seems fair.

Another Tired Monday

iPod morning commute music: Fairport Convention, Meet on the Ledge: The Classic Years (1967-1975), disc 1 (1999)
A great band in their heyday, Fairport Convention featured great guitarist Richard Thompson and the perfect vocalist in Sandy Denny. Disc 1 of this double greatest hits covers the time both were in the band. The highlight for me is A Sailor's Life, a traditional British folk song extended by the band into 11 glorious minutes. Thompson's subtle lead guitar work is a constant in the background, and Denny's voice was never lovelier. The same song can be found on their (arguably) best album, Unhalfbricking (1969), which I also have.

The Koreans arrived safely on Friday, and we got the students off with their host families without incident. Then the Korean teachers, our international committee members, and the higher ups at our school went out for a traditional Japanese dinner of shabu shabu, which is basically cooking vegetables, tofu and paper thin strips of Kobe beef in a soup stock. Shabu shabu represents the sound the meat make as you swish it around the ceramic pot with chopsticks. It was delicious.

On Saturday and Sunday my ESS (English Speaking Society) Club took part in the Osaka Private Schools' English Festival's World Quiz Competition (whew!). Seven schools' ESS Clubs participated. This is the major event of the year for these clubs. This year, the quiz was about the UK. Each school takes a topic (ours was Literature) and writes 20 questions, 10 multiple choice and 10 open-ended, in English of course. The schools then exchange questions, research to find the answers, and memorize them. At the actual competition, held last Sunday (Saturday was a prep day) each school takes a turn asking a question, and whoever raises their hand the fastest gets to answer. In the first half, each question (usually multiple choice) is worth 1 point; in the second half, 2. My school came took 5th place, with awards going only to the top three schools. However, the contest was terrific, the students using English only. All of the teachers were really pleased with the result.

Finally, today I was able to take a tour of the construction site of our new school. Only a handful of teachers joined in, but it was cool to walk through the buildings. It will be a beautiful school when completed.

Coincidences

iPod morning commute music: Emmylou Harris, Wrecking Ball (1995)
By the time I started listening to this this morning, I realized that it was the final piece in a series of coincidences. More on this below. First, Emmylou Harris is an artist underrepresented in my collection. I bought her second album, Elite Hotel (), when in first came out, and again when I started buying CDs. I also own Trio (), recorded with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt and a greatest hits. Of course, she sang back-up and duets with Graham Parsons. But Wrecking Ball is special. First, it's not country. Produced by Daniel Lanois (U2, Bob Dylan), it is full of atmosphere. Second, Neil Young is helping out a bit, always nice. Mainly, though, it is a mature set of songs that sends shivers up the spine. A masterpiece, different and daring, especially for a singer just approaching 50.

Today, students and teachers from our sister school in Korea will be arriving for a 5-day visit. The students will be in home stays, with the teachers in a hotel near the school. This is a great program we run, as the common language is English, with all the students being non-native speakers (as opposed to our British sister school program and our summer home stay/study program in Australia). My involvement this year is minimal: I'll be one of the teachers meeting them at the airport this afternoon, will join the teachers for dinner tonight, and will help out with Monday's in-school program. Two years ago, though, I escorted students to Korea and was heavily involved in their visit here. One of the best parts of my job is my work with the international programs.

Yesterday, a friend in Seattle wrote that they were having trouble with the Korean home stay student they have hosted for at least a couple of years. I couldn't believe it, because this family is one of the most liberal, progressive and laid-back family I know. If a home stay student can't make it with them, they couldn't make it with anyone.

Then, this morning, I decided to listen to Emmylou. A few minutes into it, I realized the one time I saw Emmylou and her Hot Band live, around 1980, was with the same friend having problems with the Korean student. I was a student in Eastern Washington working on my second degree at the time, and a group of us drove over to Seattle for the concert, I believe at the Paramount Theater. Asleep at the Wheel opened the show. When Emmylou came out, we all shouted "Emmylou, we know someone who would drink your bathwater!" in reference to a mutual friend who couldn't make it to the concert. It was a great time, a great show.

And a weird feeling on the train at the coincidence of it all.

Back in the Saddle Again

iPod morning commute music: Elvis Costello, King of America (1986)
As I've mentioned before, I had my son, Tatsu, dump all the music off my iPod and put in his choice of playlists. He has always been appalled that I hadn't put any Elvis Costello onto the computer, a problem he rectified when programming his own iPod at Christmas. King of America is supposedly Costello's personal favorite. I can see why. It's low-key, personal, and explores country, folk and blues. The lyrics are terrific as well. I believe I have the British version with a bonus disc, but I need to check it out when I get home to be sure.

Sorry I haven't posted of late. We had our senior high entrance exam on Friday and Saturday, and our 9th grade students who didn't do well had to come in of Monday to be scolded (the rest of the school had the day off, as this was considered part of the entrance exam). Yesterday was graduation for our seniors, at an auditorium outside our school. Both Monday and Tuesday were half days, so Kaoru was happy that I could cook dinner two nights in a row (meat loaf and honey-mustard chicken, nothing too fancy).

We've been watching the Winter Olympics (for my kids, anything is better than CNN, and they know I can't complain about the Olympics, as I do when they are watching Japanese MTV or, even worse, quiz shows). Yesterday I got home early and watched, of all things, Curling, Japan vs Russia, as I decided on and started dinner. I actually got into it. I enjoyed the slowness of the sport (I'm a big baseball fan, so perhaps that makes sense), the fact that the team members could take the time to talk about and decide strategy. I felt sorry that the Japanese women lost, but it was a good match.

Japan basically shows only events which have Japanese competitors. I guess that's to be expected. I generally root for Americans first and Japanese second. While it's pretty much a given that the US will do well, Japan is a bit more problematic. They've been getting a lot of 4th place finishes it seems to me. Hopefully they'll do better in figure skating.

Grammys

iPod morning commute music: U2, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (2004)
When I read that U2 had dominated the Grammys, I decided to listen again to the CD that won it all. It's good music, but I don't think it's their best. Vertigo is a great song. Anyway, good music, but I was hoping McCartney would win for Chaos and Creation in the Backyard.

I was surprised to read that American Idol won the ratings war over the Grammys. I guess since I can't see them live, I imagine most people who could, would. The reality shows I've seen have all been pretty horrible in my opinion. Granted, I'm pretty conservative in my viewing habits (CNN, sports, movies, a couple of TV shows such as Lost, West Wing, Six Feet Under), but I miss the Grammys and the Oscars. For a while the Oscars were on sort of live in Japan, but they were constantly being interrupted by Japanese 'talents'; pretty awful stuff (particularly the transvestite, but let's not go there...).

Our high school entrance exam is underway, and I need to start psyching myself up for marking (the candidates are sitting for the English test now). The marking takes 8-10 hours, brain-numbing work. Each teacher is responsible for a section, and you just mark that section over and over and over. Then you have to check it again to make sure no mistakes were made. We'll work over 2 days, with a long staff meeting to decided which candidates will be invited to join our school. As I mentioned when discussing the junior high entrance exam, many of the students are taking our test as a back-up, in case they can't enter the public school of their choice, so the trick in selecting is to invite the right number of students, expecting many won't come.

Enough for now. I need to get ready to mark.

Schedules

iPod morning commute music: Buffalo Springfield, Box Set, disc 4 (2001)
Buffalo Springfield was a great band of the '60s, folk rock at its best. Featuring Stephen Stills, Neil Young and Richie Furay, the band had great vocals and guitars. They only made 3 albums together, so the box set contains a lot of rarities, demos and alternative versions of their songs. Disc 4 is probably the most boring of the discs for fans as it contains only their first 2 albums in their entirety. But that's what I like about it. Always a great morning listen.

Today was spent teaching a couple of lessons and working on next year's native teachers' schedule. Not to go into detail, but it's a pain in the butt to try to fit everyone in. The rough draft is finished, which is good.

Tomorrow is our senior high entrance exam. My ninth grade students have to take the test, and we're expecting them to do poorly. I hope we're wrong. It seems like a joke because they'll all be accepted no matter how horrible they do on the tests. We'll just have to give them extra lessons, study halls, worksheets, whatever. Of course, the marking is pure hell.

Wednesday, and Recovered from the Stupor Bowl

iPod morning commute music: Brinsley Schwarz, Nervous on the Road/The New Favourites of Brinsley Schwarz (1975 on record, I'm not sure on CD)

Brinsley Schwarz was the name of a British pub-rock band that recorded in the '70s. I first learned about them clicking on links at allmusic.com. I was checking up on Nick Lowe, and they linked him to this band. I liked what I read, and bought this, a single CD combining 2 of their albums, from 1972 and 1974, respectively, and a greatest hits (Surrender to the Rhythm, 1991). After they split up, Lowe went on to help form Rockpile with Dave Edmunds before embarking on a solo career. He also produced much of the early Elvis Costello. A couple of other members, including Brinsley himself (guitar) joined up with Graham Parker's backup band, The Rumour. All of what I've mentioned is great rock 'n' roll.

And while I may be doing better, I'm still not much in the mood for talking football.

Stupor Bowl

iPod morning commute music: N/A (damn battery was dead this morning)

Well, it was interesting to watch the Seahawks implode at the Super Bowl. I understand that some are blaming the officials, but hey, the officials didn't drop those passes or get called for holding to negate a key play. The Hawks just made too many mistakes.

It was nice to watch the game live at my buddy, Dave's house (from 8:00 am on Monday morning). I can't remember the last time I drank beer before noon! We made up a batch of chili, and had as good a time as one can watching one's team implode.

Today has been pretty low-keyed.

The Refreshed iPod

iPod morning commute music: shuffle mode

Recently, I've realized how bored I was becoming with my iPod musical selections. I've basically had the same core music on the machine for 4 years. I have done some editing...I dumped 10 of the 15 Elvis CDs from the 3 box sets (I mean, for a while every third song was The King, and that was never my intent). The problem was a lack of variety. My CD collection has a lot of artists represented by a single CD, but they weren't on my iPod...every Beatles album was, my entire Dylan collection, and a whole lot of Grateful Dead, not to mention the Stones. Hell, I had every Nick Drake CD on it.

Last night, I met Tatsu at our station, drove him home, and thought about things. When I found out he didn't have any homework, I asked him if he'd mind taking my iPod, deleting all the music from it, and fill it up again with a wider variety of music. Of course, 95% of the music in iTunes comes from my collection, and Tatsu has excellent taste in music, so I reckoned I was safe.

And I was. This morning, for the first time in years, my own music took me by surprise. Richard Ashcroft, Fairport Convention, the Small Faces, Steely Dan, Ella Fitzgerald are just some of the new artists which weren't on before and are on now, and were listened to in shuffle mode. Tatsu did a great job, and I realized once more how lucky I am to have a son who isn't into hip-hop or J-Pop.

On a sad note, my cousin Stephanie's father passed away yesterday in hospice. We're keeping her family in our prayers.

Also, Alisa had some orthodontic surgery yesterday, and is looking a little beat up around the face. She took today off from school, but other than appearance, she seems to be holding up OK. Also, she finally got her information packet from the Global Young Leaders' Conference a couple of days ago, and there will be 360 students attending, representing 100 countries. She's pretty hyped.

Finally, I'll be watching the Superbowl live over at my friend Dave's house. I'm taking a personal day from work (I have no classes and no meeting on Monday). The pre-game stuff (in Japanese) starts at 8:30 am, so we'll start a batch of chili which should be ready by halftime. I don't usually drink beer before lunch, but somehow I feel an exception might be made. Go Seahawks! I've been waiting years for this day.

Poor Sports Day

iPod morning commute music: The Beatles, 1 (2000)
Actually, I've been in a Beatles mood since Monday, when I listened to Revolver (1966) on my way home. Yesterday, it was Abbey Road (1969) during my morning commute, and Past Masters Vol. 2 (1988)on the evening run. The Beatles are the cornerstone of my CD collection as well as my musical taste. 1 is a pretty good place to start, but one really needs to hear the individual albums. Rock and pop music is where it is today because of the Beatles. They can still send shivers up my spine.

Yesterday, my school had an in-school junior high sports day. One of the 9th grade classes decided they were being screwed over, not getting any breaks, and walked out of the competition. Of course, they were being treated the same as everyone else. They just couldn't accept losing because other teams were better. They lost because the refs had it in for them.

I keep reading in the paper about sport stars getting busted for doping, or complaining for no reason (T.O.), or beating up on their wife or girlfriend. Of course, none of this is their fault.

The Winter Olympic games are starting up soon. I hope the players and the public can remember sportsmanship, courtesy and grace. And may I be forgiven for whatever boorish behavior I show during the Superbowl.

Go Seahawks!

Summertime Blues

iPod morning commute music: The Who, Live at Leeds, Delux Edition, disc 1 (2001)
I bought the original album, with only 6 tracks, back in high school. This edition includes the entire concert, 33 songs, with disc 2 being the entire Tommy rock opera. This is classic stuff, and if you love rock and roll you should own this. I chose to listen to disc 1 this morning as it included their great take of Summertime Blues.

I got really bad news at last Thursday's teachers' meeting. Basically, I'm losing almost all of my 'summer vacation' (please note that in Japan, our teaching contract is for the whole year, and the school is perfectly within its contractual rights to do this). I have to be available through the end of July for packing up the old school in preparation for the move, which could be scheduled from as early as August 10th, the day we take possession of the new school.

Kaoru and I are canceling our trip to the States this summer. Alisa will still fly to Seattle in July, and will attend the Global Young Leaders Conference in Washington DC and New York City from July 30th through August 10th. Tatsu will probably fly over at the beginning of September to get ready to attend university.

Since I will be unable to return home, I'll probably escort students to Australia again this summer. I've already talked to the head of my school about going home in the summer of 2007, and there should be no problem.

Anyway, as disappointing as it is not to be returning this summer, I'll look forward to seeing everyone in 2007.

Blurry Thursday

iPod morning commute music: Lynyrd Skynyrd: Leonard Skynyrd (Box) disc 1 (1991)
Southern rock, arguably at its best. Ronnie Van Zant and crew could write, sing and, with three guitars, play. Free Bird and Sweet Home Alabama are probably the songs that come to mind the quickest, but as this box set proves, all their music is really good rock and roll. Van Zant's 1977 death, along with two other members of the band, in a plane crash was a sad end to a great band.

Last night, a sales rep (and friend) from one of the textbook publishers took me out to dinner. We had a fun visit, trading stories of growing up as well as our Japanese experiences. I don't think we'll be using any of her company's textbooks next year, though we used one this year.

Choosing new textbooks is a part of my job that I hate. If you get saddled with a bad book, it makes your life and your students' lives miserable. For the last two years I've been stuck with a horrible textbook that I used with my junior high students. I thought I could cover it in one year, but it was so difficult to work with that I had to slow down and make it a two-year text, over 8th and 9th grades.

Now I need a book for 7th graders (hopefully for just 1 year) and one for Sophomores (lasting through their Junior year). Moving into Computer Aided Language Labs (CALLs) from next August, I really feel the need to find textbooks that can utilize the new equipment. This is especially hard in the junior high.

Anyway, today has been a bit blurry after last night. With luck, today's teachers' meeting will be short, and I can get home and rested.

Danny

iPod morning commute music: The Clash, London Calling (1979)
Their breakout album, full of musical styles and surprises. The title cut is just great, as is Spanish Bombs, but the whole CD is wonderful. I especially like Lost in the Supermarket, where the singer's shopping for a personality. Essential.

I just got the word that my cousin's ex-husband had a massive stroke last Thursday and is not going to make it. Danny and Bev were more like uncle and aunt to me than cousins. Bev's now about 70, and Danny had to be about the same, maybe older. When I was growing up in Jersey, we would see them at least once a month. After we moved west when I was 12 they ended up divorcing.

Danny always seemed to be larger-than-life, macho, cigar smoking. I only saw him a couple of times after the divorce. Their daughter, Stephanie, and her husband Chuck, became close to Kaoru and me, and their eldest daughter, Katie, is the about the same age as our Alisa. It was Stephanie who contacted me about Danny's condition. I had sent an e-mail to her last week, and another yesterday to Chuck as his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers are playing my beloved Seattle Seahawks in the Superbowl. Football games just don't seem that important at this moment.

Our hearts and prayers go out to the whole family.

Superbowl Seahawks

iPod morning commute music: Wilson Pickett, The Very Best of Wilson Pickett (1993)
Sad news: The Wicked Pickett passed away last week. Not the most famous of the '60s soul men, but hey, he gave us Land of 1000 Dances, In the Midnight Hour, and, hee hee hee, Mustang Sally ("Ride Sally Ride"). This greatest hits has 16 of his best. He will be missed.

Yesterday I got snowed in, which was OK as I don't have any classes on Mondays since the seniors finished lessons last December. I watched the Pittsburgh/Denver game live, and then saw the Seahawks delayed, with all the timeouts, commercials, half-time, etc. edited out. What a game!

The Superbowl should be good. The Steelers are 3 and a half point favorites, which is probably good for Seattle. The game will be televised live here in Japan at 8:30 in the morning of February 6th, a Monday (see above paragraph as to why that's good news). I my friend Ian, a Brit who says he likes American football but I suspect is just looking for an excuse to party, has said he'll join me at my house for the game.

About getting snowed in: This is always a bit embarrassing. If you look at a map of Japan, you can see Osaka is located on the Pacific side of Japan. Our cold weather usually comes down from Siberia, and affects the Japan Sea side of Japan. Our house is located in the mountains, almost exactly between the Japan Sea and the Pacific, and we are often on the outer edge of the cold fronts. In other words, if it's snowing on the coast of the Sea of Japan, it is often snowing at my place, with Osaka experiencing clear skies!

The office staff always laughs when I call in because of snow.

Linked

iPod morning commute music: Moby Grape, Moby Grape (1967)
The San Francisco band Moby Grape made one great record, and this is it. If you don't know it, and if you like the San Francisco sound of the '60s (Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service) do yourself a favor and buy this today. Great songs in a variety of styles, superb vocals and excellent guitar work (they had 3 guitarists). This was their first, and best, record, and stands up as well today as it did then.

My friend, Naoko, sent me an e-mail asking if she could link this blog to her new children's English school's website. I said yes, though I wonder how interesting this blog is for people who don't know me. So I'm an official link. Hmm.

I've written about Naoko's late husband, Bob, in one of my earliest posts. I know it must be hard on Naoko to try to raise her young daughter and start up an English school on her own. I'm guessing that Bob's family in the States might end up here through the link. I never met his parents at the hospital; our visits just never overlapped, and they had to return home before his funeral. I did meet two of his sisters, though, and one, Mary, still keeps in occasional touch.

Tomorrow, I'll be going to my friend, Steve's, 25-years-in-Japan party. I had my 20-year party in 2003. While most of the ex-pat population is transient, quite a few friends remain from my first days here. Back then, the main meeting place in Osaka was the Pig and Whistle Pub, the original just a hole-in-the-wall down in Shinsaibashi. Tomorrow's party will be in latest addition of the Pig (its third location). It should be good.

Have a great weekend.

I Find I have a Collectable

iPod morning commute music: The Long Ryders, Anthology, disc 1 (1998)
The Long Ryders is a band most people haven't heard of. I read about them in the All Music Guide a couple of years ago and decided I had to get this album. They were a punk country band out of LA, heavily influenced by Gram Parsons. They were only around for a short time, formed in 1981 and disbanded in '87. Unfortunately, the CD was/is no longer available. I gave up. A couple of weeks later I was in the Osaka/Umeda Tower Records thumbing through the bargain bins and there it was, brand new and dirt cheap! I couldn't believe my luck. When I got to my car at the station, I put it on and was amazed at how good these guys were, and how original.

As I was preparing to write this I decided to check if it's been reissued, so I checked out amazon. Not only hasn't it been reissued, it's now considered a collectable, selling for almost $100 as such! I probably paid about $10. I didn't even realize CDs could become collectables. This has me wondering if I have any other collectables in my collection, and how to find out. Any ideas?

Music Ed 101

iPod morning commute music: Johnny Cash, The Essential Johnny Cash 1955-1983, disc 1 (1992)
Johnny Cash was my introduction to country music. While I claimed to hate country, I always loved Johnny's music. Willy and Waylon soon followed (as did rock music, with Dylan's Nashville, the Byrds Sweetheart of the Rodeo, The Band to name but a few). This 3-disc set is a very good introduction to Cash's music. I also have his Love/Murder/God set as well. In the end it doesn't really matter what anthology one gets; his music, and especially his voice, is timeless. When he died in 2003, we lost an icon.

Since Alisa was elected Treasurer of her school's student council, I've been timing my commute home on Tuesdays and Thursdays so we can meet at the station and I can drive her home. When she signed up for basketball, which meets on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, I started meeting her every evening. This has turned out to be a cool thing, because it gives us a chance to talk privately. Tatsu and I have developed a pretty good relationship over the years, due in part to our mutual love of music. But for Alisa and me, this is a new opportunity to really get to know each other.

Last night in the car she asked me if I had any particular song lyrics that I thought were great. Yes, yes I do. When we got home I took down my book of Dylan lyrics and had her read while she listened to Like a Rolling Stone, one of the few Dylan songs she likes (Alisa takes after Kaoru, who likes every Dylan song better when someone other than Dylan is singging it, especially if it's Joan Baez). Then we listened to Leonard Cohen's Suzanne, a song she doesn't much like but whose lyrics she hadn't considered before ("And Jesus was a sailor when he walked upon the water, and he spent a long time watching from his lonely wooden tower, and when he knew for certain only drowning men could see him, he said all men will be sailors then, until the sea shall free them, but he himself was broken, long before the sky would open, forsaken, almost human, he sank beneath your wisdom like a stone", or something like that...my memory for lyrics is not as good as it used to be). It felt good to be sharing these words with her. I feel we've become closer.

Happy Martin Luther King Day (Monday in the States)

iPod morning commute music: The Jayhawks, Rainy Day Music (2003)
This is a band my friend Brad G., an ex-pat from the midwest, turned me on to. The band formed in the mid '80s in Minneapolis and perform what I guess would be called alt country. They remind me of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band back in the late '60s early '70s, and also somewhat of Gram Parsons. Pretty cool stuff, but I still haven't heard most of what they've recorded.

Sorry for the delayed holiday greeting to those of you in the States. It's Tuesday here, and I've just now finally had the chance to get to the computer.

Am I right in writing that not every state celebrates MLK Day? We were talking about this over lunch (5 teachers, 2 Americans, 1 Canadian, an Australian and a New Zealander), and I was having a hard time explaining why this would be. I think most Americans recognize he was a great man, though not a saint. I know J. Edgar Hoover dug up (or manufactured) a lot of dirt on him, but why exactly is it that not everyone recognizes the holiday? Is it racist sentiment? If anyone would care to comment, I'd love to hear your opinions.

For some reason the Blogger spellchecker has stopped working on this school computer. It used to work. I hate publishing without running a spellcheck. Isn't it strange how, even as I near the age of 52, I'm still sensitive about the fact that I was a poor speller in my youth. You'd think I'd have gotten over it by now. Anyway, I apologize if an error shows up.

Monday Again

iPod morning commute music: Bonnie Raitt, Nick of Time (1989)
Most people who know Bonnie Raitt know her from this album, which won several Grammys including Album of the Year. I first heard her in my university days, and my CD collection is weaker for not having more of her work. I suppose, though, if you're only going to have 1 album, this would be the one to own. Great stuff.

I'm really feeling thrashed today, but I'm fortunate in that I don't have any classes on Mondays this term. Saturday I was in school from 7:50 am until 9:45 pm because of our junior high entrance exam. I didn't get home until just before midnight. Yesterday I finished the FAFSA paperwork for Tatsu's financial aid and then was shocked to find out how much I'm expected to contribute towards his schooling. Of course, this is treating our Japanese salaries as if we were in America, and once I calmed down I found the page on the FAFSA site that expains how universities will take into account the individual family situations that FAFSA cannot. I wrote an e-mail to the woman in charge of foreign recruitment at the U of O asking her what extra info if any we should provide for the Diversity-Building scholarship Tatsu's applying for. Now I guess it is simply wait and see.

Today I need to get a better idea of what textbooks I want to use next year. I teach in two rotations, one for junior high and one for senior high. Basically, we follow our students up through the years, so rotation one is 7th grade in the first year, 8th grade in the second, 9th in the third, then back to 7th. High school follows the same pattern. This year I taught 9th and 12th grades, so next year (which starts in April) I'll go back to 7th and 10th grades (note my 9th grade students will be 10th graders next year, so I'll be teaching many of them again). I've been using the same textbook series for the last several years, but because we'll be in our new school from second term next year I really need to switch textbooks. This is because all our lessons in the new school will be in Computer Aided Language Laboratories (CALL), and our current texts can't really take advantage of the new technology. It's hard to decide since we can't really pilot any of the new series because the CALL systems won't be operational until after summer vacation.

So that's today's agenda: kick back and look at books. I know, it's a tough life but somebody has to live it.

Entrance Exam

iPod morning commute music: N/A due to the early hours of my commute and general lack of sleep.

Today is my school's junior high entrance exam. Needing to be at school by 7:50 this morning (as opposed to the usual 8:25), I dutifully left the house at 5:55 (as opposed to the usual 6:20) to catch a train at 6:20. This should have been no problem, but I ran into a mini traffic jam which I couldn't get around (I can pass 1 car, on a good stretch of road 2, but not 4). I missed my train by 2 minutes, which caused me to be 5 minutes late for school.

My job today was to broadcast the instructions in Japanese to start and stop each of the 4 exams. It is a stupidly easy job. I'm now hanging out with all the teachers waiting for the meeting to decide who will be invited to join our school. Last years meeting started late, at 8 pm, and finished at 10:00. It is 5:10, and we still have no idea when it will start.

I need to take a nap.

University Application Hell

iPod morning commute music: The Band, The Band (1969)
I really wish I could remember when I first bought this album. My guess would be 1970 or 71. It went hand in hand with my discovering Dylan, which was in the summer of 1969. This remains my favorite album by The Band, though I also have Music from Big Pink (1968) and Rock of Ages (1972) on CD, as well as the box set Across the Great Divide (1994). Still, to understand The Band one only has to listen to this disc. It's a classic.

It seems all vacation that I've been stuck with my son in University Application Hell. Tatsu really wants to go to the University of Oregon, but we can't afford out-of-state tuition, so he has to apply for scholarships. This should not be so difficult, but between tight deadlines which can only be met after other tight deadlines are met is enough to drive one mad. Just one hour after we had his SAT scores sent to the U of O by snail mail, Tatsu discovered they needed to be there by 1/15. Of course, you can't cancel an order, so I had to reorder; the U of O will get them twice. And I don't even want to talk about FAFSA, other than to say that this is the first time in my life I've had my income tax prepared in January!

I suppose many of you reading this (I know of at least a couple who do!) have been through this, but it really took me by surprise. But it's finished now. Tatsu I can relax for a few days, until the next round of applications need to be filed. What a month it has been.

Back in the Groove

iPod morning commute music: Alicia Keys, Songs in A Minor (2001)
Yes, I sometimes listen to music not recorded in the '60s. This R&B disc is as good as its hype, and has to be one of the great debut CDs of modern times. It's also pretty good morning music when one is still operating under psuedo jet lag.

Today is the second day back for the students, who are taking what we call achievement tests. I proctored two tests yesterday and one today; tomorrow, regular lessons start up.

Monday was a national holiday here in Japan, Coming of Age Day. It celebrates all those who turned 20 (the age one becomes an adult) in 2005. Kaoru and I ended up shopping in our local JUSCO shopping center, and the women celebrating were dressed in traditional kimono. It was a bit disconcerting to my wife to see them standing in line at MacDonalds, a visual clash of cultures to her eyes. I felt it, too, but sadly MacDonalds is America's greatest contribution to Japanese life. Burgers replacing sushi.

Back to Work Blues

Happy New Years to everyone! I hope you had good holidays. We ushered in the new year at my in-laws' house, watching awful Japanese TV, playing cards, drinking wine. We returned home, and I could watch three Bowl games live on satellite TV (Fiesta, Orange and Rose Bowls, to be exact). The Rose Bowl was one of the best football games I have ever seen.

And then, yesterday, back to work, where we had a teachers' meeting. Today we had opening ceremonies.

One of the real drawbacks to where I live is having to get up at 5:00 am every workday. When I'm in the rhythm, no problem, but over vacations I get very lackadaisical about getting up, 7:00 on a good day, 9 or 10 on a lazy one. Switching back to work mode is like jet lag. For example, there is no "iPod morning commute music" today because I just fell asleep on the train as soon as I got on. Last night, I took a nap directly after dinner. I'm exhausted!

Fortunately, the next two days are off, and Tuesday and Wednesday are test days, so I don't have to actually teach anything until Thursday. With the seniors gone, I only have 7 classes per week as well (I had 10 lessons with the seniors), so I'll have some down time between now and April, when the new school year begins.

Happy New Year

Vacation continues. Today, my friend, mentor and ex-co-worker, Evelyn and her friend (mine, too) Pam came over for dinner. Evelyn and Pam came to Japan as missionaries from England many years ago: Evelyn worked at the junior and senior high schools, while Pam worked at the college, sharing a home which was a part of the high school campus. Evelyn hired me 20 years ago.

Aging is a weird phenomenon. I was talking to my friend, David, about how I still hold a mental image of myself when I was in my twenties. I don't see myself as the overweight, graying, 51-soon-to-be-52 Craig, but rather the thin young dude with hair to his shoulders. David, 58, agreed. This is probably why we hurt ourselves trying to do things we used to be able to do so easily (like walking up the front steps in winter without slipping and breaking bones, as my friend from high school, Susan, just had the misfortune of doing).

It's hard to believe I've known Evelyn, who retired to York three years ago, and Pam for 20 years. It's hard to believe I've known my oldest friend, John (who just got married to Suzie yesterday!) since we were in junior high, almost 40 years now. My son Tatsu will graduate from high school in June, move on to university, and it just doesn't seem possible (probably the wine I've been drinking magnifies all of this).

I just finished printing out all our new years letters which we send to family and friends outside of Japan (Japanese family and friends get traditional new years cards). The kids have already gone to their grandparents' house, and Kaoru and I will join them tomorrow. I'll be (mercifully) off line for the next few days. So Happy New Years everybody. The good news is that each passing year doesn't diminish the memories, but rather helps to create more.

Merry Christmas

It's Sunday here, and a rare White Christmas is well underway. I baked a traditional Sweet pastry which my mother so politically-incorrectly calls Jew Bread (like brownies, but with chopped dates and nuts, no chocolate), and which I'm renaming Date Bars after that wonderful in-a-box stuff I used to make in college. The kids came down and opened their presents (Tatsu, a new iPod, Alisa, a new state-of-the-art cell phone), and then I baked a pumpkin pie. The turkey is, regrettably, not 100% thawed so I'm using the infamous cold water method to finish the job 3 days in the fridge couldn't manage. The family went shopping in town, so I'm enjoying a beer and waiting on the turkey. So Merry Christmas, everyone! Craig

White Christmas?

iPod morning commute music: Janis Joplin, Janis, disc 2 (1993)

Janis Joplin was hands-down the best white woman blues singer of all time. As I stepped onto the train and out of the snowstorm this morning, I wanted something warm to listen to. I got Janis' rendition of Summertime without even thinking about it. This 3-disc box is a great overview of her career which ended far too soon (Janis was 1 of 3 rockers to die between 1970-71, all at the age of 27, the others being Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison). I'll always be willing to take a little piece of her heart.

As mentioned above, I awoke to a) a blizzard, and b) three teenaged boys playing cards at our diningroom table having stayed up all night jamming on guitars. I left 5 minutes early, but traffic was crawling and I missed my usual train by a couple of minutes, which means I was marginally late for work, Closing Ceremony for the end of second term (see yesterday's blog for an overview of Japanese ceremonies). This is officially my last day until January 6th (teachers' meeting), with 3rd term's Opening Ceremonies on the following day.

Today, my co-worker Bob and I are planning to go to lunch with my mentor, Evelyn, the Anglican missionary who hired me 21 years ago. Evelyn retired 3 years ago to York, where I visited with her 2 Christmases ago on a school trip to England. This is her first visit back to Japan since retirement. We had a short visit after the Christmas Service on Tuesday, but it will be good to spend more time with her later today.

I talked to my wife a bit ago, and she reports blizzard conditions. We may get our first White Christmas in over 10 years.

Ceremonies

iPod morning commute music: Bob Dylan, Blonde on Blonde (1966)

This is probably my favorite all-time Dylan album. At over 70 minutes, it's a tour-de-force of Dylan's songwriting skills, blending genres and images into one helluva song list. It also boasts one of his most quoted lines (at least by me, since my high school days): "...To live outside the law you must be honest." (Absolutely Sweet Marie). To give you an idea of how great I think Blonde on Blonde is, I listened to it on Monday morning (short teachers' meeting, I didn't get around to posting, sorry about that) and again this morning. I could easily listen to it again on the way home. Even after all these years, it still surprises and pleases.

Japan is a country of ceremonies. One of the lingering traditional images is the tea ceremony, but that is only an obvious example of a cultural underpinning. I remember when I first watched sumo, how ridiculous the wrestlers looked when they hunched over, gave each other the evil eye until one of them stood up and stalked to the sacred salt, purifying the ring once more before slapping his belly while his opponent did the same. Now, this ritual, this ceremony, is such a part of sumo for me that watching highlights is uninteresting because it is edited out.

The Japanese school year is punctuated with ceremonies: In April, entrance ceremonies for new students, opening ceremonies for those returning; in February and March, graduation ceremonies for those moving on, closing ceremonies for those coming back. Every major school event, from Sports Days to Cultural Festivals, at every level from day care to university, begins and ends with a ceremony.

At my school, the Christmas Service is the most important ceremony of the year. This year, the service was held in Osaka's Catholic Cathedral. The brass band and string clubs provided most of the music, along with the PTA choir and the year group performances (each grade performs one, usually classical, piece). The highlight is Handel's Hallelujah chorus, performed by the seniors.

The music each class performs is the same each year; the seniors always sing the Hallelujah chorus. This is part of the ceremony, the ritual. At first it bothered me. I kept thinking, why don't they challenge something new? But after twenty years, it is another ritual I've come to understand and wouldn't want to go without.

You see it in the yes of the alumni as they mist up when the music begins, and they silently sing along with the graduating class. Across the generations, the ceremony binds them together, binds us together.

Christmas has begun.

Morning

iPod morning commute music: various artists, Nuggets, Vol. 2: Original Artyfacts from the British Empire and Beyond, disc 1 (2001)

Lenny Kaye, who later became the guitarist in the Patti Smith Group, compiled a single album worth of American '60s garage/psych rock classics in 1972, released as Nuggets. In 1998, he re-released this as disc 1 of a 4-disc box called Nuggets. I just had to have it. Every song sounded like something you'd heard somewhere before, though you probably hadn't. This second release is more of the same, only centered around British garage/psych. As the writer at allmusic.com says (BTW, this is a great music site and where I get the release dates for all of these posts), you would have to spend thousands of dollars to buy all of this obscure music from the original sources. If you like '60s rock, both boxes are worth owning, though I've heard Vol. 3 isn't so good.

When I first came to Japan, I remember walking into a coffee shop one morning, hung over and in need of caffeine. The waitress walked up I said, "Hot-o co-hee."

"Morning?" she replied in a questioning tone.

I thought, how nice, she's trying to speak English to me. "Morning," I said, as cheerfully as I could.

A few minutes later she returned with my coffee, a hard-boiled egg, and a thick slice of buttered toast. I had no idea what I'd done, but since my Japanese was next to useless, I decided to eat the unordered breakfast and pay the extra. I looked at the bill and was shocked to see that the whole thing cost less than a normal cup of coffee! This was my introduction to the Japanese institution known as "Morning Set".

If you visit Japan, this is about the cheapest breakfast around (about $2.50 - $3.00) and is available in almost every coffee shop up to 10 or 11 a.m. Many offer 3 set options, but the basic set is generally what I described above. Larger, marginally more expensive sets, might include a salad (popular for breakfast here) or small, hotdog-like sausages.

Today, I had to come into work at 11 a.m. and was early, so I had a morning set at the coffee shop in my station. I don't usually have them since I got married almost 19 years ago, and it always feels nostalgic when I do. Again, if you ever visit Japan, I recommend this as a reasonable breakfast option.

A Really Boring Thursday

iPod morning commute music: Fats Domino, The Fats Domino Jukebox (2002)

This is actually my son's CD, purchased with Christmas or birthday money a couple of years ago. He couldn't believe I didn't have any of Fats' music, and what could I say? He was right. This is a great collection of his classic New Orleans R&B boogie-woogie piano sound coupled with his great vocals (and we all heard about how Fats was rescued from his home in the wake of Katrina). Not something you'll listen to often, but something you will appreciate when you do.

Today was day three of returning tests, so basically I've been hanging around waiting for students to come up to me having found mistakes in my marking, but no one came. I have a meeting at 1:30, and then it's back to home. A really boring day, and a really boring blog entry. Apologies rendered.

Back to Work

iPod morning commute music: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Greatest Hits (1993)

I don't own much by Petty, and don't really know why. I owned two or three of the albums when they came out, but never replaced them with CDs when my record collection mysteriously disappeared (full disclosure: I guess I forgot who was storing them for me, because the person I thought had them said I never gave them to her, and I had no reason to doubt her). This single disc greatest hits pretty much covers everything important, and is a great listen.

Yesterday I took the day off from work and made another COSTCO run. It's amazing how the store looks just like the state-side stores, but the contents are probably about 50% Japanese goods. It's a microcosm of Japan, really, where the cities and people look western at first glance, but once you start looking closer, the differences become far more apparent.

Kaoru should know better than to let me loose in COSTCO. She wrote a list, which I followed but liberally added to. Stupid purchase of the day: a traditional Christmas pudding (read fruitcake) from England. I don't really like fruitcake, but the concept sounded good. The chocolate covered cherries were also something I could probably have lived without.

I did buy a nice, small rib eye roast, which I cooked for dinner. I'm trying to master roast beef, as I'd like to have one during the holidays (or a ham, but we can't get a cooked ham here easily). One problem is that cuts of meat are much smaller here; last night's roast was just under 2 lbs. Cooking times given in cookbooks are not accurate (allow 22 minutes per pound, but it actually took about 90 minutes to cook, not 44). This is not a problem as I use a meat thermometer, but I wish I could get a better feel for the timing.

Between COSTCO and dinner I managed to finish up my grades for the term, and got the marks in the computer this morning. I can now relax, though I still need to be here for handing back tests and meetings, while awaiting the official end of term on the 23rd.

The Last of the Tests and Poem #2

iPod morning commute music: Neil Diamond, Glory Road (1968-1972), disc 1 (1992)

Listening to Neil Diamond is something everyone should do once, maybe twice a year at the most. His classic hits still send chills up my spine, and he really was a masterful pop singer. Unfortunately, this set doesn't have his earliest hit from Bang records (which I really need to get somehow), and the second disc moves into music I really don't like. Sigh...but every time I hear Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show, I forgive myself the purchase. Not to mention Sweet Caroline.

Today was the last day of tests, and I finished the marking, though I still have to do some calculations to get final grades. That I can do at home, so I'll take Monday off and work from there. We start returning tests on Tuesday. Blah blah blah.

Poem #2

December's first snow
falls in thick white wet clusters
onto a waning

autumn, where trees cling
to their last colored leaves in
stubborn resistance

against time's soft nudge
until an icy wind whirls
up through the valley

whispering winter
and the countryside shudders,
concedes and conforms

I Know...Another Country Heard From

iPod morning commute music: Jimi Hendrix, Electric Ladyland (1968)

Not much to say about Jimi's third album, other than it is superb. I remember I went to junior high summer church camp in 1969, and the guy in charge of recreation, an actual hippie, had the British version with all the naked women on the cover. I had just finished 9th grade, and I had already bought Axis: Bold as Love. This was something else! Now, it's the long, jazzy, spacy pieces that attract me: 1983 (A Mermaid Should I Turn to Be), Still Raining Still Dreaming, though the rockers still rock, Crosstown Traffic, Come On (Pt. 1). Psychedelic music at its best. Shockingly relevant and fresh almost 40 years on.

I'm posting (finally) at night from home. Test week is just so damn busy, and the computers at work are in constant demand. I tried to mark 200 9th grade tests today, but couldn't finish today. After 20 years of marking tests, I'm a pro, really fast and accurate, but I'll have to finish up tomorrow morning. I'll be getting 10th grade tests to mark tomorrow, but only 2 half classes, less than 40 total. On Saturday, I give the seniors their final test before graduating, and will get just under 80 to mark (4 half classes). At the junior high level we teach full classes, which is why I have so many to mark. The boring side of teaching.

I've been working on blog poem #2, but it's still not ready to post. I forget how hard it is to write poetry, even bad poetry, until I attempt it during test weeks (something to do while proctoring). Hopefully I'll get it posted tomorrow.

Winter has Arrived

iPod morning commute music: Eric Clapton, Crossroads, disc 2 (1988)

Same as Friday, starting with Cream, ending with Derek and the Dominos. Layla still wrenches my heart every time I hear it.

I finally had a weekend to relax. On Saturday, we took in the new Harry Potter film. It was great. I still think Alphonso Cuaron's vision in Prisoner of Azkaban made it the best of the series...the camera swooping through the clockworks was absolutely thrilling...but Goblet of Fire held its own. Rowling's books, and therefore the films, just keep getting darker and darker. Ralph Fiennes makes a remarkable Lord Voldemort. Highly recommended.

I had the weird job of writing up a short biographical sketch of myself for the TOEIC book: How to reduce your life to 7 or 8 sentences. You have to leave out a lot, like puberty, high school, love, death...any topics Woody Allen might find interesting you just have to skip. I wrote about myself in such a way that I sound boring (which, of course, most of you discovered about 20 posts ago!).

Classes finished today, with 2nd term's final exams starting tomorrow. 10 of my 17 classes are 12th grade, which means that I won't see them again as they are graduating. Which means my teaching load goes from 17 classes per week to 7, starting January. This I can live with.

Friday, Another Meeting, and Feedback on Spaces After Periods

iPod morning commute music: Eric Clapton, Crossroads, disc 1 (1988)

One of the all-time great box sets, this spans Clapton's career. Disc 1 covers his time with The Yardbirds, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, and his early work with Cream. Essential.

I was hoping to take off early today, but found out I have another meeting. In our school, teachers are attached to a year group, ranging from (using US terms) 7th Grade through 12th Grade. In the teachers room, we sit together in our year group, and we are responsible for the students in that year group. When a student does something bad, such as skip school, this is a year group problem. This afternoon's meeting is with the other 9th grade teachers, about a student who skipped school.

We have a lot of meetings in my school. Every week I have a year group meeting, an English department meeting, and an International Studies Committee meeting. Two or three times a month (at least) we have general teachers' meetings. I'm also in charge of the high school ESS (English Speaking Society) Club, which meets at least twice a week.

Today's meeting is an extra one, as most student problem meetings are. And to think, I've been doing this for 20 years.

I've gotten some feedback concerning spaces after periods. It seems like those of us who were taught on typewriters were taught to put two spaces at the end of sentences. However, with computers, publishers would prefer single spaces. According to my co-worker, Bob, who did a more extensive on-line search, the usual typewriter fonts needed two spaces, but no more. However, people who were taught typewriting skills don't want to change: In fact, I don't think I can change. The habit is too ingrained. Thanks to both Bob and Ron for bringing me up to date on all of this. I'm still curious as to what schools are actually teaching.

I handed in a form to take a half day off tomorrow (Saturday...a 6 day school week AND all those meetings! Again, hard to believe it's been 20 years at this school). My family will go see the new Harry Potter film. Mainly, this will be a weekend of rest for me. I'm ready for a break.

Tanned and Rested

iPod morning commute music: Gram Parsons, G.P./Grievous Angel (1990)

I no longer remember when or where I first hear of Gram Parsons, but I've had this disc (his two solo albums, released in 1972 and '73, respectively, with Emmylou Harris supplying supporting vocals) for years. Parson basically invented country rock, was the driving force on The Byrds album Sweethear of the Rodeo, and helping to form The Flying Burrito Bros. The songs on this disc are timeless, and his duets with Emmylou are wonderful. While classified country-rock, the music here definitely leans to country.

Last night I finally reached my limit, falling asleep sometime after 9 while sort of waiting for President Bush's speech on his Iraq policy. I'm not sure I missed anything. I awoke just before 2 am and dragged myself upstairs to bed, where I slept until 5 am. I feel great today, which is cool because usually Thursday is when I start feeling the weight of the week. I'm planning to take Saturday off (I'm suppose to be at work for lunch, from 12:20-1:00, but I'll just take a personal half-day off), so I just need to get through tonight's teacher's meeting (ugh!) and tomorrow's classes.

It seems hard to believe December is here. Soon I'll have to get out the Christmas tree (we have to make due with an artificial one).

Oh, here is some good news (for me). One of my old students, Yasuyo, now married to an American and living in the States, wrote that she was planning to visit Japan at the end of November, and she asked if there was anything she could bring me. I asked if she could check for canned eggnog (I bought it once on Vashon, brought it back to Japan, and saved it for the Christmas season). We met on Monday, and she found some powdered instant eggnog at Target and bought it for me. I'm saving it for the holidays, but what a cool thing! Eggnog is one of the seasonal things you can't buy in Japan. Joy of Cooking has a couple of recipes, but they don't look particularly easy to make. If any of you know of a good recipe for thick, holiday eggnog (just add rum and sprinkle nutmeg on top), feel free to let me know.

Tuesday, Wednesday, Maybe Thursday

iPod morning commute music (Tuesday): Joni Mitchell: Hits (1996)

Okay, the folkie in me comes out every once in a while. When Joni first broke out in the early '70s, she was a breath of fresh air, and her music has always stayed in my collection. This is a great overview of her career, filled out even more with her companion disc, Misses.

It's Wednesday night here in Japan, and I'm shattered. I never realize how rotten it is to lose a weekend to work until the following week starts. This has been especially true this week. I've been doing some proofreading for Longman publishing, and the due date was today. Then, two days ago, I got a call from my co-author that I need to proof the galleys from our book, due tomorrow. I finished everything on time, but it has not been pleasant.

Hopefully, I'll be able to post tomorrow, because I'm obviously not my usual self tonight.

Back Home Again

iPod morning commute music: Hitsville USA: The Motown Singles Collection 1959-1971 disc 4 (1992)

Yesterday, I suddenly had the urge to play my son Edwin Starr's classic song, War. I knew I had it somewhere, and found it on this greatest hits box set. I always liked Motown growing up. In fact, for a while I thought girls liked the Beatles, so I should like a girl group (I picked the Supremes). I quickly realized it was OK to like both. The surprise is how good some groups hold up that I disliked at the time, such as The Jackson Five (ABC is just so sing-able!). All of this is music I grew up with, and realized yesterday that I haven't played it for awhile. Great stuff.

Tokyo was fine, but tiring. My student couldn't advance into the final contest, but she enjoyed the experience. I saw my Aussie friend Brad for the first time in four years (since the last time my student went to the regionals), and had a fine time over wine and food. I was going to meet another friend, Ian, on Saturday, but was just too shattered to manage it. I did get some good news Saturday night when I learned another of my 9th grade students won 1st place in an Osaka speech contest.

I got home yesterday (Sunday) at around 3:30 pm. Tatsu and I watched the 2nd DVD from the Springsteen box, Wings for Wheels: The Making of Born to Run. Fascinating stuff. And now I'm back at work, not too far behind, and ready to make the final push of the term.

Had a funny discussion with my co-worker, Bob, concerning typing. I was writing up some guidelines for my students as they write the final drafts of their essays, and told them to please put two spaces at the end of sentences, while only one between words, after commas, etc. Bob said he never puts two spaces at the end of a sentence, only one, and then proceeded to point out that most books only use one space. I knew I was taught two spaces, but actually went on line to check. I was right, but have the rules changed? Is one space OK now?

Such are the important, philosophical questions that swirl about my head.

Off to Tokyo

iPod morning commute music: Spirit, Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus (1970)

Spirit was a cool band, and Randy California a great guitarist/singer/songwriter. This is my favorite album by them, their last with the original band members. It holds up surprisingly well, with an early green theme running through a couple of the songs (Nature's Way, Animal Zoo). We lost California in 1997, when he drowned while rescuing (successfully) his 12-year-old son.

I'm off to Tokyo with my student for 4 days, so this will be my last post until I return on the 27th. Today, it's just checking into our hotels (the students stay together in a Japanese-style inn, where they are taken great care of by a university student organization; I'm in a business hotel). Tomorrow, her contest begins at 9 a.m. If she places, she'll advance to the final contest, held on Saturday afternoon. A huge reception follows, ending at 7 p.m. We'll stay one last night, and head home Sunday morning.

I'm fortunate in that I'll be able to meet an old friend, Brad, for dinner on Friday. Another friend, Ian from Kyoto, will also be in Tokyo, so we'll try to get together on Saturday after the reception. All of this sure beats sitting around in my hotel room watching Japanese TV.

For those of you in the States, again, have a happy Thanksgiving.

Japanese Labor Thanksgiving Holiday

No morning commute, since we're on holiday here, but yesterday the 30th Anniversary Edition of Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run arrived. The remastered sound on the CD is obvious; everything sounds up front, crisp and clear. Tatsu and I watched the first DVD, Springsteen's first concert in Great Britain, in London at the Hammersmith Odeon, 1975. The band was great, Springsteen's vocals great, but I was disappointed in his performance. When I saw them at the Paramount Theater in Seattle that same year, Springsteen was all over the place, rolling on the floor, climbing up and jumping off speakers. The same when I saw him in the Seattle Arena around Christmas, '78 (the concert where he came back out AFTER the house lights came on and played two extra songs for those of us, myself included, who hadn't given up and gone home). Regardless, it was a great show, and I've read that Bruce and the band were pretty nervous given the nasty attitude the British press (and fans...let's not forget the Bob Dylan/Judas incident) can sometimes have. I haven't seen the second DVD on the making of Born to Run yet, but will watch it this afternoon after I get the turkey in the oven.

Kaoru did go into work for an in-service training day (she'll get next Tuesday off, as well as Monday, giving her and the kids a 4-day weekend), so I taught Alisa how to make a pumpkin pie, always one of my jobs, along with the stuffed turkey...Kaoru doesn't want to touch the bird, and for some reason there's a myth around here that I'm good at baking pies. I'll try to get Alisa and Tatsu to help me with the bird as well.

Kaoru's ankle is OK, just sprained, and now properly wrapped after a visit to the doctor yesterday.

Big news...Alisa was nominated by one of her teachers to participate, as a representative from Japan, in one of the Global Young Leaders Conferences held in Washington DC and New York City for 12 days this summer. The cost is something I don't want to think about, but this is an honor, and an opportunity of a lifetime, so we'll make it happen. Sometimes, when I think back on the kind of student I was at 15, I can't help but be amazed that my kids have turned out as well as they have. Must be Kaoru's genes....

Happy Thanksgiving, to all of you in Japan.

Tuesday Before Thanksgiving

iPod morning commute music: Pink Floyd, Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd, disc 1 (2001)

Just another best of by another really cool band. I have only their early albums, so this set rounds out the collection nicely.

Too busy to really write today. I'm trying to get a bunch of work caught up so that I can relax tomorrow (Nov. 23rd is Japanese Thanksgiving Day, a national holiday) and while I'm in Tokyo from the 24th~27th. Actually, tomorrow will not be relaxed as Kaoru sprained her ankle yesterday at work, so I will be doing the bulk of the Thanksgiving cooking. Hopefully I can get the kids involved as well. Our turkey is just under 10 lbs., a good size for Japanese ovens; ours can handle no more than about 14 lbs.

I'll try to post tomorrow and Thursday before I leave for Tokyo. I'll be without Internet until I return on Sunday.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Another Weekend Down, Another Week to Go

iPod morning commute music: Neil Young, Decade, disc 1 (1977)

Neil Young is one of my favorite artists, but I didn't really begin buying his albums until the mid '70s. This 2-disc collection covers his work from 1966-1976, including his songs with Buffalo Springfield and CSNY. These songs, especially the earlier ones, are the songs that cemented his reputation, and the various styles that he still employs, from folk rock solo albums to hard rock collaborations with Crazy Horse, are well represented.

Sorry I haven't been posting for a few days. We're in crunch time at work, the end of second term looming ahead, with exams needing to be written, recorded (listening tests), printed and, finally, corrected. On top of all this, I've lost weekend prep time, with last Saturday's recitation contest (Judge Craig here) followed by a farewell party to our friend, Mo, who is moving to LA (nice party, but Kaoru and I didn't make it home till just after 1 a.m.). Sunday was another dental appointment at 9 a.m. (not one of my better moments) with a Democrats Abroad Japan-Kansai meeting from 3:30. I was on the officer's election committee, and yesterday was the final count and announcement of winners. As there was only 1 candidate per position, all won by landslides.

In between the dentist and the Democrats, I managed to cobble together my 9th grade final exam, finishing it off in the evening after returning home. My weekend ended with the TV show Lost (episode 3...it just started on satellite here in Japan).

A final note: I just saw some loony went on a shooting spree in the Tacoma Mall today. Gun control politics aside, I hope none of my readers were hurt, and pray for the recovery of those who were.

Busy Thursday

iPod morning commute music: Bruce Springsteen, The Essential Bruce Springsteen, disc 1 (2003)

OK, what I really wanted to listen to is the reissued Born to Run, which I tried to buy at Tower yesterday but which isn't out in Japan yet. I have to wait till the 22nd. More on that box set (including 2 DVDs, one of which is a complete concert from 1995, the year I first saw Springsteen at the Paramount Theater in Seattle). Anyway, The Essential Bruce Springsteen is a pretty comprehensive 2-CD greatest hits, with a 3rd CD of rarities. Of course, great stuff.

Today is really busy. I have to help escort the ninth grade students to Peace Osaka, a museum concerning the firebombing of Osaka in WWII. I've been there once before with students, years ago, but my memory is that they have a pretty balanced presentation, meaning they do explain WHY the US bombed the city. The field trip is all afternoon, followed by the rehersal for our school's sponsered junior high school girls' English Recitation contest. We have participants from throughout Osaka Prefecture. This year it's my turn to be one of the judges, a dreaded job as most of the recitations are pretty boring, and there are 50 of them. The rehersal runs from 4:30-6:30, and being a judge means I have nothing to do during the rehersal other than stand around and watch other people reherse. I'll be the only judge present, as the other 4 are from outside our school. The contest is this Saturday, an all day affair, a busy end to a busy week.

Shave and a Haircut, Two Bits

iPod morning commute music: Big Star, #1 Record/Radio City (1992)

Big Star was a great power-pop band, though almost no one heard of them during their brief recording life, myself included. #1 Record was originally released in 1972 and went nowhere. The two main songwriters, Alex Chilton (the famed vocalist from The Box Tops [The Letter], though he sounds nothing like that here) and Chris Bell fell out, and Bell left the band. Radio City came out in 1974, again went nowhere. They recorded but didn't officially release a third album before breaking up for good.

I first heard about them when the third album, titled Third/Sister Lovers was finally released in 1992: I read a review, bought it and loved it. I then bought the reissue of the first two albums on a single CD. A great band, wielding a big influence on a lot of groups including REM, this is the disc to own. Third/Sister Lovers is also great, but very dark.

Yesterday I finally got a much-needed haircut. I couldn't make an appointment at my regular shop, so I found a barber shop in Umeda (the main business district in northern Osaka, and where I change trains every day)on my way home from work. It was a no-frills cut, not even a shampoo, for 1,500 yen (about $13). There's no tipping here, so that was the total cost.

Usually I go for the works when I get a haircut. They really pamper you for around $25-30. I love getting shaved, the hot towel on the face, the straight razor. They shave your whole face, including the forehead and, if you are brave, the eyelids (I have no idea why, but I let them do it anyway). The haircut is also great, with an initial shampoo, rinse, cut, second shampoo and treatment, blowdry, all followed by a mini-massage (shoulders, face and scalp). The whole thing takes about an hour (in comparison, yesterday's cut took 20 minutes).

When I got my hair cut on Vashon Island last, I told the stylist about this. She insisted that her male customers would balk at any cut taking longer than 15 or 20 minutes. I don't think I know any men of my generation in America who have ever had a professional shave. This is a thing of the past, something you see in movies only. I think I would miss this greatly in the States.

Feeling Much Better, Thank You

iPod morning commute music: Nick Drake, Bryter Layter (1970) & Five Leaves Left (1969)

Nick Drake was one of the great singer/songwriters of his time, which was short; he died in 1974 at the age of 26, probably a suicide. He only made 3 studio albums, the two I was listening to this morning and Pink Moon, which came out in 1972. All his songs a deeply reflective, with stunningly visual lyrics, accompanied by Drake on acoustic guitar, often with strings added. Beautiful, haunting songs. All three albums, along with a final collection of unreleased material called Time of No Reply, were gathered together and released as a box set called Fruit Tree, which is what I bought. Someone worth exploring if you don't know his work. Check out the song River Man from Five Leaves Left as a place to start.

I appear to have recovered from a 24-hour bug which put me into such a foul mood yesterday. I apologize for ranting and raving, particularly about my dentist. After he worked on me for half an hour last night, it appears he isn't charging me for the work! So much for my accusations of greed in the dental industry.

Sunday's Seattle Seahawks football game was televised after midnight this morning; I'll get to watch it tonight, my first Seahawks game of the season. One thing that I do miss from the States is football. With Nomo, Ichiro, and Godzilla playing baseball in the States, we get loads of live games, but not football (or basketball, for that matter). However, pity of the poor Europeans, Australians, South Americans, Africans, Indians, Pakastanis (I could go on, but won't) who live for soccer (football to the rest of the world), rugby and cricket. If they want to watch their sports, they need satellite TV such as Sky/Perfect (which we have, but the football and baseball games I watch are all on NHK, Japan's PBS). Again, though, this points out how much easier it is for Americans to live in Japan than for Japanese to live abroad: When was the last time you saw a complete Sumo match on American TV?

Weekend from Hell

iPod morning commute music: Nothing. On top of a horrible weekend, I've come down with a cold and only wanted to sleep on the train this morning.

As I mentioned on Friday, Saturday was never going to be a pleasant day, but everything went as planned; health check at 10 a.m., a meeting in Osaka at 3 p.m., back to my dentist near my station at 7 p.m. However, at the dental appointment I was told I would need 2 more appointments (that's 4 appointments total to replace a crown). While I know I should be grateful for the good health care we get here in Japan, one negative is that dentists drag out their work, basically because they get more money that way. What would take 2 appointments in the States takes 4 here, an separate appointment for each procedure. So tonight I have to go again to take an impression (the 2nd impression, BTW) for fitting the crown.

Yesterday, Kaoru and I went to COSTCO to do some shopping and put our snow tires on. When we bought the tires there three years ago, they said they would put them on and off for free, a good deal we thought. A year later they told us their policy had changed, and while they could put the snow tires ON for free, we would have to pay to put our regular tires back on as we hadn't purchased the regular tires at COSTCO. We protested then, and last year as well, and they did the work for free, but I verbally agreed that, from this year, I would pay to have them put on the regular tires. We showed up yesterday, and they told us because ALL our tires weren't COSTCO purchases, NONE of them could be put on for free. Again we argued, and they finally said they would put the snow tires on for free this year, but we would need to pay from next year. And so sorry, but because they were so busy, it would take 5 hours to do the work.

Kaoru and I got into the store, looked at each other, and decided enough's enough. We ended up complaining to the manager. It did not take 5 hours to change our tires, and we do not have to pay anything. Of course, the tire people probably hate us, but such is life.

All in all, a pretty awful weekend.

Friday again

iPod morning commute music: The Rolling Stones, Singles Collection, The London Years, discs 1 & 2 (1989)
A great 3 disc box set, this has every single, A & B side, the Stones released in the 1960s. While the A sides can be found elsewhere, the B sides are hard to find apart from this collection. Really cool stuff.

This morning, as I left my car in the parking lot and began walking to the station, I found myself looking back to check if I'd turned off the lights. It seems a silly precaution; once, just after getting married, I left my headlights on in the morning, went to work, and of course came home to a dead battery. Ever since then, I daily check the lights as I leave the parking lot, even in summer, in broad daylight. On those rare occasions when I don't check, I find myself worrying about it all day. This can't be normal.

I guess a lot of us worry about these types of little things: locking the front door, turning off the gas.

Tomorrow I have my annual health check-up, done through my village. For the princely sum of $17, they'll run me through a battery of test, including chest and stomach (eck! Barium!) X-rays. This type of health care, availabe to everyone in Japan, is one of the main reasons I'm beginning to realize I can't retire full-time in the States: I just don't have health insurance there.

Anyway, like I worry about the stupid headlights, I worry about my weight, cholesterol, blood pressure and all the other tests they'll run on the two vials of blood they'll draw tomorrow. But at least I'll feel better knowing I checked.

Election Results

iPod morning commute music: XTC, Skylarking (1986)
XTC is one of those rare bands that formed in the days of punk, shifted into New Wave, and then somehow transformed itself into a pop band influenced more by The Beatles than the Sex Pistols. This album was produced by Todd Rundgren, and while I understand the band members didn't much care for it, the critics and fans did. For the most part a gentle album, with the exception of Dear God, a very bitter song. If you haven't heard XTC before, this is a great place to start.

The election results are in. Since I was focused on Washington State issues, I'll make a few comments on the results. The politically (I guess) correct anti-smoking bill passed, as everyone knew it would. With the exception of my parents and Susan, who posted a comment down below on the issue, everyone I talked to was going to vote against it. Just goes to show you how many people I know. Voter rejected repealing the gas tax, money from which goes to repair roads across the state. A somewhat strange, in my opinion, initiative diverting money from our state sales tax to audit state agencies' budgets passed. I almost voted for it, but in the end did not. Two initiatives about medical malpractice failed, probably for the best...I voted against the one supported by doctors and for the one supported by lawyers, though my first inclination was to vote against them both.

As I'm not a resident of Seattle, I could not vote for or against the monorail proposal, which failed: The issue as I understand it is now dead, but Seattle residents will STILL have to pay for the money spent laying the groundwork for the system which is now rejected. Of course, the stupid thing (as Susan also mentioned somewhere below) is that Seattle now has NO rapid transit plan, leaving it as STILL one of the worst cities in the States for commuting.

On the national level, I don't think anyone should be surprised that Democrats fared better than Republicans in this election. President Bush's approval rating is the lowest it's been, with more and more Americans questioning both his policies and his administration. This was particularly telling, it seems, in Virginia, where the Republican candidate, running behind in polls, had Bush come in at the last moment to campaign for him. Unfortunately for him, there just weren't any coattails for him to hang onto.

Finally, the man who taught me how to help register voters here in Japan, Mark Smith, is now a public figure, so I can use his full name! He has won the Lynnwood (WA)Council Position 2 seat with 61% of the vote! Mark was the Vice Chair in charge of membership and voter registration, Democrats Abroad Japan-Kansai before moving back to the States and taking his involvement up to that next level. Congratulations, Mark! We'll be toasting you at our next meeting.

Wednesday here, Election Day there

iPod morning commute music: Richard and Linda Thompson, Shoot Out the Lights (1982)
This is just another of so many albums I came to hear only after moving to Japan. While I'd heard of Fairport Convention, for whom Richard Thompson played guitar in the '60s, I didn't actually hear any of their albums until sometime in the early '90s. They led me to this, a 5-star classic guitar rock album recorded with his wife as their marriage was falling apart. Essential listening.

I've been getting some comments and e-mails concerning the election in Washington State. Obviously, it's attracting a lot of voters, which is good, especially if the voters are informed. My old high school buddy (and Republican-leaning)Mitch was pleased that we were in accord with the smoking and gas initiatives. Unfortunately, I think both of those could pass. Wait and see.

This will be a short entry today, as I have to eat lunch early due to a meeting over the scheduled lunch hour. More tomorrow on the election results.

All Dressed Up

iPod morning commute music: Television, Marquee Moon (1977)
Okay, out of soul and into, what, punk, post-punk, garage rock, guitar rock? All of the above: This is just one of the all-time coolest guitar albums ever recorded. There is not a bad song on the album, though the title track is the one that sticks with you forever. Tom Verlaine's masterpiece, but it is a band effort, in particular (for me) Richard Lloyd's interplay with Verlaine, two great guitarists at their peak.

I put on a tie and jacket for work today, the second time this term. We don't really have a dress code for teachers at my school, which I like a lot. I just can't wear suits, ties, etc. when it's hot and humid, so usually in warm weather it's slacks and polo shirts. When it gets real cold, I'll switch to slacks and sweaters, but right now, it's perfect slacks/jacket/tie weather. We get 2-4 weeks of this in the fall, and the same in the spring. Of course, I'm getting all sorts of sarcastic comments for looking good, but those will stop in a couple of days.

I found out that one of the initiatives in Seattle, 901, has support from the democrat's and MoveOn.org. It's the ban on smoking in all public buildings and transport, including a ban on smoking within 25 feet of any entrance or ventilation system. I voted against this initiative, despite the fact that I'm a reformed smoker and hate smoke in restaurants and bars. It just seems like an unenforceable law, and unfair to those poor souls who are still hooked on the evil weed. Predictions are that it will pass with flying colors. We will see.

Finally, for my friends in the States, PLEASE take the time to vote on Tuesday. You really can make a difference.

Monday before Elections

iPod morning commute music: Dusty Springfield, Dusty in Memphis (1969)
I have gotten into a soul music phase; it was an Al Green anthology that I listened to on Friday, but failed to post. Today it was Dusty. I remember when the song from this album, Son of Preacher Man, came out. I was in the 9th grade, and was tormented by a guy named Dave S. (no last names, but for those in the know, he was a year younger than me and grew up to be a Washington State Trooper) who would follow behind me in the halls singing the chorus. These days, I call it my theme song! A great, classic soul album.

It was a busy weekend, getting my flu shot and dental work, trying to scope out university applications and financial aid requests with my son, and attempting to wade through the initiatives in the Washington State election. The latter was actually fun, because I got to talk to a variety of family and friends to get advice. Sometimes, Americans in Japan, myself included, feel like we shouldn't vote in local and state elections as we're too uninformed on these issues (unlike the presidential election, which gets great coverage even in Japan). However, what I discovered yesterday is that the way I was investigating the issues is basically the same way voting Americans in the States investigate the issues: read the voters' guide, check out newspaper and special interest endorsements, talk to friends. In the end, the only votes I placed with hesitation were local school board positions as I only had the voters' guide to go on. I do feel good about going through the process of voting, especially talking over the issues on the phone. I just wished more Americans at home would make the effort to understand the issues and take the time to vote. If they had done that a year ago, I believe we wouldn't be in the same position as we are today.

A Brief Reflection on the '60s

iPod morning commute music: Phil Spector, Back to Mono (1958-1969), disc 3 (1991)
Uh-oh, first Dionne Warwick, now Phil Spector...the trend is looking '60s, and it's one of my favorite trends to follow. Phil Spector was one of the greatest producers pop music has ever seen, and these three discs (the fourth, A Christmas Gift to You from Phil Spector, is his famous Christmas album) collect the greatest singles he produced, and is essential to understanding the decade.

I guess one of the reasons the '60s were so important musically was the variety of styles that seemed to peak at that time. You had, of course, pop, but rock erupted in all its variations, along with soul, rhythm and blues, blues, country, jazz, and the intermarriages between genres was astounding. For many, I think, the '60s can be distilled into the Beatles/Rolling Stones/Dylan/Beach Boys, but this misses much of the great music of the decade. Box sets, such as Back to Mono, are great ways to catch up on what else was happening then.

Tomorrow is a national holiday in Japan, and I must admit I'm looking forward to a mid-week break.

Halloween 2

iPod morning commute music: Dionne Warwick, The Dionne Warwick Collection (1989)
Always one of my favorite pop singers when I was growing up, I hate the image people have of her now, hawking (I guess; living in Japan, it's an image I don't have to see) a psychic telephone marketing scheme. Her musical collaborations with Burt Bacharach and Hal David from the '60s were classics in the pop genre, and this CD collects the best of them(from 1962-1970).

I wanted to say something about Halloween, actually Western holidays in Japan in general, yesterday and barely scrapped the surface due to time constraints. Certain holidays have become popular here, in particular Valentine's Day, Halloween, and Christmas, but their popularity is only commercial. Of course, these holidays are commercialized in the west as well, but there is some sense of tradition and/or religion which grounds them in our lives. In Japan, it is basically consumption only. It's at times surreal, for example, to be surrounded by Christmas music and decorations (starting, I'm sure, today since Halloween just finished) as you walk through the major department stores and still not feel any true Christmas spirit. The same is true for Halloween. When I wrote yesterday I miss the kids trick-or-treating at the door, I meant as much the tradition of trick-or-treating, and the other traditions of the holiday. Maybe an appropriate example would be jack-o-lanterns, where Japanese merchants will cut out black construction paper mouths, eyes and noses and glue them onto the pumpkins, displayed in front of their stores. Somehow, it's just not the same as a carved pumpkin, a candle lit inside, illuminating a front porch with its eerie glow.