On Strays, Backgammon and Nargile

Strays:

There are tons of cats and dogs wandering the streets of Izmir. We have about three cats that hang out by the lojman (faculty housing) and there are three or four more that loiter at the south gate. They look a bit like the cats in Grey Gardens - small, with tongues hanging out and lethargic. The dogs are even more lazy, finding a shady spot and parking it for the day. The interesting thing about all of these strays is the way the community takes care of them. As I was leaving the school lunchroom a couple days ago, a guard approached me. I was about to drop off my tray when he gestured to the chicken bones on my plate. He then indicated with a nod that he'd like to add my chicken bones to the tray he was collecting. "For dogs," he said. After this, I noticed in the evenings after dinner, walking along the streets, these small squares of newspapers upon which sat leftovers - köfte, lamb, bones and rice all sitting in glops. Whilst walking down to the bay, I interrupted a cat in the middle of a dinner of fava beans by a streetlamp.

Backgammon:

I'd not known that backgammon is such a popular game here, but walk down to the bars any evening and you'll see men and women young and old sitting over a table playing backgammon - others sit and play a game that looks like mahjong. I love backgammon so I'm gonna have to get me a board and play a few games with the locals. The thing people like to do while playing backgammon besides having a drink is to smoke the Nargile.

Nargile is the Turkish counterpart to the Hindu hookah. I've smoked a nargile twice since coming here. Both times at the Garden Cafe. Our ever-friendly waiter suggested we try cappuccino flavored tobacco, so we did. After a bit, friendly waiter arrives with the glass water pipe puffing away at the end of it to get it going. He then sets it down and throws a few wrapped plastic spigots or mouthpieces on the table and we go to it. It's a pretty social event, this water pipe smoking. The mouthpiece gets passed around and the heady smoke fills the evening air. Every few minutes happy waiter came through puffing on another pipe as he brought it to the table. Quite the enjoyable occupational hazard.

We hit Ikea today to get a bunch of stuff for our apartments. Tomorrow? We're off to Istanbul for three days. I'm hoping to get to see the hotel Agatha Christie used to stay in there. Apparently it's pretty chichi.

My first post from Izmir

Well, I've decided to keep my old blog url since most people know it. The title of the blog has changed, tho (I'm still looking for a better title, but this will have to do until then - Molly and Kristin came up with a great list but I don't think many of those will work). Back at the end of January I was attending an overseas teaching job fair. There I accepted a position teaching at a high school in Izmir, Turkey. Since that time, I pretty much led my normal everyday life with the exception of having to get a few ducks in order - passport, application for Turkish work visa, trip to Chicago to get said visa stamped into my passport, packing, flying out.

Now that I'm here, I can't believe how quickly my summer in Minnesota passed. But anyway, I'll talk about all that's been happening since I got here.

Sunday, August 16th -
I arrived in Izmir at about 3:30 pm and promptly realized that I'd failed to exchange some money before arriving. This made getting a one euro trolly to haul my luggage difficult. I asked about an ATM but it was apparently on the other side of customs. I was reduced to begging a euro off of a fellow passenger. Once I got all that sorted out and got my luggage, I whizzed through customs without the officials even taking one look at my bags, then met Chris (our school's administrator) and Vide (a fellow English teacher). They helped me get my luggage in the van and we headed over to the Lojman, or faculty housing (I like the sound of that word, lojman. I think I'm going to use it for all subsequent residences). They asked if I wanted to sleep or head out and see the neighborhood. Neighborhood, definitely.

We walked around - oh, wait! here's a series of photos I patched together to show my apartment - it's kind of hard to see, but you get the idea. It's huge! I could fit three of my Japartment in this place (tho' I'll always miss the heated toilet seat and deep tub in that place).


- the neighborhood and Chris pointed out various places I'd need to familiarize myself with - where to buy good fruit, a bakery, the post office, a convenience store, the bank, etc. Then we walked over to the Kordon - this is the area on the bay where there is a big walkway and tons of little outdoor bars and cafes. Apparently someone back in the day had come up with the idea of building a major highway along the coast here which would have ruined the area. Thankfully, aesthetic heads prevailed and the project was abandoned. It was hot and I was a might parched so Chris and Vide took me to a bar where we had a couple of beers. As we sat there, several convertibles sped by (there's still a road along the coast, just not a view inhibiting, elevated highway), with men beating drums and boys seated up high on the back seat wearing dress clothes and flowing capes. We saw about 7 or 8 in the course of an hour. The boys were smiling and waving. Chris explained that this bit of pomp was to celebrate when a 9-year-old boy was going to be circumcised. The boy is obviously smiling because he hasn't had the procedure done yet.

After beers, we went to a local restaurant where I had a lamb and eggplant kebab with ayran (a kind of salted yogurt drink) and ended with Turkish coffee. That night I unpacked and slept only a few hours.

Monday - Wednesday
These days have been spent doing a lot of walking, taking trips to the store to get things for my place, exploring the neighborhood, greeting other arriving teachers and getting to know the campus. They have quite an orientation set up for us - trips to Ikea and local shopping malls, three days in Istanbul, departmental meetings, planning sessions, etc. We'll be very prepared by the time our students arrive.

I wanted to post a ton of pictures of the Kordon, the school and the exterior of my apartment, but I cannot get the pictures to load. I Think once I get my DSL hooked up it will be quicker. Right now I'm just piggy-backing off of my neighbor's wireless - thanks Michelle!

More to come.

Seen and Overheard at the Ecopolitan

I just got back from a great dinner with Liz, Bevin, and Christina at Ecopolitan, Minneapolis' raw foods/vegan restaurant. The meal was great, the company, scintillating and the people-watching was ... in a word, interesting. Across the room from us sat a couple. Just a seemingly normal middle-aged couple having a quiet conversation. Behind Liz sat a table of two women and a man celebrating one of their birthdays. There were others in the adjoining room but I don't remember much about them.

We sat, enjoying our silly conversations when above the din a woman's voice rose and said something to the effect of, "Don't call me Barbara, whenever I'm in here I must only be referred to as Liz." (I can't remember if Barbara was the first name, but you get the idea - it was a WEIRD thing to say. I thought it was odd and after the people behind Liz left, I leaned over to Christina and asked, "What did that Liz woman say they weren't supposed to call her?" Christina laughed and replied, "I don't remember and she's still here." It was apparently woman who made up half of the middle-aged couple who'd made the loud, strange remark. Luckily she hadn't heard me and we continued with our own conversations.

A bit later, as we were eating our food, I happened to look behind Bevin to the corner where the couple sat. The middle-aged man, while the woman was talking to him, picked up his empty plate AND BEGAN LICKING HIS PLATE!!!! Not just a single lick, but several, sweeping licks! This man made a production of licking his plate clean.

Come on! Who licks their plate in a restaurant?!

Kalamazoo

After college I was in a production called "1940s Radio Hour" which began with this song and was sung in this style. Fun stuff:

A Classic Freak-out

Those of you who know me well understand that I have an eclectic (read nerdy) taste in films. I have a fairly high tolerance for slower moving films, films with little or no plot, and humor that is often more charming than clever. Classic films of the thirties hold a special place in my heart - I love the dialogues, the overacting, the poignancy and cinematography of many films from this era. One really popular film from the thirties was "Dinner at Eight." I have to admit, it unfolds slowly, and you may only recognize a few characters in it (Lionel Barrymore - Mr. Potter of "It's a Wonderful Life," Jean Harlow - Hollywood sexpot of the thirties, and my favorite Billie Burke - you'll remember her as Glinda the Good from "The Wizard of Oz"). The scene here is the one that makes me laugh the most in the film. Billie Burke is planning this lavish dinner to court some influential British couple visiting New York amidst family and financial crises happening all around. As the dinner slowly falls apart, poor Billie reaches her breaking point and freaks out on her daughter and husband. Every little gesture, twitch and eye movement is genius:

Wakkie Nu Nu

I came across this video on one of those celebrity gossip blogs. This guy is awesome. Watch the whole video - it's so wakkie nu nu (whatever that means).

Wrongful

I've been writing legal websites for almost three months now, and while I am starting to find a writing groove, the job does continue to have it's challenges. There is the feeling that you've written the same thing over and over, that you're recycling ideas. There's also the challenge of remembering what took place in an interview you conducted over a week ago so you can write copy that is specific.

Then there are subjects which are just not easy to write. For me, there are quite a few - sometimes this is due to my lack of interest, sometimes I am out of my realm, but then there are times where I just don't know how to address a particular subject. The subject that to me always feels a bit weird to write about is wrongful death. First, I've never quite been comfortable with the term, and second it's difficult to sound sympathetic when writing what is essentially marketing copy. But even more than this, I feel like the person to whom I should be addressing the content is no longer around to be addressed. I kept thinking about how I'd REALLY like to write this type of webpage:


Ann Arbor Wrongful Death Attorneys

Death has a finality that can be depressing, if not disturbing. When you are the one who has succumbed to this event and you find yourself in a mortuary when you normally would be home enjoying a quiet supper with your spouse or other loved ones, you may experience a helplessness you’ve never had to deal with before.

But if you suspect that your death was wrong and you shouldn’t have died – that your demise is the direct result of another’s action, intentional or simply negligent, you need legal advice and representation. At Grimm, Graves & Pall, Attorneys at Law, our wrongful death lawyers can help you determine if your death was wrong or not. Contact us today.

A Matter of Determination
If you have just died, you probably have a lot of questions. You may wonder if your death was right or wrong. Even if you suspect you’ve been wrongfully done to death, or even deathfully wronged, you need strong advocacy. Our attorneys are alive and can assist you in matters that require a pulse, not to mention the ability to walk or speak. We routinely handle wrongful death suits related to the following matters:
• Misdiagnosis
• Product Liability
• Reckless Driving
• Premises Liability

You Have Rights
While we at Grimm, Graves & Pall have never died, we do understand the frustration and debilitating effects death can have on one. Perhaps you feel that you cannot effect change in your situation, or that you will never be able to enjoy the quality of life you once enjoyed. While these are both correct assessments, you do still have rights, whatever they may be. Our job is to secure those rights.

If you have questions regarding your death or are unable to determine for yourself whether it was the result of another’s wrong or it was simply your time to go, we invite you to contact the wrongful death attorneys at Grimm, Graves & Pall for a free post-mortem case review.



Now that I have that out of my system, perhaps I can write those pages better.

Elaine

Last Thursday I went to the MMC with Jean, Kristin, Shannon, and Shannon's mom. There was a guy there who we named "Elaine" because he danced like this:


In other news, I have a new car - a VW Jetta! and it looks like this:

なんだこれや! ~or~ Nanda Koreya! (If the Hiragana doesn't show up on your computer)

I'd been seeing these statues around town for weeks. The first one I saw was in a frame shop window. I was biking along on my way to work when suddenly, I was arrested by this enormous sculpture of a rather corpulent woman clad only in red heels with a mud pack on her face. I was shocked as I'd never seen it in the shop before. I just stared and said, "What the hell is that?" If you've read a couple entries ago, you'll remember a smaller statue I took a picture of with Kanako at Cafe Praktica. Last time I went to Praktica, Ako-san told me a bit about the artist, whose picture was on the cover of a magazine sitting next to the sculpture. I told her I thought it would be fun to visit his studio and see his work.

The very next day, I was returning to work from break and got up to the office and as I set down my bag, Stacy said, "Did you see the car down in the back of the building?"
I replied, "No. Which car?"
"The one filled with the naked fat lady sculptures you've been talking about. I think the artist is here."
So I walked back out of the office and ran down to see if I could catch the artist. When I got to the lobby, I found a guy putting a fat naked lady in the back of a car, so I pointed to the sculpture and asked if he was the artist. He said no and gestured around the corner. I walked around the corner and now recognized the artist from his picture. We chatted for a bit. He showed me the poster for the exhibition and then he told me what Nanda Koreya means. It turns out my initial reaction to his sculpture was rather apt because it was the way he translated the exhibition title: "What the hell is it?" He gave me a poster with his number and name on it and invited me to come to see his studio.

Later in the week when I was telling my excellent Odyssey ladies on Wednesday afternoon about it, Mieko and Tomoko mentioned they'd like to come along (after I hinted a bit that it would be nice to have someone there to translate). So after a couple calls to the artist, Jin Nariyoshi, we settled upon this afternoon for a visit.

I biked down to City Hall and met Tomoko and Mieko at 11 for lunch. They took me to this excellent organic foods restaurant on the east side of Utsunomiya. This place was really great - set in a rural area, it was part house, part restaurant. We came in and were happy to see a woodburning stove burning away cheerfully in the corner (it was a bit drizzly and cold today). I hopped up the stairs to the loft seating and took a couple of pictures of my daytrip companions:
Here's Tomoko and Mieko again, but in sepia - the restaurant seemed very well suited to taking sepia tone photographs (which is why I took this snap):
Here's a shot of my excellent meal. I had a chicken and green onion quiche with onion soup and a plate full of lightly steamed assorted root vegetables and a homemade mustard mayo. There was also a side dish with a tofu mousse which was delicious! Doesn't it just ooze organicness?:
Next we headed to Mashiko to meet Nariyoshi-san at his house. After another call to get specific instructions, we found the house/studio which was set back in a small forest. We wondered at first whether or not we had the right place until we saw one of his large women sitting on the porch. Just as Ako had said, Mr. Nariyoshi was really nice - he invited us into his large, high ceilinged living room in which almost every spot on the floor was filled with stacks of Japanese style pottery - bowls, cups, vases, plates, and sculptures. Then he began to show us some of his works as well as some photographs. It turns out that our host is quite well-respected in the world of Japanese ceramics. One of his pieces sits in the BRITISH MUSEUM and according to the small placard under the photo of this piece, Mr. Nariyoshi is an exponent of a particular style of Korean pottery glazing that dates from the 14th and 15th centuries (if I remember right). After his wife brought in tea for each of us and went back to her studio (she's also a potter, though they both have separate work spaces), we talked more and took some pictures. Here I am with Nariyoshi and Mieko:
And here we are again, this time with Tomoko:
I also snapped a couple shots of some of his large ladies:

He explained that beauty was not just restricted to thin, super model types - he thought that large women were sexy and beautiful and wanted to showcase that sexiness. Then he looked at me and asked if I liked large women (owing I guess to all of my questions about the sculptures) - I smiled and explained that I had so many questions because what intrigued me was that a Japanese artist should choose a large caucasian woman as his subject (he mentioned that she is not based on any particular woman - tho' I thought she looked a bit like Dawn French from BBC comedy fame - but came from his imagination). We had a great visit and at the end, he brought out a small cell phone charm with the exhibition title on it, but even more important, he took out a calligraphy brush and on the back of an exhibition card, he artfully wrote the exhibition name and stamped it with his hanko - we all marveled at his beautiful calligraphic style:
Here's one more shot of Tomoko and Mieko in Mr. Nariyoshi's living room:
After a great visit, and an invitation to go out for drinks in Utsunomiya together, we bid farewell and headed back to the main street of Mashiko where Mieko looked (without result) for a matching green tea cup to replace one that had been chipped. Here's a shot of one of the stores we looked around in:
We stopped at a coffee shop for dessert and tea and coffee. This cafe was located in the same building where I'd made pottery nearly a year ago with Saki, Masaki, and Wasim. But between that and all the tea offered us at nearly every place we went, I had to keep going to the bathroom (even making a stop on our way back to Utsunomiya - I wonder what the kanji is for "He with the little bladder"?) Mieko dropped off Tomoko and I and I walked to City Hall where I'd left my bicycle this morning only to find that my bicycle was missing - I looked and looked and e-mailed Tomoko who met me and took me to the Police station nearby to report it stolen, but without the serial number, there wasn't much they could do about it - they did, however, suggest that perhaps the City Hall security people may have moved it if it was in a restricted place, so tomorrow I'll go look for it. Anyway, I walked home tonight and as I walked past the frame shop, I snapped this picture of the sculpture that resulted in today's great adventure (even if my bike was stolen):

Curiouser and Curiouser

This post is a companion post to my friend Aiichiro's post on the same subject. I would link to it, but my Mac browser doesn't let me do it easily, so you will just have to trust me when I say that he wrote about this first. Anyway, as someone who enjoyed art and wanted to be an artist at a very early age, I was naturally attracted to kids books with superior illustrations. I liked Maurice Sendak, Edward Gorey, etc. But my favorite illustrations were the ones Sir John Tenniel had done for Lewis Carroll's Alice books. After I admired the pictures and tried copying them in my own notebooks, I actually read "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass" and was so happy to find out the stories were (unlike the Disney film) brilliantly complex, humorous, and completely sarcastic. Carroll, through these books, is able to show how ridiculous the adult world must seem to children, and poke fun at imperialism at its worst to boot.

I've seen several versions of Alice in Wonderland and have never been satisfied because they have all seemed too cutesy, and Alice isn't cute - she's strong, and whiny, sometimes a brat, and very often full of common sense. I like Alice, because she is not passive - she explores the worlds she's dropped into and discovers new things. Most versions of Alice focused on the putting famous actors in caterpillar or turtle costumes and having them dance around like theme-park mascots.

Enter Jan Svenkmajer, Eastern European stop-action animator. I'd heard he'd made a version of "Alice" in the 80s but after my sister and her friend had seen another of his films, "Little Otek" (about a child made out of a stump of wood - a child that grows and devours neighbors), I kept putting it off. I didn't want to be disturbed. When I saw YouTube had some clips of "Alice", I watched them and then ordered myself a copy of the film. It IS a bit disturbing, but not in a bad way, and it completely captures the feeling of the original books without resorting to sentimentality. In fact, it's completely unsentimental. At times, Svenkmajer's wonderland is nightmarish and his Alice, who is correctly played much younger than in most adaptations, is run through the wringer (is it wringer? or ringer? I think it must be wringer because you are wringing out water as from recently warshed (I actually spelled that incorrectly on accident, so I'll leave it) clothes).

After watching the film, I had to bring it to Aiichiro because he quotes Alice at least once a week and has a special love, bordering on obsession, for this book (which to me is very cool).

So for your viewing pleasure (Liz, you will love the teeth!), I am including Svenkmajer's version of Alice and the caterpillar (it's four minutes long, but you can spare four minutes for bizarre, can't you? I thought so.):

How to Make Matt Happy:

Transform yourself into an Agatha Christie DVD collection, place yourself in the mail and ship yourself to Japan (even though you chose surface mail, I eventually will forgive you).

Let the 36 hours of Poirot nerd-dom begin!

Four Seafood Pizzas, Three Whi-ite Russians, Two Silly Reindeer, and a Salary Ma-an in a Red Dress: A Christmas Party AEON Style

Well, this AEON party was not a well-planned affair, but sometimes it's the unplanned events that prove to be the most enjoyable. We'd talked about having it at a restaurant with lots of food and drink, but no one seemed to think about reserving a room at a restaurant until two weeks before the night of the party. Year-end parties are HUGE here in Japan, so every restaurant within a mile radius of school was booked on the 16th. We then decided to have a potluck party at the school - similar to what we did for halloween. We talked about, and even planned a game for the evening, but luckily, the party ran itself and everyone had a good time without the staff having to resort to mixer type games. Mind you, if we had planned it a little bit better, we could have had a white elephant gift exchange which would have been a lot of fun (in this society of shopping for and owning the latest clothes and accoutrements, I would have been sure to have walked away with a Burberry scarf or a Louis Vuitton wallet).

Michel and I decided that we would do a little planning of our own to insure an enjoyable evening. After quaffing a couple shot glasses of a quickly mixed drink, we went to the bathroom to change out of our work suits and into more casual attire. The day before, we bought these silly reindeer headband/masks and goofy glittery bow ties. Then in one of the classrooms, we broke out the ingredients for our evening's refreshment. Here's Michel proudly holding two of the ingredients:

We mixed the Kahlúa, milk and Stoli in a plastic pitcher and then got out our Christmas mugs from the 100 Yen shop out and poured ourselves drinks for the evening. We waited a bit for a few of the students to arrive before making our appearance. Zen was one of the earliest to arrive. Zen had had some wine before coming and was all ready to enjoy the party:

Soon, more guests started to arrive and we were all surpised when our former part-time teacher, Fumiko came into the room. Madoka had secretly invited her as a surprise for staff, teachers, and students. Here she is with Satomi and a couple students getting ready to chow down some seafood pizza (I did eat one piece, but I may have to order a pepperoni pizza for dinner tonight just to make up for that one slice - it wasn't that bad, but I just can't get used to it):

After a bit, Yoshiko donned my antlers and bowtie and the newlyweds posed for this pic:

When Michel and I went downstairs to let Yuichiro (one half of the crazy guys) into the building and the first thing he said was, "I need the bathroom," we thought he had been waiting outside the building for sometime and had to go, but when he came through the doors, we realized his real reason for needing the bathroom. Like at the Halloween party a couple of months ago, he decided to wear a dress - a santa dress (but he did include his cat ears from the last costume and made sure to cover his armpit hair with flesh colored duct tape - shudder). Here he is posing with Michel (Note to Michel: this is not as bad as the pic I could have posted):

Later, Kotaro put on the mask and was delighted to be surrounded by Madoka, Fumiko, Miki, and Stacy:

Here's Junko and Seiko (two of my advanced level students with our school manager, Yoshiko):

And here are the two goofy reindeers (did I actually just type an s after that word to make it plural?) with Yuichiro and Yoshiko:

It was good to see Kei too, as I never get to teach her anymore (Jess, she was thrilled when I told her you thought her skin looked so beautiful in the Halloween pics):

And here I am toward the end of the night (still wearing that awful tie) but happy to get a few minutes to catch up with Fumiko and see how she was doing. Fumiko and I used to always have our lunch at the same time on Saturdays and would have interesting chats - I miss that:

I think I took off at around 1:30 and was handed a box of doughnuts on my way out - hooray!

A Dream

I just woke up about a half an hour ago and have been ruminating over this dream I had whilst (impressive, no?) drinking jasmine tea. Here's the dream:

I was starting my second year at Hogwarts, except Hogwarts wasn't Hogwarts; it was an office complex on a sunny, city street. And I wasn't moving into a dormitory, but an office. As I put my things at one of two desks which were separated from the room with a bed sheet, I glanced at the things sitting on the desk opposite mine. There was a pair of pink heels, a black brief case, and a pink Jackie O' style hat sitting there. I looked at them and thought, "Oh, Good, AV is my new office mate!" (Yes, Angry Vegan, you were in my dream!). As I got things settled in. AV walked in dressed in a sixties style dress-with-pants type suit and a hat that looked like Madeline's from the children's story. The overall effect was like the outfit Violet Beauregarde from Willie Wonka wore:

She grabbed her wand and went outside, so I followed. AV was looking up into the sky where several crows were congregated, but something looked odd. I looked up too and the sky had become the ground and the crows were all eating something on the pavement above us and it was as if we were in the sky looking down on them.

Suddenly, a gigantic chariot flew across the sky (which was the sky once again) off in the distance and the driver (Apollo?) was trying desperately to stop the beasts that were pulling the chariot, but couldn't and there was an amazing crash. Then we went around to the front of the building and in the sky was a towering, giant Neptune with his pitchfork and a large seahorse flying by and then a large viking ship in the distance. It started raining and it was getting difficult to see, so AV and I took out our wands and said "Expeliaramus," or whatever Harry, Ron and Hermione say, and the rain temporarily started falling in slow motion. All of the sudden all of these wizards started running by on the street - a woman with her two children stopped and talked to AV about what was going on, but I couldn't hear what they said.

Then I woke up and thought, "That was cool."

AV, did you have a similar dream?

no title

*I am still enjoying work.
*I am still enjoying my students.
*I am still maintaining my sense of humor.
*I am still keeping my mind engaged in intellectual pursuits.

and yet, I have hit a new low in my professional life.

*I didn't complain when they suggested we do mini 5-minute lobby lessons.
*I helped think up good idiomatic expressions to teach students between classes.
*I had fun teaching (along with my fellow teachers) pronunciation through tongue twisters.
*I even participated when one week of every month, we started having to teach a portion of a karaoke song and then sing it with our students in the lobby ("Your Song" by Elton John and Louis Armstrong's version of "What a Wonderful World").
*I drew it to the attention of our staff and fellow teachers when I noticed that some students waited in the hall until the singing was over so they didn't have to participate and feel uncomfortable, but to no avail.

but now it's simply awful:

*The song that was chosen (Notice the non-accusatory passive voice? That's on purpose.) for this week's karaoke sing-along?















*wait for it...















"What a Feeling" from Flashdance.


*I refused to sing this song with my students in the lobby and lose every shred of credibility.
*I refused to scoop my voice, Irene Cara style, while singing words that made no sense.
*Yet I was forced to teach the words to students twice this week.
*I had to say horrible, unnatural things like:

"Okay everyone, repeat after me:
'What a feeling-'
'Being's believing-'
(someone PLEASE tell me what that means)
'I can have it all-'
'Now I'm dancing for my life-'
(a useful phrase for any Japanese traveler)
'Take your passion-'
(yes, Michel and I sang 'Take your pants off,' which is what I (and I think everyone else) used to think Cara was singing)
'and make it happen-'
That was great everybody! Now, let's listen, and join in when you get to the chorus!"


*When I didn't have to lead, I generally hid out in an empty classroom.


*Who needs a drink?

Hey, Spoil Sport - Remember This?

What's the YouTube Equivalent of a Couch Potato? or Twiggy vs. James Bond

Like others, I have succumbed to the lure of YouTube. It's got something for everyone - think of that show that you thought only you liked, do a search on YouTube and nine times out of ten, someone else has recorded a short movie from their old beta tapes and forever preserved it for your enjoyment.

I also want to apologize for posting movies instead of putting up blog entries of any real substance. I should be writing a blog that is informative and insightful like my colleague Michel is doing on his blog, but I can rarely remember names of the countless shrines I go to.

So now, I'm going to post my last YouTube movie for a while (unless it is one of my own making). This one is a little more fitting because it is a J-Pop video. A few years ago B, Mrs. B, SpSp and I were able to see this band at First Ave. in Minneapolis. We'd already been listening to this band on CDs, and jumped at the chance to see them live. We knew it was going to be a great concert when one of the band members came out in a black tux jacket (sans tails) with a smart bow tie, and a kilt. He carried a huge Japanese flag that he waved over the audience. After that, the concert was a total visual free-for-all. Between songs, retro style videos of the band were played while the audience anticipated the next number.

These guys had a costume change for every song they performed - Japanese school uniforms, Disco wear, collegiate style cheerleading uniforms complete with letterman cardigans and a mascot. Their style was always a sort of 60s fizzy, Euro, lounge look. It was amazing how well they got it. To this day, the Pizzicato Five concert I attended that night was my all-time favorite. Since I've been here, I've seen tons of their discs - stuff you can't get in the US. I found out that Nomiya Maki - their lead singer during their most popular years was not the original lead, but the third lead singer the band had had. I only wish they were still making their amazing music. From what I read on Wikipedia, this type of J-Pop is called Shibuya-kei (named for Shibuya, a really "hip" district in Tokyo). If you like the video below, go to YouTube and search for Pizzicato Five or go to my videos (anskov is my screen name there), and check out my favorites of theirs. Enjoy:

Summer "Camp"

One summer, right after I got out of college, a bunch of my friends (including SpoilSport and Jon) and I went to the Walker Art Center sponsored Movies and Music in the park. While many of the films were really campy, some were quite important as well. "Johnny Guitar" was one of them. I remember the fall after I watched it in the park seeing it again in a film class that I sat in on - SpSp and I almost got kicked out because we were laughing so hard at it. It's a equal parts 50s Western and cat fight with Joan Crawford as the lead cat. Starring opposite her was an "actress" named Mercedes McCambridge.

Crawford plays a hotel owner named Vienna who owns a valuable piece of land (the railroad is coming through). She has to take on a posse of angry cowboys who want to take over the land so they can maintain control of the town as it grows. This bunch is lead by Emma Small (McCambridge) who's voice sounds exactly like Rocky the Squirrel. The movie is AMAZING - the technicolor makes Crawford look severe and frightening, and the whole thing is just plain surreal. I own the video, but couldn't find it on DVD.

Luckily, YouTube has a clip - a clip that just happens to be my favorite scene in the movie. The initial showdown between Emma and Vienna. It's four minutes long, but well worth the viewing, especially to hear each of Emma's lines. Her final line, "I'm going to kill you" is classic. I've never quite heard a delivery like this one. When I get back, we need to have a viewing of this bizarre film.



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A Video Response to Jean's Kool-Aid Post

I enjoyed Jean's post about Kool-Aid so much that I decided to look for some Hawaiian Punch ads (because I loved the sugary awfulness of the drink) and found this hysterical one with Donny and Marie Osmond (which is also sugary and awful):


Let me just say that if I had hair, I would want it to look EXACTLY like Donny's feathered 80s hair.

I laughed out loud at this because it reminded me of a parody of this commmercial that I saw with Catherine O'Hara and Dave Thomas on SCTV - they capped their teeth and sang the same tune, only now the product they were advertising was something you use to . . . well, let's just say a certain someone at MMC on Thursday nights (someone who dips herself) might find useful. I filmed it with my camera while playing the episode on my laptop, so the quality isn't too great, but you'll get the idea:

Too much time on my hands

This idea for a small movie had been running through my head for a few weeks and I decided over the last two days to see if I could actually make the thing. I'm pretty happy with the result. I've been a fan of the 40s/50s vocal band The Pied Pipers for a number of years now- they used to sing with Tommy Dorsey and back up Frank Sinatra in his early crooning years. Well, I got one of their albums from Amazon a couple of months ago and when I heard this song, it made me so happy that I wanted to do something with it.

It didn't take very long to make the movie, but did require me to collect footage of produce in the grocery store (which was a little embarrassing), and engage in foolish antics in my apartment (which was more fun than embarrassing). So anyway, I hope you enjoy it:

I know I am dating myself with this post.

Okay, so I've been a little bored in my free time, so I have been looking up children's show videos on You Tube. Just so you can see how much better things were in the 70's with children's programing, I am giving you some clips. I won't disturb you with any Tellytubbies (sp?):

This is children's television I remember as I was getting older. These are from two shows that came out in the 80s when I was getting too old for kid's shows on PBS. :

Reading Rainbow. Ah, LeVar, whiter than me...


The Great Space Coaster. I am embarrassed that I watched this show, tho' Gary Gnu was pretty cool:


Here's Sesame Street stuff I used to like watching:

This one, I always liked the animation on as well as the youngest son's voice:


This tune always made me smile:


I saved the best for last. Here's the stuff from Electric Company. It's gold. Tho' I can't find the "Loaf of bread, a container of milk, and a stick of butter" one. That one was my favorite.

This one has a Foxxy Brown edge to it:


This one you've probably seen at sometime in your childhood and it represents the funkiest music:


I tried to find some of Captain Kangaroo, the old 1971 Zoom, and the New Zoo Review, but couldn't find them. Also found a funny clip where a kid shows Mr. Rogers how to break dance, but I'm still in mourning his death so I won't post that one yet. I also looked for the Maurice Sendak animated songs with Carole King, but no one's uploaded them on YouTube yet.

Well, I'm not sure if any of you have seen these in re-runs, but they gave me a few laughs and I hope they do the same for you. If you think of/ find others, let me know, or post the links in my comments.