Canton, OH will determine the future of this country
No, really. According this article, it comes down to who wins Stark County, Kerry or Bush. With extra added intrigue of Timken as well! Exciting.

Apologies to all that don't live/have never been to Canton, OH.

In news that's also got me excited, there's gonna be another series of Famicom Mini games! Click!! Too bad I'm not going to be here to blow all my cash on it though. I'll find a way to pick them up somehow though.

It's HOT out there
July as come, and with it the crazy summer heat. Take this from a veteran of sticky North Carolina summers, this is rough. It's so hot, I'm sweating on the inside. And the cool (well, not cool) thing about Japan is that it doesn't cool down at night! Yep, that's right, at about 11:30 last night the temperature was still 28 celsuis with 110% humidity. No wonder people walk around here with towels all the time. Well, at least the trains are air conditioned.

In other news, with the end of the school year and the end of my trip in Japan coming up, I'm going to be pretty busy with assignments/errands/social events, etc., So don't count on too many frequent posts for awhile. I'll try to update when I see or do something interesting though. Later.

10 Years after
I don't know if you've ever seen the documentary movie "Hoop Dreams", but even if you don't like basketball at all I recommend that you do. It's probably the most compelling movie that I've ever seen, and you're totally there in a movie full of twists and turns, successes and defeats. And to top all of it off, for better for worse, it happened for real.

So, a decade after the release of the movie, the Washington Post has done a follow-up on the charachters involved, why don't you check it out and then watch the movie? Or better yet, watch it first then read the article? Just make sure you watch the movie, above all else.

Link Here

My 4th of July in Japan
It's been interesting to be in Japan during all the major American holidays, and see what it's like over here. Thanksgiving, Halloween, and Easter were no-shows, Christmas was just an excuse for department store sales and to decorate the town, and New Year's was a blast. Couples do stuff for Valentine's day, but I don't remember what exactly- I think you just buy chocolate for your loved one or something.

That leads up to the Fourth of July, which has become one of my more favorite holidays recently. For obvious reasons it isn't celebrated here, except on military bases. I didn't get on base this time, and we kind of got in trouble for fireworks earlier this year, so options were limited.

What I ended up doing was going to the "tanabata" festival. It has to do with the Milky Way, or something along those lines, but more or less it was thousands of people strolling around, eating Japanese fair food from stalls, and looking at extravagant laterns. Maybe I'll have some pictures up soon. It was pretty cool all around, especially with many people dressed up in yukata (summer kimonos). So, it wasn't exactly patriotic, but I did do something interesting on the Fourth of July this year.

Hope that everyone had a good Independence Day. Drop a line and let me know what you did.

First Summer Movie Post (It's about Time!)
If anyone knows me, they know, among other things, that I enjoy going my fried chicken hot and my beer cold. They also know that I love to see the latest summer blockbuster at the movie theater. Preferably, the more explosions the better. Spiderman 2, even though I only moderately enjoyed the first, looked at it had all the qualifications to be said enjoyable movie blockbuster. And then, lo and behold, I read this from imdb.com:

"Critics seem to agree: Spider-Man 2 (which opens at midnight tonight in most cities) is a marvel. Most of their reviews are packed with apparently shameless hyperbole."

Followed by glowing reviews from about every movie critic under the sun. So, even though we all know movie critics can be douchebags, I'm definitely looking forward to the film now. It hits in Japan July 3rd- movie ticket cost- about $15 bucks! Oh yeah, I'm there.

As an aside, anyone seen Farenheit 9/11 yet?

You are currently using 0 MB (0%) of your 1000 MB.
Cool. I got a gmail account, it's the new thing from Google. The main attraction is, of course, the whole gig you get for storage space. It's still in development, so you can't sign up for it yet. But if I get some invites and you want one, pass a note along in the comments and let me know.

In other news, got a haircut yesterday. It's always fun getting a haircut somewhere when you really can't communicate, and where the styles are different. Well, I guess that's what hats are for, right?

One more thing- just passed the one year anniversary of this blog. It's been quite a year.

Downright Inspiring
Go to cpanthers.com, and click on `Cardiac Cats: 2003 Panthers`, under the headlines section. As long as you are not a Dallas, Tampa Bay, St. Louis, Philly, or Jacksonville fan, you will be glad that you did. Awesome.

I Knew It!
It's official- Tokyo is the most expensive city in the world. Read all about it here.

I've heard that salaries are often higher here to compensate for the costs, but of course since I'm not a salaried worker, or any time of worker actually, I don't know. I can't imagine living here to be too fun on the wallet though.

I'll try to draw up a 'most ridiculous' list of costs sometimes, if I can get the time.

Read this- "Mainly, the depreciation of the dollar makes it cheaper to send employees to American cities," said Jackie Barber, a spokeswoman for the survey."

I don't pretend to know the ins and outs of business, but outsourcing to America, that would be interesting.

The list of problems facing NHL
is long, complicated, and will be difficult to solve. Don't hold your breath to see the game anytime soon.

Read it and Weep

In another thing that makes you want to cry, Bill Parcells made an absolutely hilarious joke the other day. But since he said 'no disrespect', well, that makes it alright.
Read the whole sad story here

Hey, Bill, no disrespect, but you're fat and ugly.

In other, happier news, Van Halen Is Back!

Van Halen Reunion Tour Offers Old, New, 'Wacky'

Anytime 'Wacky' is in the headline, you know it's gotta be good.

Web Search Update
According to Lycos, Clay Aiken is now the #1 searched for thing on the internet. I am now speechless.