9.20.2005

Summer Spectacular


Well the summer is finally drawing to an end and along with it goes my blogging drought or is it draught (or is that just for beer?)...Wow I am confused. I think that for all practical reasons I will say, "dry spell".
Firstly I can only hope that I still have a few people that will look my way and see that I am still alive and that damn it, my musings aren't that difficult to stomach. But in order to get those few I had better get to the musings.
So yeah, Mikey came to visit. It was awesome; truly Michael, thanks. It was not only nice to get to see a dear friend that I haven't seen in two years, but it was also great because it gave me another chance to see Japan through a new set of eyes. I kept trying to think of ways that I could show him something completely new and unreal. But then again it is Mikey, the lease likely to be blown away by something. I wonder what it is that goes on in that head of yours...One hell of an imagination I would gather. Anyway, new eyes, rebirth of enjoyment and all that good stuff and then I get laid up with stomach issues for a few days and am kind of limited a little bit to the house...But Mikey was a trooper and made the most of it.
It just dawned on me that I don't need to recap his whole trip; if you would like further details then please talk to the man hisself. He told me that he enjoyed it and he also smiled a lot, which made me happier then any amount of free sho-chu. I love ya mikey and I hope that you are able to make it over again.
To the rest of you...I am still here and I will be for a while. I have access to rooms for free and futons a plenty. Food and entertainment can be arranged.

So school starts soon and I am pretty excited about it. My classes this semester are the a-typical Level A, B, High-Level, etc.; however I have managed to throw in some other interesting little tidbits such as "American History: The Great Depression", "American T.V. Show" (show to be decided), and "Humorous Reading: American Comics"...yeah I am going to have a class about reading and interpreting old Calvin & Hobbes, Fox Trot, Far Side, and Get Fuzzy. Things are looking up. The best thing for me will be that with school resuming I do believe that my relationship with my little lady will improve...lately it's been a little tough. I'm a bit of a baby when it comes to having nothing to do and no one to hang out with. So let's all say a prayer for Noriko and hope that her patience lasts another couple weeks. She's a good girl...it's just that no work and T.V. makes Danny a little clingy.

What else to talk about...I like darts. Yup that's right, I like the bloated old Irish/Englishman's game; and I'm not too bad either. Going to get better...or so I hope. Kind of a hobby for me; but then again rugby season is soon approaching. Yeah! This year should promise to be a good one for ole Danny boy. I have really been looking forward to the new challenge. This year should see a lot more action for the big guy. I hope to be on the scoring end of many a balls. I know that most of my reading audience doesn't really know all that much about the sport, but you don't have to worry, neither does the author. However I do know that I, a prop, work within a scrum and that my main objective is to run straight when given a ball and that I am also to respond quickly to any type of maul or ruck (the aforementioned occur when a runner is tackled; mauls form when the runner is still on his feet and his teammates form around him to get the ball out as well as gain yards, whereas a ruck occurs when the runner is on the ground and the ball is presented, ruckers are there to keep the other side from jumping over and taking the ball. Hope that helps a little...it did wonders for me, thanks). Should be good stuff. I will try and keep you all in the loop with results and anything else that I can pass on.
Let's try and keep out relationship going baby; I mean I promise to write more often if you only come over and check me out e'ery once'n a while. I treat you right momma.

And now, on a more serious note, I leave you with the words of Bill Maher. Comedy with purpose has recently been shining into my neck of the woods and I have to take my hat off to Al Franken; wow, never have I heard such an honest (and well documented) argument for any side in politics. I know that he puts a bad taste in many folks mouth, but the least you could do is go to the library and rent his book on tape. You will still get a laugh or two...at least out of the introduction.

And now, on a more serious note, I leave you with the words of Bill Maher:
"Mr. President, this job can't be fun for you any more.
There's no more money to spend--you used up all of
that. You can't start another war because you used up
the army. And now, darn the luck, the rest of your
term has become the Bush family nightmare: helping
poor people. Listen to your Mom. The cupboard's
bare, the credit cards maxed out. No one's speaking
to you. Mission accomplished.

Now it's time to do what you've always done best: lose
interest and walk away. Like you did with your
military service and the oil company and the baseball
team. It's time. Time to move on and try the next
fantasy job. How about cowboy or space man? Now I
know what you're saying: there's so many other things
that you as President could involve yourself in.
Please don't. I know, I know. There's a lot left to
do. There's a war with Venezuela. Eliminating the
sales tax on yachts. Turning the space program over
to the church. And Social Security to Fannie Mae.
Giving embryos the vote.

But, Sir, none of that is going to happen now. Why?
Because you govern like Billy Joel drives. You've
performed so poorly I'm surprised that you haven't
given yourself a medal. You're a catastrophe that
walks like a man. Herbert Hoover was a shitty
president, but even he never conceded an entire city
to rising water and snakes.

On your watch, we've lost almost all of our allies,
the surplus, four airliners, two trade centers, a
piece of the Pentagon and the City of New Orleans.
Maybe you're just not lucky. I'm not saying you don't
love this country. I'm just wondering how much worse
it could be if you were on the other side.

So, yes, God does speak to you. What he is saying is:
'Take a hint.'"

think about it

Mikey's Big Trip To Japan...my interpretation


Rooftop BBQ in Kobe
Originally uploaded by dbaxelson.
Mikey got here safe and sound, but at first it didn't seem as though he was having a good time. Often standing off in odd places all alone looking in at everyone else...like in this picture where I found him on a random roof. I just didn't know what to do. I thought that maybe it was the flight that set him off in the wrong direction, it is 13 hours after all. That's a long time without certian necessities of life. So I began to think about just what it was that I could do...at first I didn't know.

(Author's note...it was a great trip and I will be sure to include the truth within the next post...my big Back from Summer Break Special...coming soon!)

Jet Lag + Last Train=Anywhere's Okay

I didn't quite know what to do to make his trip the best it could be, so I just let him do what he wanted to. And then it dawned on me that I wasn't living up to my full potential. I mean here I am, the host, and here he is, asleep, I needed to do some quick thinking and even quicker acting...so here's what I did...

Sushisan


Sushisan
Originally uploaded by dbaxelson.
...after letting him sleep a little I did my best to show him a truly authentic Japan with my little Geisha routine...just kidding. I didn't do anything of the sort. I just fed the tired tiger.

Tastes the Same to him


Tastes the Same to him
Originally uploaded by dbaxelson.
...so he tried the local grub....

gaijinno chingching okina!


gaijinno chingching okina!
Originally uploaded by dbaxelson.
...then we made some penis jokes...

Together at Osaka Jo Castle


Together at Osaka Jo Castle
Originally uploaded by dbaxelson.
...and then we saw some sites and it was smiles for miles from here.

Everyone at USJ..."We Love Here"

Everyone over here in Japan just absolutely loves "The world famous Beagle". We had to wait at least 2 hours for this picture opportunity. Population density, whatta gonna do about it. So yeah, this is us at Universal Studios Japan (USJ). It was fun and I got to ride the Spider Man ride twice. yeah.

Mikey, Me and the Moose...and Tomoko or Alliteration goes out the window.

So I wanted to get a picture with every walking puppet or costumed freak that we saw...but in the end I only got Chilly Willy and Bullwinkle. It's all good.
USJ was pretty cool...I like the 4D rides...they were fun.

Samurai Mikey


Samurai Mikey
Originally uploaded by dbaxelson.
and before you knew it he was most definately turning Japanese.