11.25.03
So I got up and came into school an hour early today to finish up the worksheet for today's phonics lesson (for which I have three classes on this fine Tuesday morn). I finish up yet another masterpiece of a handout, after reading which, it would be impossible for anyone to not understand the concept of how to voice most consonant clusters.
However, upon jacking my laptop into the printer I realize that I haven't reinstalled the drivers for the printers at school since wiping my drive to install 10.3. No problem, except that the internet has been down for two fucking weeks now while it's supposedly "upgraded". Maybe it's just my strange West Coast slang, but I usually use the term 'upgrade' to refer to something getting better, not retrograding to the situation before said 'thing' even existed.
So basically, I'm fucking pissed off because my students have to go without a worksheet to help them today because this office can't seem to join the 21st century. Grrrr, I need more coffee... and a sledgehammer.
Well, too much bitching isn't good for anyone, so now I'll balance out a bad with a good; Japanese hip-hop more or less sucks. Okay, that sounded like another bad, let me finish.
9.5 times out of 10 (also referred to as 95% in some circles) so-called J-Hip-Hop falls short of what most humans refer to as music. I mean, it's bad to begin with, but then on top of that the way that a sad majority of J-rappers try to come off as hardcore bad-asses just gives me the runs. 50 Cent makes some of the worst "music" (and I use the term loosely here) I've ever heard, but the guy's been shot nine freaking times and he's still going. That qualifies as hardcore. Tupac got shot like twenty times (okay, four actually) and he's dead! That's even more hardcore-er!! Making your van look like this, however, does not qualify you for a Hardcore-Club Members Card. (Making your van look like this though, might. ^_^ )
Though they're way past done making music, I always liked East End X Yuri because they just made catchy tunes and didn't pretend to be anything more than a little hip-hop band having fun. That's cool, I can deal with that and I strongly recommend trying to find some of their tracks on whatever flavor of file-sharing service you prefer (the song BOOTS, in particular always gets me dancin' in my seat. Email me if you'd like me to send it to you).
The reason I brought all this up is because, as I said, most of J-Hip-Hop sucks. Every once in a while, someone sneaks in a track that isn't actually half bad, or at least I think so. Dragon Ash, while normally falling into the category of "God we could be so hardcore if only we weren't such pansies" it seems screwed up and accidentally made a decent track called Grateful Days(4.5MB), which I'd like to throw up for your downloading pleasure. Granted, most of the goodness comes from the Smashing Pumpkins loop they mixed in there, but it's still just kind of a pretty song. I submit it for your approval. Lyrics in Japanese can be found here if you just have to sing along.
Moral of the story: Even if something 95% sucks, there's still 5% that's worth seeking out.
11.21.03
I've had quite a few people blasting me via email and IM's asking where the hell I've been lately and why the hell I've not been updating. Well, I've been here at school, with classes cancelled for the most of the week, internet down while they supposedly upgrade the connection, and until today was sick as poo and filling up entire tissues with viscous nose-goo, one after another. Yes, my life is a carnival of pain.
(Yes, I got sick again, Fletcher. Fuck you, I don't see you sending me any Ny-Quil, dammit! ^_- )
Truth be told, I've also had an adorable little distraction which has been holding much of my attention as of late. You'll probably remember my mention of OCJG (Offensively Cute Japanese Girl), and I'm pleased to chime in with news that things are going very well with her. So well in fact, that you might even get to learn her name soon, a privilege you were never afforded with Romanian Girl (anonymity is no less than she deserves for ripping my heart out my ass, blasting it into a thousand pieces, before microwaving said pieces on high for a week and proceeding to spread the smoldering ashes around the ground and...... oop, there's other people reading this, aren't there? ahem).
Since I don't have a lot to say at the moment as we head into the weekend, I'll mention something I've been meaning to share for quite a while now. As you may already know, Japanese bureaucracy just loves to waste money on all kinds of worthless projects-for-show that accomplish absolute fuck-all, yet make the people spending tax-yen feel like they're actually accomplishing something. <cough>jetprogramme<cough>
Sadly Fukuma is no exception to this burning of perfectly good money on entirely dubious aims <cough>jetprogramme<cough>, and the following is a great example. Apparently a few years back, some people in the town office, thought it would be just jim-dandy if Fukuma had it's own song. So, instead of finding some local talent to volunteer, or even be hired, to make some authentic "music of the people of Fukuma", they hired some well-known singer, probably from Tokyo, to record a song for around $5000.
Hoo-ahh.
And what do they use this investment for? I've heard it used in three instances in my 2 1/2 years here: over the speakers in the town office when it's time to go home at 5pm, over the speakers at school when it's time to go home at 5pm, and as the hold music on the phones at the town office. Fukuma must be thrilled that it can't afford for the sanitation department to pick up recycling (instead it's done ONCE A FUCKING MONTH, by local volunteers, at 7am on Sunday morning!!), yet it has a spare five-large to drop on bullshit like this. <sigh> Are my 3rd Year JET Blues showing their colors yet? :P
Anyway, if you'd like to give a listen to it, since I guess it's not THAT bad of a folksy tune, feel free to download to your heart's content from this little linkaroo, or via the link in the navigation pane, where I've also made available the Fukuma Town Guide, made almost entirely by yours truly (except for one page that Fletcher slaved over for like 10 whole minutes).
And finally, our corrections-and-apologies editor (a.k.a. me) has once again notified me of a boo-boo in search of a remedy. If you'll remember not too long ago I retold the story of an enjoyable evening with the venerable Towa Tei, at which I actually managed to get a picture of myself with Towa himself, along with a "random fucknut" who jumped into the picture.
Now, I wasn't all that terribly upset that I had to share my photo with someone else (it was a jumpin' club venue, after all), yet I lambasted this anonymous individual because
a) the word "fucknut" has immeasurable humor value and just kind of makes me laugh, so when the opportunity to use it presents itself, I jump at it.
b) as I said, the individual is anonymous. What are the odds he'll EVER see this page and find me lambasting him? (lambasting is another one of those words I love that I just don't get to use often enough)
Yes, well.... that'll teach me!!
I received an email the other night from said individual and it turns out that his name is not, in fact, Random Fucknut, but is actually Craig. He's a terribly good sport and even went so far as to apologize for jumping in my photo even after I lambasted him on the site (that's four "lambast"s in todays entry. Oooooo, five now!).
So let me say sorry, Craig and on the occasion that you jump in another photo that I'm thinking of using on the site, I promise you will not be lambasted as a fucknut. (Six!! Bada-bing!)
Review Fukuma Hair Flap at Japanreference.com
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