Update: Veterans Day 2011

Just returned from the village hall and the town's Veterans Day ceremony. More people than I expected. It was very cold this morning, but it didn't seem to affect the turn out. Overall, a very nice experience.

Mark it Zero - Veteran's Day 2011

I have nothing to say right now. I will be back later...

Interstate 76 Intro

Good lord, but if this isn't a blast from the past. I don't know what happened today, but for some reason I had a sustained flashback of epic proportions (music, video games, et al), and this vague memory popped into my brain of having played this game a loooong time ago. Great intro!

Operation Bear Drop

My Canadian relations simultaneously love and dread this video. It is tragically hilarious (the bear is dazed, but apparently okay). Seems to personify the adage about the road to hell being paved with good intentions (I personally love the shot of the two cops looking at each other just before the bear slips through their rope harness - "Shoulda tightened up that one end, eh?"). Kudos to National Geographic for putting just the right amount of breathless spin on this!

汚い - 危険 - きつい

I haven't written in a while - and I have held off on writing about Japan (with the current situation) due to my waiting to see how things were heading. But right now, with a better-than-average chance that something radioactive is on the horizon, and my friends in Japan scrambling for some sort of safety, all I can say is that I am really, really worried. Ibaraki, my old home, is in danger - Tokyo is becoming more and more like a ghost town - and Japan itself is taking bodyblows at a time when it could ill-afford even a good-natured backslap.

I honestly do not know what to say - it is depressing. The Navy is making faint rumblings that we might be activated to do something (last week I got an official email asking if I spoke any Japanese...). I have advised all my friends and family in Japan to clear out (or, if that wasn't possible, to head south - far south). A long time ago, when I still lived in Japan, I spent a weekend trapped in my apartment due to a small nuclear accident (which has slipped into the fog of memory). Since then, I developed a slight cynicism of Official Japanese pronouncements of the "all is well - stay calm" variety. Ganbatte, Nihon, ganbatte!

Welcome to 2011 - Meet the new boss, same as the old boss

Howdy, howdy, howdy!  Well, I wish I could tell you that there are major things afoot this new year, but, unfortunately, it looks like all the plans (even the sure things) have all gone kabloowie. Uh huh - the more things change, the more they stay the same. I could sit here and type a lot of whining about how life isn't fair (why does this always happen, blah, blah, blah), but instead, I am going to focus on the positive! I have a lot of things to be thankful for - and even if things haven't exactly been peachy, at least they haven't been rock-bottom bad (knock on wood). I will continue to strive for betterness, while trying to dodge bitterness. Onward and upward!