Happy Veterans Day

I'm outing myself here but yes I was in the Army way back when.

As you can tell from the photo I was still a gen-x geek even while in uniform as attested by such things as:

The spike Gremlin in front of the pentium computer.

The empty bag of chips on the floor

A copy of PC Gamer on the Chair

Hellraiser Puzzle box on the coffee table

and the Call of Cthulhu RPG books on the shelf


-Swinebread

I had an interesting foodie experience at Trader Joes last weekend. The wife was feeding a sample of gnocchi to Jr. and he was enjoying it so much that I decided to give it a try as well. I grabbed a cup and while I brought a spoonful of the gnocchi to my mouth I noticed that there was some sort of tomato sauce with zucchini on it. Not thinking much of it, I popped the food in my mouth. I noticed that it had a wonderful sweet-earthy taste and I actually thought to myself this sauce was real peasant food. Then I had the image of Anton Ego’s reaction to eating Remy’s Ratatouille dish. After savoring another bite I thought, “hmmmm Ratatouille must really taste similar to this.” I looked over at the sample stand to see what the sauce was and the sign read Ratatouille.

I’ve never had ratatouille in my life… and I had no idea what it looked like or the ingredients in it beyond the Disney film. It’s weird. Ratatouille is a great film but I never realized that it actually had the power to impart what something actually tastes like.

see here for a picture of Trader Joe's Ratatouille.

-Swinebread

Random Comic Cover

-Swinebread

Random Comic Cover

-Swinebread

McFuneral

-Swinebread

Random Comic Panel

Harry is the name of Ape BTW...


-Swinebread

Hulk Need Carbs

(Sorry, I’ve been very busy folks.) My chance to see the Incredible Hulk slipped away this weekend and I’m not sure I’ll get another anytime soon, but it posted a solid opening at the box office. Hopefully it’s on tract to make a profit for Marvel Studios, as I’d like to see more of their films.

I noticed an odd ad in Hulk: Raging Thunder, The Hulk Cake. I’ve seen lots of stuff advertised in comics but I don’t’ think I've ever seen a theme cake before (and no hostess fruit pies don’t count).



-Swinebread

Book Meme

Rob! has tagged me. It’s the Book meme. I have to grab the nearest book, turn to page 123, locate the fifth sentence, and then post the next three sentences on my blog, and then tag five other people.

The nearest book: The Road, by Cormac McCarthy

Sentences: The Water was so clear. He held it to the light. A single bit of sediment coiling in the jar on some slow hydraulic axis.

Food and water are very important in The Road.

Was there more to this meme at some point?

Now I have to "tag" five other people whose blogs:

(if you already done this sorry)

ladybug

sanbulus

Dean Wormer

Heidi Meeley

Eaglewing


-Swinebread

Free Comic Book Day and Other Strangeness

Don’t forget Free Comic Book Day is tomorrow at a comic book store near you. It’s gonna be a wild ride around here as the festivities will also include Iron Man and Dim Sum. I’m looking forward to it as I’ll be spending the day with Dean Wormer and his unruly Deltas.

On another note, a fellow coworker’s son lucked into a comic book windfall. Apparently he was looking around on Craig’s List and found an ad for a box of comics for 50 bucks. See, some poor sap was being sent off to Iraq and he told his mom to sell his stuff. Well, when my coworker’s son got the box home, he discovered it had a bunch of old comics. He didn’t have all the details but my coworker said that there was a superman from the forties or fifties and a lot of Spidermans from the sixties. If that soldier makes it back, I wonder if he’ll be pissed his collection went for so little. More info to come if I can get it.

I just finished reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy, a wonderful post apocalyptic novel, and a great work of literature. The simplicity of the book is its strength IMO. The father and son relationship is the core of the story (it’s that relationship that helps them endure the gristliest of horrors) but I also really enjoyed the survival aspect. Adventure can be found in the purest things, an old house, a rusty truck, or a destroyed forest. It’s my understanding that The Road is being made into a movie and it’s shooting right now. I heard on the local news that the studio is looking for a pregnant body double for Charlize Theron here. Yup, a quick check of IMDB revels that some of The Road is being shot in Oregon. That seems a little strange as the book is set in the South but Oregon does have a varied environment. Also, some of the scenes will be shot at Mt. St. Helens, which makes perfect sense at it has a blasted landscape, of ash and downed trees.

Remember Free Comic Book Day tomorrow!


-Swinebread


P.S. I swear I'll get to your comments soon, thanks for checking in.

I’ve been tagged by Dean Wormer

Old Dean got me see here

List 7 random things about yourself that people may not know.

Link the person who sent this to you, and leave a comment on their blog so that their readers can visit yours.

Post the rules on your blog.


1. I’ve been to Disneyland three times.

2. I hate Gambit… a lot! I dropped the X-men, and even comics for a long time after he showed up. He symbolizes everything that was wrong with ‘90s comics IMO. Plus, all the great stories from the 80’s that were adapted by the first X-Men cartoon series didn’t have Nightcrawler or Colossus; No, instead we got that stupid Gambit guy. That bugged me to no end; the Dark Phoenix saga with Gambit? Yuck! He didn’t show up in the first three X-Men movies so that was way cool although he is in the new Wolverine film.

3. Some high school chums and I buried a time capsule. I can’t remember what we put in it beyond a war comic that I didn’t want. It was a metal case about the size of small toolbox and it was wrapped in a plastic bag. I’m sure it’s long since been ruined by now.

4. My Favorite Looney Tunes character is Daffy Duck.

5. I’ve been to the site of the Dachau concentration camp while on a backpacking trip through Germany years ago, horrific but necessary in my opinion..

6. My favorite episode of Star Trek TOS is The Return of the Archons. It used to be Mirror, Mirror for a long time until after I became an adult and learned a little bit about how computers worked. I also love what it has to say about religion, and technology. “Festival Festival!” It’s totally cheesy and very deep at the same time.

7. I ate pig brains once…

I’m going to tag Heidi Meely (who never does my tags but that’s OK), and ah… anybody else that wants to do it I guess…

-Swinebread

Party Foul in the Rumpus Room

Whoa, I’ve got a big headache after Germaine Gregarious’ holiday potluck party. See, I was the only one that consumed any of Dr. Zaius’ homunculus eyeballs, but first I had to build up some liquid courage via FranIAm’s flaming cocktails and Dr. Monkey Von Monkerstein's delicious Banana Daiquiris. To make a long story short, I ended up dressed as Wonder Man from Earth 11. Ugh…

Don't Drink and Dress

It will take me awhile to live this one down.


Edit: BAC put together this great video of the party!


-Swinebread

X-Mas Tag

The holiday cheer is spreading like a virus. As Moody Minstrel has tagged me so I must comply. Here are my answers to a list of 20 questions plus one I added.

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Lite Egg nog or Soy Nog, the regular stuff is too sweet and Hot Chocolate you can get anytime
2. Does Santa wrap the presents or just sit them under the tree? What? Santa does not wrap his presents?! I’ve never heard of such a crazy thing.
3. Colored or white lights? Colored lights.
4. Do you hang mistletoe? No, nothing against it though.
5. When do you put your decorations up? The first weekend of December.
6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Turkey or Pie.
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? I went to my Aunt’s House in Yakima for X-mas one year. That was nice because there was lots of snow and it was fun to be in a completely differently place
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? For some weird reason I always knew about Santa. My older Siblings must have told me when I was very young, as I have no memory ever of not knowing the truth. That’s why other folks’ tragic stories about finding out have always freaked me out.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Sometimes, but usually I wait until X-mas day.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? I have a lot of old X-mas stuff my family collected over the years but we get a few new pieces every year. Also, because of my SO, the tree has some Japanese items as well. I have also begun to get a few pop culture items of late too (see here)
11. Snow: Love it or hate it? love it.
12. Can you ice skate? No. I never tried.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? I sure do, it was a the millennium Falcon from an adult cousin. My parents would never buy me any Star Wars figures for X-mas, but that's all I ever really wanted. I think they must have thought they were stupid or something. So I had to scrape, save and trade to get all the figures I had. But this one year my cousin got me the Falcon and my X-mas prayers were answered.
14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Teaching my SO, who is unfamiliar with American customs, about the Holidays and her teaching me about Japanese customs.
15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Pie.
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? The stories, it doesn’t’ matter if they’re pop culture favorites, like Rudolf, or family tales. I love ‘em all
17. What is on top of your tree? A small red wreath ornament with a red bird. My SO and I haven’t found a tree topper we really like yet.
18. Which do you like best giving or receiving? Receiving when I was young, giving now that I'm an adult.
19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? Probably Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer, but I like a good parody or humorous X-mas song once in a while.
20. Do you like candy canes? They’re OK, more for decoration.
.
21. (I’m adding a question) What do you NOT like about the holidays? The huge shopping crowds and fundies who think they know everything about Christmas but really don’t know anything about it at all.


I’m gonna’ Tag
Dean Wormer
Becca
Heidi Meeley

Edit: I found a great Christmas Parody to go along with my tag. You all like the Chipmunks right?


-Swinebread

Trip to Japan Part VI

After the relaxed time my wife and had had the day before, we decided to make one last big excursion into Tokyo. Our destination… Ueno Park. It’s a popular area with museums and cherry trees among other things. After the hustle and bustle of the Ueno station, it’s a huge busy place, it was nice to walk into the wide open space of the park. As there are many things to see and do in Ueno Park we came with a specific goal of going to the Treasures of the Tokugawa exhibit (since closed) at the Tokyo National Museum. But wouldn’t you know it on the way there my SO spied a poster for The Great Robot Exhibition at the National Museum Nature and Science. We checked our watch, and figured we had enough time to for this as well.

My ticket for The Great Robot Exhibition

The exhibit was a showcase of current robots, past automatons, and futuristic designs from comics and film, basically it was a celebration of Japanese robots both real and imagined. After entering and walking by an impressive display of Gundam toys, we came into large room with many displays but what immediately caught my attention was a live presentation. Now the robot they were showing off wasn’t very impressive, the poor guy who built it, couldn’t get it to work, but the gal helping him threw me for a loop. See, she was crouching there and her ass was hanging out! Here was this huge family-like crowed with bright lights and a near full moon was on stage. This was rather surprising because Japanese folks tend to be very careful about covering themselves up. Standing where I was, there was a great view so it wasn’t surprising that a rather large group had developed. I managed to get a shot of the scene with my camera though I wasn’t allowed to use a flash and I had to zoom in, but you get the idea. The ass gal

After the butt shot I got back why I came and began exploring the various robots. The early clockwork automatons, called karakuri ningyo were very impressive. I was especially fond of the tea servers, as I had seen them before on the history channel. The other displays had both real and imaginary robots side by side. I got excited about one in particular, it was a model of Astro Boy (Atomic Boy) along with two pages of actual Astro Boy manga art by Osamu Tezuka himself. I was so into looking at the inked strokes and lines on the pages that I didn’t realize I’d placed my hand on the case and an attendant had to come over to and tell me to “not touch.” I was so into it in fact that I totally forgot to take picture. One of the things I do remember though was that the paper had turned yellow but the paint used for corrections was still very white. The strokes and line work were just perfect though, and if I had only seen this and nothing else it would have been completely worth it.

3 robots including Doremon

A robot suit for disabled folks

A robot for dancing

Mazenger Z


Here’s Asimo. You probably have seen him on the news. For this robot they had a big production where he performed all kinds of tasks for a family of four, like learning a dance and setting up a table for a meal. His movements were impressive, very smooth and near lifelike.



After the Great Robot Exhibit we headed over to the Tokyo National Museum, which I had been to on past trips to Japan to see their regular exhibitions. The Treasures of the Tokugawa exhibit was incredible with all manner of kimonos, mother of pearl furniture and gold treasures but alas no picture taking was allowed. I got quite overheated as I did with the Chōjū-giga exhibit but I still I was able to look over the heads of the crowds. Of course the armor (I’m always surprised how small they are) and swords were very remarkable as was the first Clock in Japan (a gift from the Portuguese), but what really affected me the most for some strange reason were two documents. The first was the one that officially established the Tokugawa government under Tokugawa Ieyasu and the second was the document that dissolved the Shogunate in 1868. That’s 264 years of Japanese history on two pieces of paper… …Amazing. We bought a book with photographs of the collection but we decided to give it to my in-laws instead as a thank you for everything they provided for us on this trip. Going to two very different, yet very Japanese exhibits made me think up a phrase that sums up modern Japanese culture in my mind: In Japan the Future is now, but the Past is present. I refer to this part of our trip as Shoguns and Robots.Tokyo National Museum
Ticket for Treasures of the Tokugawa

It was twilight when my SO and I left the Tokyo National Museum. We decided to check out Ameyoko a bazaar-like shopping district close to Ueno. We trotted around the seemingly endless market until we came to my wife’s favorite store Niki No Kashi. It’s candy shop that sells sweets in bulk but not in the orgy sizes like Costco. My wife discovered it many years ago when she worked in Tokyo. We grabbed all manner of goodies including a box of Apple Kit Kats. Then it happened, I stumbled across my favorite candy in the whole world… Tropifrutti. The German gummy candy maker HARIBO makes it. Unlike most of their products such as Happy-Cola and Goldbären, Tropifrutti is not sold in the states or least I’ve never seen it. I developed a taste for it when I was in Germany in the 1990s. Tropifrutti has wonderful soft texture that’s not too chewy and has an amazing combination of flavors (Banana, Pineapple, Strawberry, Tangerine, Passion Fruit, Mango, and Kiwi to name a few of them). I love this stuff so much I keep the empty bags just so I can smell ‘em to remind myself what Tropifrutti tastes like. It’s my Crack. I still have one bag left…
The outer edge of Ameyoko from Ueno Park

A street in Ameyoko



As it was nighttime, we took a train back to Omiya for a late dinner with an old girlfriend chum of my SO. We had a nice time and the restaurant staff had a great time as well watching me bump into things and hit my head because the place was so tiny. After our meal my wife and I took a taxi back to her parents house. I think I was finally starting to adjust to Japan-time, which was a shame because the next day was my last full day in the Land of the Rising Sun.

-Swinebread

Trip to Japan Part V

The next day we didn’t do much. It was low-key. My wife and I took a break and went shopping in the Saitama area. Luckily for me, shopping in a foreign country can still be and interesting endeavor. I guess the big highlight of the day occurred when we went to the Aeon shopping center. It’s a new complex built and organized in a similar fashion to an American shopping mall.

Here’s the outside of the AEON shopping mall. You can see the Saitama Soccer stadium in the background. It was built for the World Cup championship from a few years ago. My Mother-in-law and my wife both complained that stadium cost a huge amount of tax money and that the structure can only be used for soccer so it’s such a waste. I thought about that for a moment and said “I’d rather waste millions on a soccer stadium than a stupid war” My statement seemed make to make them feel a lot better about the whole thing… but not me of course.


It was fun to walk the aisles but what was the most fun was the store itself. Everything was so small but in a huge space. Here was the gigantic building with a very high ceiling but the shelves were all very short, what I might consider a child’s height in the states. Of course the average Japanese person is shorter than the average American, but my western biased mind felt they were wasting so much space that could be filled with products. I felt like Santa Claus in the elves’ town. On the other hand, not having huge shelves made the place feel very open.

Here are a couple of pics of two AEON employees preparing red bean paste for sale. It’s sweet and used in many desserts in Japan. We ended up buying some. I think the gal who sold us the red bean paste was overwhelmed by my appearance as she just filled the containers to overflowing, a very un-Japanese-like thing to do.


Another interesting aspect of the mall was that since it was so spacious, there were combo shopping cart/kid strollers available for families to use. It’s kinda’ a normal thing in the states but to see it in Japan made me realize what a novelty it must be here. I also saw folks in wheelchairs, which was nice. Life in Japan can be pretty hard when your disabled as next to nothing is accessible. This mall was very different as there was plenty of room to move around and it was a straight shot from the parking lot to the mall interiors. It reminded me that disabled folks in Japan put up with a lot of crap and here was the one place they could come and have a normal shopping experience.

The other “important” stop of the day was a second trip to Book Off. It’s a used Book, CD, and Video store. Book Off is one of the few stores created in the aftermath of the economic bubble that’s been wildly successful. Now there’s no point in buying everything new. My wife sold a bunch of old titles that she had left at her parents’ house and picked up some newer titles to take back to the states. When it comes to novels her tastes tend to run in the thriller and horror realms although she’s open to almost anything. Of course they had a fantastic selection of manga and I was happy to browse the aisles. My SO also bought some manga too as she grabbed several Black Jack digests and huge collectors digest of a comics about cooking and food, although I don’t know it’s name.


After we left Book Off, I noticed a different store that had a similar name to Book Off. It was called Hard Off. I had a lot of fun explaining why Hard Off wasn’t such good name for a company. My in-laws laughed about that for days.

We finished up our shopping excursions by swinging by a family friend that runs both a ceramic studio and an organic food store. She’s a great lady and she really wanted to talk to me as she’s been studying English for years. My wife and in-laws affectionately call her and her husband “the hippies” as they run an organic business, love 60s’ and 70s music and are big outdoor lovers. Naturally, they don’t look like hippies but I bet they’d dress a little like them if they could get away with it Japan.

We had a nice conversation in her ceramic studio and the place was full of adult students busily using potter's wheels and other tools as they prepped for a ceramic show that was coming next week. As my mother-in-law picked up her fired piece, my wife and I headed next door to the organic store. It’s a small place mostly stocked with fresh vegetables. But that makes sense, as food, like everything in Japan, is very expensive. Organic food has almost become a luxury but our family friend believes that it’s important to have healthy, natural foods to eat. Before we left, I mentioned that I think she would really enjoy Oregon and that I hoped she and her husband could visit someday.

Here’s my mother-in-law’s ceramic piece in its finished, painted form on display during the ceramic show the following week. The birds nest on top with eggs was my SO's idea.


That day, I think I managed to get another trip to 7-11 in there too.

-Swinebread

Trip to Japan Part III

The weather was glorious on our third day in Japan like springtime. We took the opportunity to travel to one of the greener parts of the Toyko area, Chōfu. This part of the megalopolis has Jindaiji Temple, the second oldest Buddhist temple in Tokyo. So we headed out from Omiya by train.

After my SO and I left the train station in Chōfu, we boarded a bus. I kept hitting my head on the overhead handrails and I’m sure that the folks riding with us were laughing on the inside regardless of their stoic demeanor. As we got closer to Jindaiji Temple my wife realized that we weren’t on the correct bus. The one we were on didn’t go directly to the temple but luckily it did stop on a nearby connecting road. So we would have to huff it for a few extra blocks. It turned out to be all right anyway because there was this very odd, cubed shaped house across the street from the bus stop. The strange window arrangement made it impossible for me to figure out how many floors it had or how the inside of it could possibly be arranged.
Strange Huh

After the Bizarro house, we turned onto the road that leads to the Temple and I immediately noticed a drastic increase in the number of trees. In fact there was an obvious decrease in temperature due to the shade. It was very comforting for an overheated Oregonian like myself. What also became apparent as we walked down the street was that there was traditional looking restaurant after restaurant with water wheels. My SO explained that this area is famous for soba noodles.

Before we arrived at the Temple complex, my SO came across a small shrine dedicated two of the Seven Gods of Fortune, Ebisu and Daikoku. I like the Seven Gods a lot maybe because they’re just the kinda thing that would have the fundies pulling their own hair out with cries of idolatry. They also remind me of belief systems that were a part of the western experience long, long ago.

Soon we came to the Jindaiji Temple complex and like most Temples and Shrines in Japan the area was flush with shops and stands selling all manner of knickknacks, food, and gifts. My wife and I had worked up an appetite so we ducked into one of the many soba shops. Apparently this was the best season for soba. The noodles were very fresh as they were white in color, overtime soba noodles will turn a brownish grey. I dipped my soba into a cold sauce while my wife had soba that gets dipped into a hot soup. Both were very good and seemed to be just the right thing to eat on a mild fall day. I'm getting a mixture of daikon and onion to put in my dipping sauce

With our tummies full we walked down the path and up the steps to the temple grounds. I have been to quite a few temples and shrines around Japan so Jindaiji seemed small but it wasn’t crowded so it also felt intimate.
A 3-year-old girl in a Kimono is taken to the temple for a traditional blessing.

Temple goers purify themselves with incense before they approach the temple building.

Jindaiji Temple

Boys go to the temple to receive a traditional blessing when they’re 5 years old, but this kid was trying like hell to get outta’ there. His mother was doing everything but sitting on him to keep him there. I’m guessing that kid must have been scared of the Priest. Oh well, at least the priest had a sense of humor about it. I had to get this pic with the flash off so they wouldn’t notice that’s why it is so grainy.

One of the main reasons we went to Jindaiji was to see the Kitaro teahouse. Shigeru Mizuki created the Kitaro character in 1959. He’s a yokai boy, or monster boy, and deals with all manner of supernatural horrors out of Japanese mythology. Usually, he tries to find a way for both monster and human to leave in peace together. There have been many comics, TV, movies and even a live action film but none of it has ever been translated into English as far as I know, but on my first trip to Japan I was lucky enough find some bilingual Kitaro comics for Japanese wanting to learn English. So I was able to read a few stories but I want more. Most of the creatures are very different then western monsters and maybe the entertainment folks don’t feel they would translate to the states very well. For me though, the strangeness of the Yokai makes them that much more interesting. I picked all sorts of Kitaro goodies including finger puppets, canned drinks and postcards.

The Kitaro Teahouse

A close up of the Teahouse. Kitaro is on the left and his ratman buddy, Nezumi Otoko, is on the right. They both have umbrella yokai. On top of Kitaro’s head is an eyeball. It’s all that remains of his ghost father Medama Oyaji. The eyeball is also Kitaro’s guide and gives him all kinds of advice.

All the main character’s from Kitaro’s adventures.

The Kitaro Car, I'm not sure what they use it for, but it looks pretty cool

We left Jindaiji and headed to Shimo-Takaido Station in Setagaya. It’s a trendy area with lots of foreign students and accessible shops.

A street near Shimo-Takaido Station

My wife has a cousin who owns a coffee shop there called It’s Café. He’s got a Japanese blog here. It’s a nice cozy place not far from the station. We had a wonderful conversation and I had a yummy piece of pumpkin cake that tasted a lot like pancakes. We gave him a CD of Pink Martini’s album Hang on Little Tomato. He was very appreciative as he’s always on the hunt for new and unique music to play in his café. When we left It’s Café and Shimo-Takaido, I thought this would have been a great place to stay when I was a college student.

It’s Café’s location near Shimo-Takaido Station

It’s Café’s Storefront from the blog

For the last stop of the day my SO and I headed out to Odaiba to see the Fuji TV building. They’re the station with the eyeball symbol, so appropriately they have a huge ball suspended in the center of their rather amusingly designed building.

My picture of the building didn’t turn out so well as it was night, So wikipedia will have to do.

The lobby had all kinds of toys and gifts from Fuji TV’s various shows but the dog mascot was the big draw.

Here’s a view of downtown Tokyo from the Fuji TV ball. You’ll notice the Rainbow Bridge in the middle.

After an enjoyable self guided tour through Fuji TV, My SO and I headed out via monorail over the rainbow bridge to downtown Tokyo to catch a train back to Omiya.

Trip to Japan Part II

A country road in the morning with bamboo


There was so many things going on with friends and family over the holiday weekend that I haven’t been able to update my blog with info about my journey. The good thing about it taking me so long is that my SO is now back (with the camera) and so I’ve got pictures. The bad thing is I hardly took any snapshots, as this was my third trip to Japan. Well, we’ll see what we can do.

On the second day in Japan both my SO and I woke up at 3:00 AM because of the time difference with Oregon. After lying around for over an hour we decided to get up and go for a walk. We took the short stroll to 7-ll, and my SO (who has driven in Japan) commented how narrow the Japanese roads are, obviously she’s be in the states awhile now.

We stepped into the brightly lit convenience store and the smell of cooking oden permeated air. We strolled around the low, well-organized aisles and then I immediately went to the comic section. I haven’t learned Japanese so I couldn’t read any of it but my love of comics propelled me give them a look-see. They had all the regular stuff: boy’s comics, girl’s comics, and various adult comics. The first thing I grabbed was a men’s weekly manga. I could tell it was a man’s comic because of the bathing suited babe on the cover with gi-normous fake boobs which looked even stranger on a Japanese woman. Sure enough, when I opened the comic mag to a random page, my eyes where treated to an expressive girl-on-girl finger-banging scene. For a few seconds I felt like 12-year-old kid getting away with sneaking a peek at the The Joy Lesbian Sex. Of course I wasn’t getting away with anything, so I quickly put that manga down and looked at what else they had.

One of the things that’s nice about the manga stands in Japan is that they also have thick digests that collect older comics. Every time I’ve gone to Japan there never fails to be a digest of Black Jack on the shelf. This time there was a collection of a title called Berserk. I had ignored it the states because it looked like some lame video game thing, but as I flipped through the pages I found the art and the pseudo medieval setting compelling. I realized that this title is horror fantasy, my kinda stuff. I filed it away in my memory.


My SO and I explored the rest of the store marveling at the, strange candy (like apple kit kat), exotic sandwiches, and ice coffees. The Starbucks brand was available, but what was really interesting was that they had a Japanese copycat brand ingeniously labeled Mt. Rainier. The logo looked akin to the Starbuck’s logo but with a picture of Mt. Rainier instead of the mermaid. We bought a few goodies such as chocolate covered mango bits and left.

We walked on down the road and stopped off at another convenience store called Family Mart. I picked up some green tea and drank it as we strolled through my through wife’s old stopping grounds including her old grade school. Although I’ve been here before I was still amazed at the surprising balance of suburbia and farmland that we passed on the way back to in-laws house. No ground is left unutilized.

Before we went back, we made a quick stop by the graveyard where my SO’s grandparents are buried. We performed the necessary cleaning rituals before prayers. Like a good omen, the sun popped over the trees just as my wife began to her silent prayer. It was a gorgeous morning in the cemetery but my SO told me its taboo to take pictures there so I didn’t take any.

After a nice breakfast of fish, vegetables and miso soup, My SO and I headed into town around Omiya Station for shopping and a haircut. Our first bit of business was to stop by Mr. Donut, as my SO really wanted me to compare the taste to an American donut. Needless to say it tasted like bread and wasn’t sweet at all. No wonder the Japanese students pack on the pounds when they come to the states. They didn’t’ have any decaf coffee either and were completely stunned when we asked for it.

We went to many stores including Loft, Book Off (used books, CD, and DVDs) where I picked up a Record of Lodoss War music CD, and a tiny toy store the size of a walk-in closet. We purchased all manner of items, but I was distressed at the amount of X-mas decorations and items for sale. I know the Japanese get into the commercial side of the holiday but to see it so pervasive was startling. My wife was even a little taken aback. Some of the holiday presents we’d been sending to the relatives that last few years didn’t seem so special anymore.

Eventually, we went and got haircuts at a local salon my SO likes. I appreciate Asian hair stylists, as they understand how to cut my very straight (although very soft) hair, so I had no problem going. I’ve had endless bad haircuts my whole life until I went to a Japanese salon because white folks usually screw it up pretty bad. Most Caucasians have some wave or curl so a mediocre stylist can get away with doing an OK job but my hair doesn’t allow for any mistakes. The Japanese also have many techniques for thinning out hair so I can wear it a little longer and still feel cool (temperature wise).


I do have to mention a hair fad that just mystified me. Right now a spiky, feathered, rat’s nest with a mullet is fashionable. Usually Japanese folks have a very nice sense of style even if it’s different than the US, but his time? Sorry Japan. This trend is totally thumbs down. It looks really bad especially when combined with that fakey brown hair. A Mohawk with a nose ring would look more chic.

Omiya Station not during rush hour

Eventually, we were off on a semi-crowded train to Akabane to meet our familial responsibilities. After that we headed off to Akihabara, the electric town. I had been to Akihabara 2 years ago and went around to the electronic shops. This time I was having none of that and instead looked around the geeky, Otaku toyshops instead. You see I was searching for collectables from Fist of the North star, GeGeGe no Kitaro, and Daimajin. I struck out with Daimajin but I managed to find a few, old, Gashapon pieces from Fist of the Northstar to help round out my meager collection. One store also had a nice full collection of GeGeGe no Kitaro Gashapon that I picked up. Most of the various toyshops were crammed with Gundam figures but luckily I’m not into that franchise otherwise I would have busted our budget right there.

One of the many toy stores, this one had a life-sized Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star although he's not life proportioned.

By the time we were finally ready to leave we felt a little hungry so we swung by a sushi shop for a snack. The fresh fish melted in our mouths. After that, we bid Akihabara’s bright lights goodbye and headed back to back to Omiya Station and had the distinct pleasure riding the train during rush hour. It got a little hot and heavy on the train, meaning that the bags were heavy and at the mass of bodies had me overheating.

Akihabara at night

It was a busy day and I was so tired and jetlagged that I sleepwalked through the rest of the evening including dinner.