Sunday, September 28, 2008
Blogging the Mundane
With two weeks of potentially busy days ahead, I'd better make sure to post something while I've got the chance.
My weekend was pretty super, thanks. Although the rain and clouds discouraged me from going out on Friday night, I still had a pleasant evening at home partially thanks to some delightful discoveries and no doubt enhanced by the seasonal snacks. Japan is really big on "limited time" goodies and it seems like the stuff they roll out after summer is always worth trying. One more reason I love Autumn!
On Saturday we hit the mall and went to the movies, where I finally crossed Iron Man of my list of "anticipated movies people in America have been talking about forever." Without getting into it too much, I can happily report that Mako and I both had a great time. I was, of course, the only person in the audience laughing at Robert Downey Jr's twisted take on Tony Stark, but Mako insisted she felt the movie was "fun," although when pressed to compare it to The Dark Knight she felt that movie was better (I agree).
If only I had let myself enjoy that film all day, I might have avoided some unpleasantness later that evening. I had rented Ghost Rider earlier this week, figuring I would watch it during my multiple days off. But I never did, so last night I found myself looking at the clock and I said to myself "Well, you might as well put it on now because it's going back tomorrow." In hindsight, I should have just brought it back; the movie was awful. It was not merely mediocre in comparison to Iron Man, it was so uniformly nonsensical and poorly executed I found myself groaning alone in my apartment (Mako, luckily, had already gone to bed).
This was also the final weekend of the September sumo tournament. While my favorite ragin' yokuzuna, Asashoryu, pulled out early with an injury, I still got a kick out of watching the talented Ama finish with twelve wins, his best performance to date. Everyone else I cared about did OK and should be back in November at a higher rank. Hopefully someone will manage to beat Hakuho, because I just find him boring to watch. I recognize his skills, but he seems so passionless. I like my grand champions angry and possibly crazy, not incessantly friendly and grinning.
Mako and I did our best to clean up the place this afternoon, which meant we actually opened and set up the iPod-compatible speaker I bought as a gift last week. Now Mako can just click her iPod into place and listen to music while she cooks, cleans or otherwise spends time in the living room/kitchen/dining room. Hell, the sound carries pretty well, so you can hear the music clearly in any room. I don't know how much usage I'll get out of it, but if we ever have a party I am definitely setting my iPod to all 80's music and slapping it in that sucker.
Tomorrow looks like a quiet day at school, so I hope to write something. Probably nothing insightful, honestly, but we'll see what I come up with. In the meantime, please keep reading the tweets and feel free to peruse my shared items from Google Reader. Both can be subscribed to if you're down with RSS.
One last thought, as I'm out of material: Do updates of little consequence amuse you, gentle readers? Or would you rather I skip the little things and make mega entries critiquing my life, my job, and Japanese society?
My weekend was pretty super, thanks. Although the rain and clouds discouraged me from going out on Friday night, I still had a pleasant evening at home partially thanks to some delightful discoveries and no doubt enhanced by the seasonal snacks. Japan is really big on "limited time" goodies and it seems like the stuff they roll out after summer is always worth trying. One more reason I love Autumn!
On Saturday we hit the mall and went to the movies, where I finally crossed Iron Man of my list of "anticipated movies people in America have been talking about forever." Without getting into it too much, I can happily report that Mako and I both had a great time. I was, of course, the only person in the audience laughing at Robert Downey Jr's twisted take on Tony Stark, but Mako insisted she felt the movie was "fun," although when pressed to compare it to The Dark Knight she felt that movie was better (I agree).
If only I had let myself enjoy that film all day, I might have avoided some unpleasantness later that evening. I had rented Ghost Rider earlier this week, figuring I would watch it during my multiple days off. But I never did, so last night I found myself looking at the clock and I said to myself "Well, you might as well put it on now because it's going back tomorrow." In hindsight, I should have just brought it back; the movie was awful. It was not merely mediocre in comparison to Iron Man, it was so uniformly nonsensical and poorly executed I found myself groaning alone in my apartment (Mako, luckily, had already gone to bed).
This was also the final weekend of the September sumo tournament. While my favorite ragin' yokuzuna, Asashoryu, pulled out early with an injury, I still got a kick out of watching the talented Ama finish with twelve wins, his best performance to date. Everyone else I cared about did OK and should be back in November at a higher rank. Hopefully someone will manage to beat Hakuho, because I just find him boring to watch. I recognize his skills, but he seems so passionless. I like my grand champions angry and possibly crazy, not incessantly friendly and grinning.
Mako and I did our best to clean up the place this afternoon, which meant we actually opened and set up the iPod-compatible speaker I bought as a gift last week. Now Mako can just click her iPod into place and listen to music while she cooks, cleans or otherwise spends time in the living room/kitchen/dining room. Hell, the sound carries pretty well, so you can hear the music clearly in any room. I don't know how much usage I'll get out of it, but if we ever have a party I am definitely setting my iPod to all 80's music and slapping it in that sucker.
Tomorrow looks like a quiet day at school, so I hope to write something. Probably nothing insightful, honestly, but we'll see what I come up with. In the meantime, please keep reading the tweets and feel free to peruse my shared items from Google Reader. Both can be subscribed to if you're down with RSS.
One last thought, as I'm out of material: Do updates of little consequence amuse you, gentle readers? Or would you rather I skip the little things and make mega entries critiquing my life, my job, and Japanese society?
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I love these chilled out posts. I hear you with the Autumn thing - I was starting to get mad at the heat.
コメントがあります？ Type something, please. It's less work for me.# posted by 
: 02 October, 2008 19:05
: 02 October, 2008 19:05When leaving comments, please don't remain Anonymous. Click on "Other" and pick a name!
Be sociable! No sign-up is required!
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