Friday, February 13, 2009
Call it etalocohC
Wow. You know how on Wednesday night I wondered if I would make it through the next two days with my voice intact? By 10 o'clock on Thursday I was hacking and coughing like the Marlboro Man. Maybe it was a mistake to admit to having a cold before class. I think the kids see that as a window to misbehave.
Last night we watched the Prison Break Season One finale and I still can't believe how good it was. After watching the next-to-last episode and seeing (most of) the gang make it over the wall, I naively assumed the finale would be a simple culling of characters as they made their way to the airstrip and onto the plane. I went through the cast in my head and just started guessing who was going to make it and who wasn't. Despite the fact that "the plan" had to be revised and modified so many times just to escape, I honestly believed that the last phase would somehow work out just like they expected. Instead, the show kept throwing curveballs and I kept swinging with wild abandon trying to keep up. Did they make it to the plane? Nope. Did anybody get killed or recaptured? No. Does the season end with any element of the story successfully wrapped? Not really, no. I can't wait to start renting Season Two but I think Mako needs a break. Watching the show is so physically involving that we both get worked up just sitting on the couch. For DJ's sake, Mako wants to stay calm and settled as best she can over the next few months.
Speaking of concessions made for Mako, tomorrow is Valentine's Day. It also happens to be "Toho Cinemas Day" which means cheap movie tickets at any Toho Cinemas. I had hoped to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button but that was before Mako found out about a "new" Keanu Reeves movie opening on Saturday. I say "new" because it came out in the States last April and everything about the movie looks cliched and behind the times (Seriously, Keanu, you're a cop who doesn't play by the rules? What a fascinatingly fresh way to portray a police officer), but Mako loves him and I must abide. I'm sure it won't be the most banal film we've seen together; at the very least, Hugh Laurie is in it.
What's really confusing me is the sudden push for me to give Mako chocolate on Valentine's Day in spite of the glorious Japanese tradition of doing things the other way around. As previously noted in years past, this is a day where Japanese women give chocolate to men, be it husbands, boyfriends, family, or even just friendly coworkers. Men who have wives or girlfriends are expected to return the favor next month on White Day. Now it seems that someone (I suspect the chocolate people) has been promoting the idea of gyaku-choco (逆チョコ, literally "reverse chocolate") so that men give chocolates to women. The promotion is so strong that lots of popular everyday chocolates have special backwards packaging on the shelves, no doubt intended to remind male customers of their brand-new obligation. I view it more straight forwardly as an admission that this entire idea goes against common sense.
Japan had got it right for once in the world of gender relations. There was a balance to it all. Tomorrow was supposed to be my day for sugary satisfaction and Mako would get her generous gift next month. Quid pro quo, tit for tat, ebony meets ivory, perfect harmony. Now I'm expected to give her TWO gifts in exchange for only ONE? That's the worst kind of discrimination; the kind that discriminates against me.
...OK, you know (I hope!) I'm not really angry about this. Buying gifts for Mako is one of my favorite things to do and any occasion where she and I get to eat chocolate is a wonderful day in my book. Indeed, we both shared one of the chocolate fondants I received from her mother this week and it was outstanding. I just hope there's a future movement to realign the order of things with gyaku gifts on White Day for men. Hey, I just realized! The Xbox 360 is white, isn't it?
Last night we watched the Prison Break Season One finale and I still can't believe how good it was. After watching the next-to-last episode and seeing (most of) the gang make it over the wall, I naively assumed the finale would be a simple culling of characters as they made their way to the airstrip and onto the plane. I went through the cast in my head and just started guessing who was going to make it and who wasn't. Despite the fact that "the plan" had to be revised and modified so many times just to escape, I honestly believed that the last phase would somehow work out just like they expected. Instead, the show kept throwing curveballs and I kept swinging with wild abandon trying to keep up. Did they make it to the plane? Nope. Did anybody get killed or recaptured? No. Does the season end with any element of the story successfully wrapped? Not really, no. I can't wait to start renting Season Two but I think Mako needs a break. Watching the show is so physically involving that we both get worked up just sitting on the couch. For DJ's sake, Mako wants to stay calm and settled as best she can over the next few months.
Speaking of concessions made for Mako, tomorrow is Valentine's Day. It also happens to be "Toho Cinemas Day" which means cheap movie tickets at any Toho Cinemas. I had hoped to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button but that was before Mako found out about a "new" Keanu Reeves movie opening on Saturday. I say "new" because it came out in the States last April and everything about the movie looks cliched and behind the times (Seriously, Keanu, you're a cop who doesn't play by the rules? What a fascinatingly fresh way to portray a police officer), but Mako loves him and I must abide. I'm sure it won't be the most banal film we've seen together; at the very least, Hugh Laurie is in it.
What's really confusing me is the sudden push for me to give Mako chocolate on Valentine's Day in spite of the glorious Japanese tradition of doing things the other way around. As previously noted in years past, this is a day where Japanese women give chocolate to men, be it husbands, boyfriends, family, or even just friendly coworkers. Men who have wives or girlfriends are expected to return the favor next month on White Day. Now it seems that someone (I suspect the chocolate people) has been promoting the idea of gyaku-choco (逆チョコ, literally "reverse chocolate") so that men give chocolates to women. The promotion is so strong that lots of popular everyday chocolates have special backwards packaging on the shelves, no doubt intended to remind male customers of their brand-new obligation. I view it more straight forwardly as an admission that this entire idea goes against common sense.
Japan had got it right for once in the world of gender relations. There was a balance to it all. Tomorrow was supposed to be my day for sugary satisfaction and Mako would get her generous gift next month. Quid pro quo, tit for tat, ebony meets ivory, perfect harmony. Now I'm expected to give her TWO gifts in exchange for only ONE? That's the worst kind of discrimination; the kind that discriminates against me.
...OK, you know (I hope!) I'm not really angry about this. Buying gifts for Mako is one of my favorite things to do and any occasion where she and I get to eat chocolate is a wonderful day in my book. Indeed, we both shared one of the chocolate fondants I received from her mother this week and it was outstanding. I just hope there's a future movement to realign the order of things with gyaku gifts on White Day for men. Hey, I just realized! The Xbox 360 is white, isn't it?
Labels: chocolate, family, food, Japan, movies, Prison Break, television
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