Apple's all-new 3G iPod shuffle; it talks to you!

I'm a huge Apple computers fan - ever since 2004, when I got the iBook laptop I'm typing on at this moment , I've enjoyed hearing about each new innovation and product.

I bought my iPod (video, 40gb) back in 2005 or 2006 - I can't even remember now. I still use it all the time - it's been particularly helpful here showing pictures and slideshows in class. And I love having it for long train trips or flights home.

This new iPod Shuffle is pretty amazing - doubt I'll be buying one, but it sure looks cool. :)

-JCH

Pictures and vlogs from my Tokyo trip - part 2

Tokyo - Feb 09 trip - Day Four - 3.jpg
Originally uploaded by Jason In Japan.

Hello All -

I've finally had some time during my Spring Break to update my FLICKR page with the rest of my Tokyo pictures.

These include pictures from Sunday, when I went to a famous Buddhist temple in Asakusa called Senso-ji. And I traveled by train out to neighboring Saitama prefecture to visit the John Lennon Museum.

Both were worthwhile destinations and I recommend them both to people visiting Tokyo.

The picture above is me in the lobby of the JLM - you aren't allowed to take any pictures or video in the actual museum, so that's about all I have, except for a few vlogs I shot at the entrance:



The temple at Asakusa is a very famous landmark in Tokyo and it was super crowded on the Sunday I visited.



But it was interesting to see the mix of commerce, with the path leading up to the temple full of shops on both sides of the path, and the traditional, with people waving incense all over their bodies and making prayers and offerings inside the temple.



It was a great final day in Tokyo - I had just the right amount of time before I had to get the train from Ueno station back to Narita airport. And the weather stayed nice the entire time, altho it did start to get chilly on Sunday.

Unfortunately, I think all the carrying of luggage around the stations, and up and down large flights of stairs, did a number on my back, and after feeling sore all week, my back seized up on me on Friday after I got back and I was in bed all the next weekend, basically unable to move and in great pain, necessitating a trip to the Japanese emergency room that Sunday. Sucks to get old! :P

Anyway - the trip was excellent - I had a great time, met some cool people, saw some awesome sites and ate some great food.

I can't wait to do it again!

Peace,
Jason

100 Scariest Movie Moments - 01 - Jaws

People often ask me what my favorite film of all time is, and I have many, but if pressed I say "JAWS."

For me, it's just a perfect movie. And oddly enough, I never saw it on the big screen when it was originally released in 1976. (I was only 7 years old and I lived in California, so my parents wisely didn't let me see it or I would have never gone to the beach again)
But I never saw "SIngin' in the Rain," "Casablanca," or "Bridge on the River Kwai" on the big screen either, so that's not a big deal.

It was probably the fact that I discovered the movie on VHS and could watch it over and over again (which I did) that has let it become my all time favorite movie.

Everything about it is fantastic - the pace, the plot, the acting, the effects, and of course, the music.

I realized that it's a genre picture and maybe hard to compare to something like Schindler's List or Citizen Kane, but for me, JAWS is endlessly watchable and a great example of everything that Steven Spielberg does so well.

-Jason

Behind the Scenes at MyArgonauts Productions

Happy April Fool's Day everyone. This vid has been getting some good reaction from my viewers on YouTube.

Hope you enjoy it. :D

-JCH

Utada Hikaru - First Love (karaoke)

I really like the style of lyrics seen in the above video.

Watching karaoke vids is a great way to learn Japanese. Many standard karaoke vids include furigana for the kanji, so as long as you know at least hiragana you can follow along. This video is even easier as the Japanese is transcribed into romaji.

Utada is immensely popular here, altho she hasn't had a big hit in over a year.
This song is an early hit for her and one of my favorite sappy J-pop songs.
I'm not sure who to compare her to - maybe Christina Aguilera - since they both are talented vocalists, have had many big hit records, and both started singing at a young age.

The video below is a live version of the song and you can see how Utada looks now.

Enjoy!
-Jason

Updates

Hello All -

I have lots of things to tell you, and no time it seems to type it all up and post it here.

But I should have some time starting this weekend, as I'll be on Spring Break starting tomorrow. yeah!

I'm not going anywhere or doing anything special - just hanging out in my town and trying to catch up on things that need doing, like cleaning my apartment, seeing some movies (Watchmen - yeah!), and updating this here blog.

I'm sure many of you watch my vlogs over on YouTube, and I've been pretty active over there, but I want to spend some time here as well - I have some text posts percolating in my brain that I want to share with y'all.

Also, I need to update my Flickr site, which is way behind. Altho the fun of it has gone mostly for me now that I can't post pics of me with my students, I will try and get the rest of my Tokyo pics posted and some other recent pics as well.

Thanks for reading and I hope your Spring is off to a nice start.

Be Seeing You,
Jason

英語で懐かしい！

Another good vlog from my buddy Koichi.

A good one for my students to watch!

-J

Response - Getting to know TaishaJason

More than you ever wanted or needed to know about me. :)

To follow along with the list, click on the YouTube icon in the lower right corner and watch the video on the YT page so you can access the sidebar.

I invite comments and responses.

-Jason

New STAR TREK trailer

I was never a big Star Trek fan. In that old pop-culture debate, Star Wars vs Star Trek (similar to Elvis vs The Beatles or Batman vs Spider-Man), I was always on the side of the Jedi, Wookies and lightsabers over the side with phasers, Tribbles and bad Scottish accents.

But I certainly enjoyed Star Trek growing up - the original TV series with the best captain (which is another debate - Kirk vs Picard) was always something I liked to watch, but I hadn't seen every episode and I didn't know obsessive details about each show. I had a friend in High School named Chris who was a big Trekkie and he got me to watch some of the best of the original series, like Wolf in the Fold and City on the Edge of Forever. Well, as you can see, I now can name episode titles, so I've grown into being a Trekker (the more recent term for a Trek fan), but I'm still not an uber fan.

What prompted my interest even more than Chris's enthusiasm for the old series was the new series - The Next Generation - that started when I was a Freshman in college. The first season was a bit stiff and awkward at times, but the show grew into an interesting parable of life here even tho the action took place in distant galaxies far into the future. I became a bigger fan of "Next Gen" than I was a fan of the Kirk and Spock version of Trek.

But the first Next Gen movie - called Generations - was a disappointment. The previous 6 ST movies, with the original crew - had been somewhat hit or miss - the generally accepted wisdom nowadays is that the even numbered ones - 2, 4 and 6 - are good movies, with #2 being my personal fave - and the odd numbered ones are not very good, or even downright awful, as in #5. (Although I have a lot of affection for #3 - The Search for Spock)
The Next Gen movies hit their stride with their 2nd attempt - First Contact - which features perhaps the best villian in any of the movies, even better than Khan in ST #2 - the Borg.
Star Trek movies, like Bond films, get by on their established characters, but what makes them really memorable and fun and exciting is a great villian.

So it's with interest that I watch the build-up for the new Trek film, coming to screens in May (even here in Japan where it comes out on May 29th).
Simply titled "Star Trek," this film chronicles the early adventures of Kirk and Spock and the original crew, all played by new, younger actors. The film is being directed by JJ Abrams, who is responsible for Lost and Alias on American TV,

The trailer below is pretty excellent - giving a good indication that the film will be action packed and exciting. What's missing, at least in the trailer, is a hint of the comedy that makes Trek so much fun - no dialog from Scotty in this trailer - and I'm still not sure if Nero, the new villian played by Eric Bana, will be memorable or not, but I'm certainly very excited to see the film.

Abrams has to walk a fine line here - please all the core Trekers out there while trying to build a new audience that will want to "bodly go" on more adventures in the future.
Many casual movies fans will dismiss this picture based on the title alone - "pphhht" Star Trek? - I don't like Star Trek, some of them will say, but if the movie succeeds, then perhaps even casual fans or older fans, like myself, who didn't buy into the recent TV incarnations of the franchise, like Voyager, Deep Space Nine and Enterprise, will give Star Trek another chance.

Watch and enjoy! (There is a short commercial before the trailer begins)



-Jason

new Terminator film trailer

I'm a big fan of the Terminator film franchise. I absolutely love the first two movies, and I even enjoy the third one for what it was - an attempt to prolong the characters on screen.

This new film - with Christian Bale (who plays Bruce Wayne/Batman in the recent Batman films) as John Connor looks AMAZING!

I can't wait to see it. The Terminator films and even the Fox TV show, which just came out on DVD here in Japan, are pretty popular here, so I'm hoping the film will come to Japanese theaters shortly after it debuts on American screens.

Another highly anticiapted movie for me - Watchmen - comes out this weekend in America and in late March here in Japan, so that's not too bad a wait for me. It also looks fantastic based on what I've seen online.

Enjoy!
-Jason

Pictures from my Tokyo trip

Tokyo - Feb 09 trip - Day THREE - 16.jpg
Originally uploaded by Jason In Japan.

Hello All -

I've posted a few pics from my first few days in Tokyo at the beginning of February.

I had a great time and I've posted lots of videos from the trip on my YouTube site.

Day One was Thursday the 5th.
I flew on JAL from Izumo to Haneda airport in Tokyo. Plane trip took about 90 minutes.
From the airport I got a few trains to my hotel near Ueno station and I dropped off my luggage.

I had a few hours to kill before my meeting with the folks that run the JET Programme, so I walked around a bit and had some lunch at an Irish Pub.

Our meeting started at about 1:00 and I met the other 9 ALTs invited to give their opinions to the JET staff and officials on how to improve the JET experience. My presentation wasn't until Friday, so I mostly relaxed and listened and commented on the other presentations.

The great, former ALTs and CIRs who now work in Tokyo for the JET ministries, like CLAIR, took us out-of-towners out for some excellent Indian food and a two hour nomihodai (all you can drink) dinner.
Then it was a few subway stops and I was back at my hotel - a little exhausted from the traveling so I was eager to just crash into bed.

Up early the next morning for our 2nd day of opinion sharing.

My presentation was the last of the day, so time got a little short and I wasn't able to cover all the points in my outline, but overall I think it went well and I enjoyed hearing other perspectives on the job I have and the "company" I work for.

We wrapped up, had a small pizza party for lunch and then I was free for the rest of Friday. I went back to my hotel to change out of my suit and then struck out on the town to explore Tokyo and eventually have dinner.

I ended up spending way too much time in the English book and magazine section of the Shibuya Tower Records, so I didn't look for a place to eat until about 10pm. I ended up going somewhere very familiar to all Californians - TGI Friday's.
It was overpriced and noisy, but I enjoyed it - a rare taste of "American" food for this rural boy.

Here is a picture from Shibuya at night:



The picture at the top of this post is from my full day of sightseeing on Saturday.

I went to Harajuku and visited the nearby shrine dedicated to the Emperor Meiji and his wife. He was a key figure in the Meiji Restoration, an important time in Japanese history in the late 1800s.

It was a beautiful Shinto shrine and the weather was so nice, it was a pleasure to stroll around the grounds and escape the craziness of urban Tokyo if only for a short while.

After Harajuku I went to Akihabara - the famous geek Mecca filled with tons of small shops selling toys and electronics and everything associated with Anime (Japanese animation).
I walked around, bought a few gifts and had lunch at Burger King - another American fast food restaurant that they don't have in Shimane.

After Akiba, I was off to another Mecca - this one for fans of Sumo. The stadium where they hold the Grand Sumo tournaments three times a year in Tokyo is called the Kokugikan and it's a distinctive looking building I've seen on TV many times.

I was eager to explore the Sumo museum, but after making it out to the stadium, I found out that the museum was closed that day. I was so disappointed.

I explored a bit more and then it was back to the hotel to rest and change for my night out with some fellow YouTubers.

We all met near Ueno station at around 7pm and Hiko, who's lived in Tokyo for over 10 years, showed us around a bit before we settled on a pub-type place for drinks and food and conversation.
Later we ended up at TGIF (a different one) for dessert and we all got our cameras out and shot vlogs of each other. How geeky! :P

I'll post more pictures from Sunday - my last day in Tokyo - soon.

This weekend and next I'm super busy getting the graduation movies prepared for my soon-to-graduate 9th graders at both my Jr High schools. It takes me a long time to edit all my pictures and video footage together. But the kids really love the resulting movie each year.

Hope all is well with you.

Peace,
Jason

Jason in Tokyo - Vlog #11 - Hiko, Cruxay, Atomicboyx - meeting Tokyo YouTubers

My version of the video posted somewhere below by my pal Hiko - I got out my camera and started interviewing the other J-vloggers I go to meet in Tokyo during my trip a few weeks ago.

We had a nice night out chatting and eating and bitching about YouTube. :)

-Jason

【とっきゅん】双子メイドがぽっぴっぽー踊ってみた＠修正【れーはん】

I've lived in Japan for almost 5 years now, and it seems to me that no matter how long I lived here there are just some aspects of Japanese pop culture that I'll never understand. The above video is a perfect example. *shakes head* wakaranai :)

I found this, by the way, since I was checking out the "most discussed" sports videos in Japan today and this was on the list... Umm... sports? really?

-JCH

Myargonauts Atomixboyx Radrey and Cruxay in Ueno! (英字幕)

I had the good fortune to meet up with some other YouTubers who live in Japan, and more specifically Tokyo.

I have some footage from this night as well, and I'll post it soon.

Cheers to Hiko for posting this vid and showing us around.

-Jason

A years worth of Japanese Food in Tokyo

People often ask me what do you eat in Japan?

Well, here are some examples. While I wouldn't eat everything in this video, I have tried a bunch of new things while living here, and I enjoy some Japanese food very much.

-JCH

The People vs George Lucas - Official Teaser Trailer 1 (HD)

Here is a documentary you know I'll be seeing if it's playing when I go home to America from August.

I should do my own vlog about Mr Lucas.

-Jason

What's on the menu at my Japanese school? Would you eat whale meat?

A little glimpse into my school lunch time at my smallest elementary school, which only has 10 students, up in the mountains above Taisha.

This day whale meat was on the menu for kyushoku (school lunch).

This vlog has been getting lots of comments on my YouTube page.

-Jason

WHAT'S UP の返事

something for my students - I wish I could get them to say something other than "how are you?" and respond with "I'm fine thank you and you?"

Jason in Tokyo- Vlog #1 - Ueno eki

Hello -

I'm in Tokyo for 4 days on official JET business, but I also get a few days to sighsee and have fun.

This is my first vlog from the trip - I had just arrived on Thursday morning.

I stay until Sunday evening, and I hope to meet up with some other YouTubers tonight for some Tokyo evening fun.

Peace,
Jason

Apply to JET - Vlog #105 - ALT interview roundtable

My friends here in the Izumo area of Shimane helped me make a vlog, offering advice to JET applicants about to take their interview for the 2009-2010 program.

So thanks to Eric, Ashley, Seth and Lauren for giving my subscribers a break from hearing me talk all the time. :)

-Jason

Sumo 2009 January Championship Playoff Final (Part 3 of 5)

日本の英語の習い方の問題 Problems with Japan's English Program

This one is for my students:
浜山中学生と大社中学生：

Do you agree with Koichi or disagree? Why?

Someone asked if I can summarize what Koichi is saying in English... Not really, but maybe if Koichi stumbles by and sees this he will leave a comment.

ジェイソン

Mｽﾃ HY 366日②

HY have over time become my favorite Japanese band. I listen to their CDs more than any other J-pop that I have.

They're also very popular with my students, and their new album, which this song is from, has been a big hit, but I have yet to get it. CDs are really expensive here - averaging about $25 or more. So I usually wait until they are available for rent at my local DVD shop. I can rent a new CD for about $4 and then upload it into my iTunes and iPod.

Anyways - enjoy the tune.

-Jason

Learn Japanese from Yoda

My buddy Koichi of Tofugu.com has a fun introductory Japanese lesson for all of you just starting out.

Enjoy!
-Jason

Applying to JET - vlog #101 - The Interview - Part One

My new series of JET Vlogs starts here. I'll discuss the interview process for JET over the next few vlogs. I've already done parts two and three as well, so go to my channel page to see those.

As of today, this vid has already had over 650 views in about three days. That's amazing to me, but very rewarding - it's great to know that many people are interested in what I'm saying and perhaps the info is helpful to them.

Cheers,
Jason

Star Wars - retold by someone who hasn't seen it

My brother, Paul, sent me a link to the video below, which is easily one of the best homemade vids I've seen in a long while. Watching it brought a huge smile to my face, and I laughed out loud many times.

Kudos to the guy who recorded the audio and then edited it all together.

Simply fantastic!

(And thnx to Paul for sending me the link - how did we survive before the internet??) :D


Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn't seen it) from Joe Nicolosi on Vimeo.

Jason's DVD Collection - Movies I Like - part #4

this is part four of a series I'm doing on my 2nd YouTube channel currently.

I'm going thru my huge binder of DVDs that I brought with me to Japan and recommending films I like.

click on the YouTube icon above in the lower right corner of the video to be taken to my TaishaJason channel if you want to see more in this series.

-Jason

Japanese trailer for Watchmen

Ahh... Watchmen. Easily my most anticipated movie of 2009, and surprisingly, I found out that is was set to be released in Japan the same month (March) as in America. BUT.... there is current litigation between FOX, who claim to own the original distribution rights and Warner Brothers, who produced the film.
Fox actually won an early court case, and they may block the release the of the film. Which would be an enormous shame, since everything I see online about the movie looks incredible.

If you've seen the domestic trailer, then you might be interested to see the Japanese trailer below, since it features some new footage and turns the focus of the movie into a political realm mirroring today's society, even tho the film is set, as was the original graphic novel, in the mid 1980s.

Enjoy!
-Jason

RJL Vlog #6 - IzumoTaisha at Midnight - New Year's Eve 2009 - Part One

Part ONE of three vlogs I'll make about my New Year spent at IzumoTaisha shrine in my town.

Enjoy!
-Jason

Winter and Spring - same location

New Year's Day at IT - 4.jpg
Originally uploaded by Jason In Japan.

a little experiment - the pic above is "small" size from my Flickr account, and the pic below is "medium" size (and from 2006, while the pic above is from last week).

Does the medium pic throw the design and layout of my blog all out of whack?

Happy 2009!

I spent New Year's Eve and New Year's Day at my local shrine, IzumoTaisha.

It was nice to go again, since I didn't go last year due to bad weather and two years ago I was in America for the holidays.

It was crowded, as you can see in the picture above, but not too bad.

I walked around and took a bunch of footage which I'll edit together for my YouTube channel soon.

To be honest, I'm not really looking forward to 2009. Unless something unusual comes along, I'll most likely be going home in late July. After 5 years here in Taisha, I've come to think of it as "home." It's gonna be really hard to leave.

I won't be so sad to leave the job - 5 years of being an assistant makes one long for their own classroom where they can have more influence over the course of study. But I will be sad to leave my kids - the students that I've come to know over the past four and a half years. And I've gotten very used to my solitary life - a lifestyle I now am very comfortable with. Going back to a big American city, living with other people, having to go back to school to get my teaching credential even after 5 years of in-class experience - these are all things I'm not looking forward to.

But I knew this time was coming - in fact, I thought I was going home in 2007, after the end of my third year. But in late 2006, JET changed the rule about allowing ALTs to stay on a 4th and/or 5th year, and I decided to stay. It's an easy decision (at least for me) to stay - it's much tougher to leave.

Some might say it'll be good for me to have a change. Certainly I've been in a rut lately. I don't really talk about it much on this blog or in my YT videos. I've mastered the bi-polar front: well-adjusted, cheerful and engaged on the outside - the side I show to others, while inside I'm really quite depressed and very lonely.
I'm just not the kind of person who wants to talk about it. I know the reasons for it - some of the reasons are in my sphere of control, others are not, but my laziness and social misanthropy certainly don't help the situation.
I will say that it sucks to be poor in Japan - most JETs will never have this problem, but for me, staying a 5th year has turned out to be a mistake in financial terms. I just had 11 days in a row of vacation and I rarely left my apartment. I have no money to travel or do anything beyond rent DVDs and sing karaoke and go out to each occasionally. To have a little bit of money to take advantage of my upcoming business trip to Tokyo will require some tricky financial wrangling, but I'll manage somehow.

I'll be going home in July with almost no money saved, and a monthly debt in America that won't care that I'll be unemployed. I'll be 40 years old, single, and living with my parents. Not exactly the optimum situation. I might be able to come back to Japan in 2010, but by then I might have re-adjusted to life in America and the urge to move again might be gone.

I would love to get a job here teaching in a high school, to continue my adventure and have some experience at the only level of Japanese education I don't know much about. I've got a few leads, so who knows, but I doubt I'll find something that doesn't mind me starting in mid summer (The Japanese school year starts in April - at odds with the arrival/departure of JETs) and pays as well or better than the JET programme.

I don't usually mention this type of stuff. While I want this blog to be informative for potential ALTs, it would be disingenuous of me not to mention some of the rough spots involved with living in a foreign country and out-staying all the other ALTs you arrived with. I'm the only 5th year ALT in Shimane, so everyone that I knew and befriended when we all arrived as newbies back in 2004, has since left Japan, or gone on to other work.

Which I guess is a big reason I've embraced YouTube so much in the past year. It's given me an outlet and "someone" to talk to when I often go a whole day without having a conversation in English or about something other than teaching.
I'm very happy that many people have found the vlogs helpful and informative and I hope to continue making entertaining and insightful vlogs in 2009.

I do get to watch my hometeam - the San Diego Chargers, play in their first playoff game tomorrow night. NHK is showing the Saturday game against the Colts during prime time tomorrow at 6pm. And I'm gonna cook tacos - so a little taste of home and what I hope will be a good game on TV - a nice way to end my holiday. Tuesday I'm back at work, altho I'll spend most of the day cheering on my school's volleyball team in their New Year tournament, so I hardly call that work.

Wednesday I'll spend the day decorating my Language Lab and designing a new English board at Taisha JH, and then the 3rd term officially starts on Thursday, and I'll be at Hamayama JH to start the New Year.

Even tho I'm pessimistic about 2009, I am looking forward to various aspects of the coming year. Of course, many of the upcoming events, like graduation will be tinged with sadness for me, as I know it will most likely be my last of each event in Japan. But I hope to make the best of it.

I hope you have a wonderful 2009, and if you're in America, perhaps I'll be seeing you later in the year.

Peace,
Jason

Request - Cooking dinner in Japan - Part Two

Cooking with Jason!

I've had some interesting requests for videos from my subscribers, and more than a few have asked to watch me in the kitchen cooking something.

This vid is actually part two - for part one click on the "YouTube" icon above and then you'll be able to see the line to click on for part one.

Cheers,
Jason

cat stevens

So I often think about what singer's voice/talent I would have loved to have been born with... (am I the only person that does this?)

And even tho you may think my answer would be John Lennon or Colin Hay or Joe Jackson (all excellent choices), I have to say that I just love Cat Stevens voice and delivery. It's so unique and memorable and melodic.

If you only buy one CD this year, make it "The Very Best of Cat Stevens." I play it at least once a week - it's an amazing collection of songs.

-J
who turns 40 this year and will never have a son, but would like to think they could have listened to this song together.

Greg Laswell

My favorite cover song of 2008 (at least that's when I first heard it).

I keep playing it over and over in my iTunes.

-J

Radiohead - Fake Plastic Trees (ACOUSTIC)

My song for January 1st, 2009.

Happy New Year.

If I could be who you wanted
If I could be who you wanted
All the time All the time.

(My favorite Radiohead song of all time, and in my top 50 songs of all time)
-J

Happy Holidays from Japan

Some holiday cheer :)

Enjoy!
-Jason

Me and My Argonauts

Hey Gang -

Just plugging myself here. More good stuff all about me! :)

Seriously, it's kinda funny that I now have so many people watching my videos and reading this here blog. I do the same stuff, just now I get more comments and feedback on it.

I do get asked about my YouTube user name from time to time. My channel name is "Myargonauts." Most people get the reference, but a few are clueless.

Way back in the dark days of AOL, when I got my very first email address, I wanted something that referenced "Logan's Run" - my favorite sci-fi film of all time. But Logan5, the name of the main character, was taken. I tried and tried to think of something, without using my actual name.

Eventually, I came up with "myargonauts," which is a reference to the famous greek myth about Jason and the Argonauts. Jason searched for the Golden Fleece on a ship called the Argo - so the men who sailed with him were called Argonauts. Since I'm Jason, they are "my argonauts." Not very clever, but I liked it. And it's a name that has stuck for over 10 years now.

My buddy, Koichi, was nice enough to give me a great write up over at his blog, called Tofugu.com.

Click Here to go to the page. I wish I had some web design or layout skills and I could make this blog much more presentable.
Anyway, it was really cool of Koichi to give me a nice shoutout - so Thanks Koichi!

He's got a great site, so click around once you're there and check it out. His front page today features an interesting article on the Japanese lyrics to the Xmas song "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer." Good stuff!

Today, December 25th, was the last day of 2nd term at school - just another working day in Japan. I did dress up as Santa for my Jr High kids tho. I stood outside the entrance and said "Good Morning" in my best Santa voice and handed out stickers and shook hands.

From tomorrow I start my winter vacation. I have about 10 days off in a row, but I won't really be doing much. I'm pretty poor at the moment, so no travel for me. So I hope to spend some time updating my Flickr site and all 3 of my YT channels and this blog too. We'll see if the laziness takes hold or I actually get some stuff done.

I do have my Japanese tutor tomorrow. I continue studying even tho I'll most likely be going home next year. It's almost weird to say "going home" since I now consider Taisha and my apt here my "home." By the time I leave next July, I will have been here for 5 full years - that's longer than I've lived anywhere in the same house/apt as an adult.

2009 is gonna mostly be a painful year for me in many ways. I'll rush around trying to get things done before I leave - tasks I want to accomplish, places I want to visit, etc. - and always I'll be thinking in the back of my mind - this is my last graduation/class field trip/Osaka sumo trip, etc.

I'm really excited that I get to go to Tokyo for a few days in early February. I haven't been back to Tokyo since July of 2004, when I first arrived in Japan for JET Orientation. I know February isn't the best time weather wise to be visiting the capital of Japan, but I plan on making the most of my trip. I'd really like to visit Tokyo Disneyland, so hopefully I'll be able to work that in, even tho right now I have no one to go with, and the idea of going to Dland by myself is rather depressing.

I have a Japanese female friend in Osaka/Kyoto who I was going to invite, but she just sent me an email today inviting me to her wedding party that same weekend. Funny world innit? :)

It's 1:20am here and an American Football game is about to start on NHK, so I'm off to watch that. (I don't have work tomorrow so I can sleep in!!) The snow is hitting my windows and the wind is blowing hard. It was almost a white Christmas, but not quite. Hope your holidays are going well.

Peace,
Jason

Father Christmas - a story in Japanese and English

Enjoy a nice Christmas tale of Santa, read to you by some of my great students and myself with a fairly inconsistent English accent (apologies to my Mom and Dad).

-Jason

1000 subs! ありがとうございます！ THANKS!

I recently passed 1000 subscribers to my main YouTube channel.

Thanks to them and others who stop by to watch my vlogs, my videos often end up on the Top 10 most watched or most discussed list for all the people making vids in Japan.

It's pretty cool and if you're a subscriber and you're reading this too, then I thank sincerely for your support.

I have some good stuff planned for 2009, so stay tuned! :)

Peace,
Jason

High School Musical invades Japan

This is mostly for my students, many of whom really like the J-pop band, NEWS, that this young actor/singer is from.

The report shows them staging a live version of the first HSM movie in Japanese. And he has to kiss his leading lady on stage.

-J

Big picture update - #3 of 3 - pics from Aug 08

farewell to summer community concert - 15.jpg
Originally uploaded by Jason In Japan.

I posted a bunch of pics of me and my kids as we finished our summer vacation and started to prepare for the big event of the year - Sports Day in September.

Above is a picture of some of my local elementary kids - mostly 4th to 6th graders, in a combined band playing in the "farewell to summer" community concert.

I spent the last days of summer at my schools, even tho classes wouldn't start until the first week of September. My 9th graders were at school each day too, preparing for their upcoming Sports Day.

Here you can see one class - the Red Team - taking a break in the quad after working on their group dance and cheer.



some students are assigned to work on the costumes the students will wear during this group dance routine - here you can see one of the more elaborate costumes to be worn by a green team leader:



Some of the kids are assigned the job of making the huge class posters that inspire their teams to victory. This is a cool design from my 2nd Jr High's Red Team - and I helped them come up with their English motto - "Red Fire - Burning to Victory!"


It was hot! You can see all of us in the pic below have sweat towels draped around our necks - they're essential in the 30.C+ heat and humidity of the Japanese summer.


It was great to hang out with my 9th graders in a relaxed atmosphere at school - goofing around and having fun. I get along great with this group - I've been teaching them since they were 5th graders at elementary school, so we're comfortable with each other - comfortable enough for me to allow them to try and tie my hair up above my head - didn't quite work tho... :)


So that's about it for my August update. I had about 375 pics to sort thru to find the best and most appropriate ones to post to my Flickr account.

Looking ahead to my September update - I have an overwhelming 1.362 pictures to choose from. I take a staggering amount of pics on Sports Day every year, and this year I had two Sports Days and I also visited Taisha High School and took pictures there as well.

Hopefully I have time during my winter holiday to get those pics posted.

Happy Holidays!
-Jason

How we stay warm in my rural Japanese school

As winter approaches in many places where my subscribers live, I give a quick glimpse into how we stay warm at my rural school.

Driving in Japan - Going to Matsue on Sunday

Another driving video - this one features Mt Daisen and me on my way to Matsue, the capital of Shimane.

Enjoy!
-Jason

Big picture update - #1 of 3 - pics from Aug 08

Jacob & friends
Originally uploaded by Jason In Japan.

Hey Gang -

Jacob says "Konnichiwa!" Jacob is the green dragon from the Chinese zodiac in the picture above. I've collected Jacob and his friends over the years from a small craft shop in Hinomisaki. Jacob was the last one I needed and now I have all 12.

I spent some time over the weekend updating my Flickr site with a bunch of new pics. I'm going thru my backlog of pics by month, so this batch is from August of 2008.

This update post will highlight some of the pics involving me and school and my students and events I went to during summer vacation.

The next update will be about other ALTs and JETs and some of the fun we had in August. And then update #3 will be about the preparations for Sports Day, which got underway during summer vacation.

Speaking of SD prep, I did upload a few pics from the earliest days of preparations, like this one below of my kids in Taisha working out their team dance routine:



One fun event I went to this past summer was a chorus concert in Izumo featuring both my Jr High schools and also former students who are now at Taisha High School.

My kids:


Ang's kids, some of whom were once my students:


I also had a great time in Mid-August at the Taisha town festival, the goen matsuri.
I got to see tons of my students dressed up in their summer yukata (casual cotton kimono) and plenty of people turned out in the summer heat to enjoy food stalls and games and entertainment:


(Do I look good in glasses?)

Lastly, I had a great time listening and lending support to both my schools' brass band clubs as they competed in the kentaikai, or prefecture-wide tournament.

I snapped tons of great pics of my genki band kids in Matsue, and I also traveled to Ohda to see my C-Team band (mostly 7th graders) compete in their tournament too.









So that's about it for this first update. I hope to blog about the other two batches of pics later this week.

Peace,
Jason

kyushoku (school lunch) on Friday at my Jr High in Japan

no real description needed for this one...

watch and enjoy!
-Jason

Questions from my interview test for my Japanese Jr High students

If you're curious what kind of things you may be teaching if you get this JET gig to teach in Japan, then here is a peak into my last two days at work this week.

I spent periods 1-4 on Monday and Tuesday interviewing every 7th grader (ichi nen sei) in one of my Jr High schools.

I had to ask each 12 or 13 year old a series of 15 questions, and they had to answer in English.
They had the questions in advance, and I didn't try to trick them or ask them out of order, etc.
Just a straight forward test of their speaking skills. This is why I'm here. So my kids, out here in very rural Japan, have an opportunity to speak with a native speaker, even if it's in this type of scripted format.

The teacher in charge of these 140+ kids is doing a good job with them this year, and most of the students did really well, answering each question as best they could.

The great thing about this for me is that I get a chance to learn a little about each kid - what music they like, if they have siblings, what club they're in at school, etc - so I can start putting a name to the face and more of a personality to each kid. Some are shy, some are super genki, some obviously really like English and study hard, and some could barely answer any of the questions.

I recommend this type of activity highly to any ALT with the time to do it.

-Jason

Rumination - I recommend Books about Japan

Welcome to Jason's Book Club. :)

I talk about 5 books related to my life here in Japan. I provide links to each book at the YouTube page for this video.

I also try out a new Pepsi flavor, Pepsi White, and briefly show my new kotatsu at the end of the video.

-Jason

Disney Land Japan

Tom is a young guy from Australia. I used to watch his vlogs about being a foreign exchange student at a Japanese high school. after he finished his time there, he decided to stay in Japan.

Watch this cute vid if you've wondered what Disneyland in Tokyo is like.

Enjoy!
-Jason

SUMO - Fukuoka Day 15 - Winner-take-all playoff Ama v Hakuho 11-23-08

A thrilling finale to an exciting end-of-the-year tournament.

watch for my commentary at the beginning, and then we focus on a great match between to fantastic wrestlers.

Enjoy!
-Jason

Apply to JET Program - Vlog #7 - Send it in!

My final installment in my most recent series of vlogs about applying for the JET Programme.

I'll be back with more vlogs about JET in the new year with a series about the JET interview process.

Thanks for watching!
-Jason

Virtual Zeppelin-Black Dog

This is one of my favorite series on YT.

This type of collaborative video seems like it was invented for YouTube. Friends in different places film themselves playing their part of the song, send it to one person in their group and he edits it all together to make a whole song.

really well done. They have lots of other songs, including some excellent Beatles covers, so click the video itself to be taken to their homepage.

-Jason

SUMO - Fukuoka - Day 6 highlights 11-14-08

Sumo has started again, but unfortunately I have been so busy that I haven't been able to watch everyday.

I caught this highlight show on NHK late Friday/early Saturday at about 2am. So it's all in Japanese, but I throw in plenty of my own commentary.

I'm sad that I can't travel to Fukuoka and watch this tournament live, but I hope to post more bouts as the tournament goes on.

Enjoy some quick highlights of the last 5 matches from Day 6 - Friday the 14th.

-Jason

Request - shopping for food in Japan - what does it cost?

Ever wonder what some basic foods cost in Japan? Or what I feed myself?
Then watch this vid I shot this past week after a trip to my local grocery store.

-JCH

RJL Vlog #5 - NaruyoJapan visits IzumoTaisha

A Japanese woman who also posts on YouTube came to my town with her daughter in October to visit my local shrine, IzumoTaisha.

She contacted me thru YT and we decided to meet up so I could show them around for a few hours.

So enjoy this video with more footage of the beautiful IzumoTaisha. I will truly miss this place when I leave next year.

-Jason

ハローウィン： パンプキンを摘みましょう！

For my students - they can learn a little about Halloween in America.

watch all the way to the end for the cool Jack-O-Lantern designs!

-J

A.M. 11:00 - HY (with subs)

HY have been one of my favorite J-pop bands for a while now, but recently I've been listening to their album "Street Story" over and over again, which is unusual for me with Japanese music.

But I really like their melodies and that they share lead vocal duties between the main male vocalist and the female keyboardist, who both have interesting voices.

Anyway - I'll have to rent their new CD soon and put it in my iTunes so I have something new of theirs to try.

Enjoy!
-Jason

Happy Anniversary to ME!

I've been actively posting to YouTube for just over two years now, so I marked the occasion with the short video above, which I filmed at the local Shimane Museum of Ancient Izumo.

I've had a fun time with my YouTube channel, and I plan on posting plenty more vids in the coming months before I leave Japan next year.

Enjoy!
-Jason

October in Japan - nice weather and BIG spiders!

just me enjoying the nice weather for a few minutes at school the other day...

Enjoy!
-Jason

The Beatles Live in Indianapolis 1964 Part1

I've been a Beatles fan what seems like all my life.
I had an article I wrote about the way their music has affected my generation published in Rolling Stone magazine.
I've read all the biographies, listened to every album, seen all the films.

And now I have YouTube. It's a great resource to search for interesting Beatles footage, like the montage of clips in the video above. The sound quality is particularly good for a clip like this - the makers must have had access to the sound board for the vocals.

Modern groups, such as The Backstreet Boys, or The Spice Girls, or Britney Spears, and the reaction they evoke from their teenage fans will often be compared to Beatlemania, but it's not the same. There will never be another Beatles. They were of a time and a place and the impact they had is eternal and crosses all borders.

Enjoy!
-Jason

Appreciation

I now have over 800 subscribers on my main You Tube page.

I used to leave a comment on every new subscribers channel page - a quick thank you for subscribing. But I've added so many people in the past few months that I'm now at least three weeks behind.

Having a channel where youu give advice is both good and bad. About once a week now I get a PM over at YT that reads something like this...

you probably get these thankyou emails all the time, heck, you probably get emails that start off saying 'you probably get these thankyou emails all the time' all the time haha.

anyways i have watched all the jet vlogs and im so glad i did because its exactly what i want to do with my life when i get myself a bachelors degree, now i have a good idea of how to prepare and some of the things i should expect to experience.

Id just like to say i think it was a very kind thing of you to do, making all the jet vlog's to help all the people interested.

so thankyou very much.
Hope you have a good life.

Kyle

And believe me, I appreciate everyone of these emails. It's nice to know that not only are people watching my vlogs, but that they find them helpful or even inspiring.

But I also get a ton of poorly worded or simply unreadable emails. And these from people that want to one day work as English teachers. And I also get asked a lot of silly questions now - about living in Japan mostly, but I get some really wacky questions as well.

I think the most annoying ones for vloggers like me - who have a bunch of vids on our channels - is the type of question that we've answered many times before in previous vids or that could easily be answered with just the simplest Google search.

And my viewership is tiny compared to some of the big YouTube vloggers that have many thousands of subscribers - i can only imagine what there inboxes must be full of.

I'm really happy that YouTube has given me an opportunity to reach out and help potential JETs and people interested in living in Japan. I've met a bunch of interesting people online from all over the world.

So thanks for watching and stay tuned - more to come!

-Jason

Those weird foreigners

This clip made me smile.

The student wants to help a foreigner, but can't remember what to say in English. Her English teacher looks on amused, and then attempts to show her hows it's done.

With English subtitles.

Yakitate Japan - British Stereotypes

wakiness from the world of Japanese anime

Hey!Say!JUMP PV 真夜中のシャドーボーイ

currently one of the hottest boy bands in Japan - this group, known as Hey!Say!Jump! is so popular with my students.

So this posting is for some of my kids who check out my blog from time to time.

collecting omake (giveaway toys)

Star Wars toys on Pepsi Nex - 4.jpg
Originally uploaded by Jason In Japan.

Anyone that's known me for a while will tell you I like to collect things. DVDs, CDs, comics, etc.
I also went thru an action figure phase in my 20s - usually Star Wars and comic-related figures.
I don't really collect any of that anymore, but coming to Japan has opened up a whole new avenue of collecting for me.

Japan makes cool toys. No doubt about it.
And they often attach small version of these toys to food products - mostly beverages - as an incentive for you to buy them.

Over the past 4 years I've collected all kinds of these "omake."
I've got Snoopy figures, The Incredibles figures, Disney dioramas, etc.
Recently, to celebrate the arrival of a big Star Wars fan convention in Tokyo, the makers of Pepsi Nex - a diet Pepsi cola that I really don't drink, attached the kick-ass Star Wars "bearbrick" toys to their 20 oz bottles.

So I dashed around for 3 or 4 days, hitting all the local conbinis (convenience stores) and I was able to get a complete set of 16. Yoo-hoo!
What I'll do with them - I'm not really sure, but they sure are cool! :D
I took two out of their package (gasp!) and one dangles from my key chain, and the other dangles from my daily bag.

The other really cool omake I got into was tied into the World Cup in 2006. Coke came out with these round discs with a soccer ball-style flag of each participating country. So there were 32 to collect. The hardest one to find was Japan - no big surprise there. I was able to get 29 of the 32 before they disappeared from shelves.
I had a few duplicates too.
I kept em, thinking that maybe down the line I would complete the set and then just sell the whole collection on Ebay.
But this past summer I taught a lesson to a group of local Japanese boys going to Ireland to play soccer in an international tournament. And I ended up giving each of them one of the discs.
I still have about 8 discs - I kept all the "big name" countries, cuz they are pretty cool.

They had a great series of metal pins for the Olympics recently, and I got two the first day I saw them, decided I would try to get all 12, and the next day they were GONE. Oh well - at least I drink Coke. Anyway want a Pepsi Nex?

Craig Ferguson,

Good stuff from a recently made US citizen.

Rural Japan Life (RJL) - Vlog #4 - Taisha Goen Matsuri

My last summer festival in Japan in my current location.

I had a great time seeing all my students and having some great "stall food." :)

Enjoy!
-Jason

Applying to the JET Program - Vlog #1 - Get the Application!

Why do people laugh at creationists? (part 26) Sarah Palin

If you're in America and are going to vote in November, please take the time to watch this vid and really consider who you're voting for.

Thanks.

A Scotsman Who Can't Watch A Movie Without Shouting At ...

a few wee moments of silliness...

this one really made me laugh out loud!

-J

Sumo - Tokyo Day 7 - Asashoryu v Tochinonada 9-20-08

This is a good example of my Sumo coverage on my YouTube channel.

I tape certain matches off my TV, watching the English play-by-play, and provide my own commentary on the wrestlers and the action.

I've really come to love Sumo over my years here, and will certainly miss it when I leave.

-JCH

Rick Rolled - live in Japan

In case you don't know what "rick rolling" is, here is a link to an article on the phenomenon at Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rickrolling

Just 30 seconds of me being silly.

Enjoy!
-Jason

September update at sunset - busy, busy, busy

Sorry about the wind noise at the beginning.

-JCH

Teach English: EFL/ESL Part 1/6

Richard, the former JET who started his own business promoting English education in Japan, has just posted an hour long seminar he presented on teaching elementary kids on YouTube.

He posted it in six 10-minute segments, and this is part one.

It's worth checking out if you're interested in ESL teaching.

Cheers,
Jason

PS - the other five parts can be found on YT by clicking on the YT logo on this vid.

Saying goodbye to Sports Day

I'm finished with Sports Day.

I went to three this year. The first one was at my main Jr High- Taisha on Friday the 5th.

Then the next day, Saturday the 6th, I went to Taisha High School and got to see my friend, Ang, and a bunch of my former students.

Finally, this past week on Thursday the 11th I had Sports Day at my 2nd Jr High - Hamayama.

It's been an exhausting two weeks, but it's so, so, so much fun that I'll really miss it come this time next year.

Blue was the color to be this year, as the Blue Team won at both my Jr High schools.

I've had a rare experience as an ALT, having been at the same school for 5 years now, and getting to participate in 5 consecutive Sports Days at Taisha JH.

I had a great time this year and I took tons of pictures and many minutes of video.

The above clip was me sitting down in the background, intending to film a little wrap-up tag for something I'll edit together later, and the emotion of this being my last year at TJH just came over me and I got a little choked up.

For the students, especially the 9th graders, this is THE big event of their year, with only bunka sai (culture festival) left ahead of them before it's all about studying for the rest of the year.

Thanks for watching.
-Jason

life update

Hello All -

Just a text post to let you know what's happening with me these days.

I'm not sure how many "readers" I have left at this blog, since most of my time is now spent on my YouTube channel.
The wind got knocked out of my sails a bit for updating this blog, but I still care about it, and hope to be back more often.

As always, September is a busy time for me. Now that I have two Jr High schools, I have two Sports Days - both of which just took place. They are incredibly fun events, but really exhausting, so I'm very happy that this weekend is a 3-day weekend in Japan, and I have Monday off.

Of course, I don't have any money to do anything, but that's fine, since I just want to rest anyways.
It's weird working at a job where I've been recognzied for doing a good job, yet I haven't gotten a raise in 4 years. I knew this about teaching on JET when I took the job, but it's tough. Also, my tax situtation has changed, and while it's too complicated to explain here, basically I know make about $250 less every month, so my salary has actually gone down. :(

Makes is hard to travel and enjoy my final year here, but I'll manage.

Of course, I really don't have any friends to go off and do things with anyway, so it's always the struggle of "Do I want to go to such-and-such a place by myself."
I have a few friends in Shimane that when I see them, we have fun hanging out, but not the type of friends that just call up to do stuff on the weekends.
Part of the problem of staying 5 years is you outlast the other JETs you arrived with. Of course, I could make new friends, but it's a little tougher for me I think since I'm older, but I don't want this to sound like a pity party. If I wanted to be more connected to the other JETs here, I probably could be with a little effort on my part. But I guess I've gotten used to living alone and being alone, and for the most part it doesn't bother me all that much. I'm not gonna lie and say I'm not lonely, since as a single guy for 4 years now, I am, but my life is my life and I enjoy it for what it is.

A great thing has happened since I've become invloved in the Japan vlogging community - I now get invited to attend functions in other parts of Japan, and just invited to hang out with other Japan vloggers when I'm in their city. It's a really nice community made up of some fine folks, and I hope to take them up on their offers of hospitality before I leave Japan.

The main thing keeping me super busy in the next few weeks will be practicing with my students for upcoming English speech contests.
I have two 9th grade girls at each of my 2 JHs comepting in the Lafcadio Hearn contest that takes place on Sept 28th.
So that means practicing with 2 of them at one school from 4:15 to 5pm and then driving to the other school for practice from 5:15 to 6pm.

This means that I'll miss watching Sumo some days, but I still intend to vlog about watching and I'll be able to see all the matches at the weekends.

This year I had two fantastic sports days at both my schools. It was hot and sunny most days, and I have quite the farmer's tan right now, but I really had a great time. It's such a relaxed way to come back to school after summer vacation - I get to wear shorts to school everyday and we don't have any classes - that it'll be hard to get back into the regular routine this week.

I also went to the Sports Day at my local high school, and saw a bunch of former students who are now HS students. I took so many pictures at all 3 events, and this year, I really shot a ton of video clips. What I'll do with all this footage and pictures, I don't know, but it's nice to have as a reminder of the fun we had.

I'm watching a ton of American TV from iTunes right now - i just subscribed to the new seasons of "Prison Break" and "Terminator - The Sarah Connor Chronicles." And I look forward to the start of "Lost" and "Heroes" and other favorite shows that will begin again soon.
I'm still making my way thru the HBO show "The Wire," and I'm simply amazed at how good a show it is. I'm in the middle of season three right now.

I haven't been to the movies in a while (see above item about having no money), but I hope to go tomorrow since payday was Friday. I'll probably see Hancock, as there isn't much else out here right now.
I go to the movies by myself, and this has never bothered me, as I've been doing that since I was 16.

Anyway - I think that's about enough for now. I hope all is well with you.

See ya,
Jason

Matt Damon Rips Sarah Palin

I gotta agree with most of what Matt is saying here.

-J

Naughty Alaskan librarian

Gotta love Craig!

Can't say I agree with just about any of Ms. Palin's policies, but I can see why McCain picked her. I still think Obama is gonna win tho.

-JCH

Gnarls Barkley - Who's Gonna Save My Soul

I really like this group - I think the lead singer has an amazing voice.

And this is one of the most original music videos I've seen in a while.

Enjoy!

Learn Japanese Now from Koichi via eduFire!

a new way to learn a foreign language - via the web and webcam.

Interesting site -check it out if you want to learn a new language.

http://www.edufire.com

or for my friend's site above:
http://www.edufire.com/tofugu

Best Tennis Team in All of Japan

Best Tennis Team in All of Japan - 2.jpg
Originally uploaded by Jason In Japan.

Go Taisha Go!

The boys tennis team at my main Jr High went all the way to the All-Japan finals and won, getting the trophy for best Jr High tennis team in the whole country!

Basically, you start out at the prefecture level - the kentaikai - where you compete against teams from your local area. Taisha won.
Then you move on to the regional competitions - a gathering of teams from 5 or 6 prefectures - in our case, the Chugokutaikai, comprising of teams from Shimane, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi, Okayama and Tottori. Again, Taisha won.

So then it's on to the zenkokutaikai - the All-Japan finals. And Taisha WON!!
It's kinda like winning "nationals" in America. America has 50 states; Japan has 47 prefectures.

So a big CONGRATS to my boys - four 9th graders and four 8th graders who did Taisha proud! And their coach, Matsumura sensei, who I've known since I arrived. He's a good guy and they all deserve the win!

Picture above is their arrival back at school during summer vacation - a bunch of kids and staff hung around until their bus pulled in at 5:30pm and we had a little celebration ceremony.

Picture below is them after winning the local Shimane competition.

Way to go guys!!

Japanese Barack Obama with Will Smith on J TV

Some random silliness I captured while surfing channels the other day.

Enjoy!
-Jason

You can read more info in the description box on this video's YouTube page.

more from the Mighty Pat C

one of my favorite YouTubers, Pat Condell, with another of his trademark diatribes.

Entertaining as always.

-JCH

Rural Japan Life (RJL) - Vlog #1 - A day at the beach

Welcome to my new series of video logs (vlogs).

After all the great feedback I got during my vlogs about being a JET, I've decided to keep making vlogs, mostly about my life here in rural Shimane.

I hope you enjoy these new videos.

-Jason

アメリカの方言：ハワイ弁

this one is for the students that check out my blog.

One of my favorite vloggers on YT - he has a channel in English as well at Tofugu.

Enjoy!
-Jason

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Trailer

I haven't read the later HP books, so I look forward to each new movie, as I think they have all been uniformly excellent.

Looks like these last few films are gonna be really dark and serious.

-JCH

WATCHMEN - MEET THE CAST

The more I see about "Watchmen" the more excited I get.
3-6-09 - gonna be a big date next year.

I miss going to Comic Con so much.

watching the Olympics

I'm caught up in Olympic fever at the moment. Since Japan's main TV stations are government owned, and I only get like 6 channels out here in the sticks, I see ALOT of Olympic coverage. It's on all the time.
Of course, since they mainly cover events involving Japanese athletes, I'm seeing a lot more badminton, judo, archery, and fencing than I would ever see watching in the States.
But I'm also getting my fair share of gymnastics, swimming, track & field, soccer, baseball and other sports I know.

Just today I was home for lunch and I caught the men's swimming 4x100 relay - it was a fantastic race, with an incredible finish and I found myself shouting at the TV, cheering on the American team.
If you missed it, I'm sure you'll see the replays of it forever - it was quite a memorable race.

Here is a great article about it I stole from the MSN homepage:

BEIJING -- The U.S. men's 4x100m free relay team won gold Monday in the most exciting, most record-breaking, most amazing, thrilling, unbelievable relay anyone could ever imagine, evidence of exactly what Jason Lezak, who swam the greatest anchor leg in relay history, had to say when it was all over:

"People always step up and do things out of the ordinary at the Olympics."

This was even so much more. Extraordinary in every regard.

The U.S. men -- Michael Phelps, Garrett Weber-Gale, Cullen Jones and Jason Lezak -- set a world record, finishing in 3:08.24. France took second, Australia third.

The victory gave Michael Phelps his second gold medal here in Beijing -- in a race that had shaped up to be one of the most difficult on his quest for eight. The French and even the Australians had widely been considered prerace favorites.

"He's on a mission to win eight," Jones said of Phelps, "and we're happy to be a part of it."

The French, moreover, had been smack-talking before the race.
Jason Lezak storms from behind as the U.S. men win gold and smash the world record.

Afterward, asked on television who's talking now, Weber-Gale said, "We are. United States of America."

"C'est le sport," one of the French racers, Fabien Gilot, said afterward, which means literally, "It's sport," but which, in this context, really means, "That's why they race the race."

American swimmers had won every edition of this relay in the Olympics from 1964 through 1996. In Sydney in 2000, the Aussies won, the Americans finishing second. In Athens in 2004, the South Africans took gold, the Dutch silver, the Americans bronze.

So this, for the Americans, meant redemption as well.

In particular for Lezak, who had swum the third leg on that 2000 relay, anchor in 2004.

"I had more adrenaline going than I ever had in my life," Lezak said.

"America has a great tradition of winning that relay," he also said, adding just a moment later, "All of us knew what we're capable of, but to actually do it, to get that tradition back -- it's a phenomenal feeling. Still, right now, I'm in disbelief."

Understandable.

Swimming is a sport that translates elegantly into numbers, and the numbers from this one race will be studied and analyzed for years to come:

Before the preliminaries at these Games, the world record in the 4x100 relay stood at 3:12.46. That mark was set by an American team swimming in 2006.

One day ago, during the prelims, a U.S. team broke that record, swimming 3:12.23. (Under Olympic rules, the swimmers in the prelims get gold medals, too. Nathan Adrian, Matt Grevers and Ben Wildman-Tobriner swam with Jones.)

One day later, in the Olympic final, to go and then chop 4 seconds off that mark is -- well, it's not done. It took 20 years for the record to drop 4 seconds to the 3:12 range. In 1988, at the Seoul Olympics, an American team lowered the record to 3:16.53.

But that's not all.

The times in the prelims were so fast that it took 3:13.8 to get into Monday's final. Russia, at 3:14.07, didn't make it -- a second and a half off the world record, and not good enough for the Olympic final. Incredible.

During the final, five teams went under the mark the U.S. team had set in Sunday's prelims -- the Americans, French, Australians, Italians and Swedes. World record-breaking times for the Italians and Swedes -- and no medal.

Incredible.

But that's not all.

Phelps swam the lead-off leg for the Americans. He swam 47.51. The world record, going into the race: 47.50, by France's Alain Bernard, lining up Sunday to swim the French anchor leg in the relay.

Phelps and the Americans swam Sunday in Lane 4, the French in 5, the Australians in 3.

To Phelps' left, in Lane 3, Eamon Sullivan of Australia pulled lead-off duty as well. He touched ahead of Phelps, in 47.24 -- a world record in the 100m (lead-off legs are eligible for national and world records).

Phelps' mark is now the American record. His prior personal best had been 47.92, at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials.

The fastest Olympic lead-off split before Sunday: South Africa's Roland Schoeman, with a 48.17 in 2004.

If swimming translates into numbers, it also is about so much more.

Weber-Gale caught, and passed, the next Australian swimmer, Andrew Lauterstein. At 200 meters, the United States was in first.

Then, though, the French, behind Frederick Bousquet, surged. At 300 meters, it was France, the United States, Australia.

Bernard was off the blocks first.

Then went Lezak.

At 350 meters, Bernard was .18 of a second ahead.

One lap to go.

The noise inside the arena was ferocious.

And at the other end of the pool, the Americans were going berserk.

"I was just pounding on the blocks, saying the f-word, saying, 'Come on!' " Weber-Gale would say later.

"It's not for television," Jones would say of what he was yelling.

"I was going nuts," Phelps said. "You know, as soon as he came off that last wall, I just started going crazy. You know, Jason also said before, 'You know, this isn't a 4 by 100, this is a 400. We're a team.' "

In the pool, Lezak had seen Bernard hit the far wall first.

"I'm not going to lie," Lezak said. "When I flipped at the 50 and I still saw how far ahead he was, and he was the world-record holder 'til about two minutes before that, when Sullivan led off with the world record, I thought, it really crossed my mind for a split second, there's no way.

"Then I changed. I said, you know what, that's ridiculous. This is the Olympics. I'm here for these guys. I'm here for the United States of America. It's more than -- I don't care how bad it hurts, or whatever, I'm just going to go out there and hit it.

"Honestly, in like 5 seconds, I was thinking all these things -- you know, just got like a super charge and took it from there. It was unreal."

Which, indeed, it was.

At 30 meters, Bernard was still ahead.

At 20 meters, Bernard was still ahead.

But Lezak was closing.

At the wall, Lezak got his hand out in front. He touched a mere .08 of a second in front of Bernard.

Before Sunday, the closest finish in the event in the Olympics had been in Sydney, when the Australians beat the Americans by .19 of a second.

With the pressure of all of it on him, Lezak threw down the fastest split of all time, 46.06.

At the Olympics, people step up and do extraordinary things.

****
Enjoy the Olympics - Go Japan! Go USA! :)
-Jason

Final JET advice vlog

This is the final vlog in a series I did over the past two months offering advice to new JETs coming to Japan this summer.

I had a lot of fun doing these vlogs, so I will continue to make vlogs.

Enjoy!
-Jason