Potpourri Post

So I have been missing for a few days. What can I say? I have lots of stuff to do...like...internet...things. You knew I would come back, just like I knew you would come back> So lets not say sorry, or hello again, lets just continue on. What follows now is a bunch of little posts that didn't merit an entire post by themselves. Fair warning though, I just read all seven Harry Potter Books and watched all 8 movies, so there will be a post about that this week. 

 The problem with living in the "Land of the Rising Sun" is that you get the Land of the Setting Sun pretty early. This is the skyline as I left work at 4:30 in the afternoon. I really like the mountains on this side of the valley. They are super sudden. 

 I can't help it, but I think that this is about the funniest picture of a turtle I have ever seen. This turtle lives at my little elementary school. He is high centered on a rock, with his head up against the wall. I just laugh at how miserable he seems. 

 My junior high is cooler than your junior high...at my junior high, they let students burn things during cleaning time. Unfortunately, all I get to do is vacuum. 

 I saw this bag at the 100 yen shop. I don't know what efforts are being rewarded, but you should never give up.

 The little man that guards the entrance to the kaiten (conveyor belt) sushi place. If you push the button, he says things in unintelligible Japanese. I guess he is kind of like a mascot. 

Conveyor belt sushi is awesome because you get to use your plates to play a lottery game...that we lost a bunch of times. You can see the elders in this video. Shiozawa on the left and Malcom on the right. I accidentally got natto sushi. Terrible error. 

VIDEO ATTACK! At our last culture day trainy special class thing, the students learning jazz dancing did this nice little routine to a Shakira song. Nothing odd about that right? 

Where's Wally. Japan got it wrong. They are never going to find Waldo if they keep looking for Wally.

Last week we had a surprise chorus festival as well. You can see the kids be bopping a long with the song. Take that Glee! The only thing better than this was seeing their homeroom teacher at the back of the gym doing the motions for them to follow along with. She was VERY animated...them not so much. Ultimately, the choir festival was OK, but 2 hours of sitting in a folding chair listening to junior high level choir songs is not my idea of an afternoon of fun...

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving (for us)! We are going to get together as a bunch of English speaking folk at the international center and eat turkey. I am worried that they underestimated the amount of turkey needed for all these folks, but I hold out hope. I made Flaky Jakeys for the occasion. I imagine it will be a huge hit.

Sushi is Shimple

The title is misspelled on purpose. Don't comment on that. It is literary alliteration or something. Read a book. As for me, I have read many books, filled with words and pictures. Sushi didn't require me to read a book though. As it turns out, I am somewhat of a natural when it comes to rolling sweet mini delicious bombs. I did have some help from half a dozen Japanese women, but really...it was all me? 

 Naturally, I started as all sushi chefs start. Watching YouTube videos. Turns out this is an ancient practice dating all the way back to the 1600s. 

 Clearly the videos were engaging and informative

 Do you see the level of attentiveness I have there? Like a bird of prey. A bald eagle.

 ...come to think of it, pictures of people watching things aren't that interesting. 

 Do you see that? My sleeves are rolled halfway up. That is how you know I mean business. You can see that some peoples hands and faces are blurred by their motion. Sushi making requires a steady hand and a calm spirit. I have both of those things. In this picture, I am spreading the rice perfectly evenly on the piece of seaweed...it is arguably the most crucial step in sushi making. 

 Notice the blurs? She doesn't appear to have the steady hand...

 That right there is not a comically large cigar, that is picture proof of the first sushi ever rolled by "The Great One" (I didn't choose the nickname, it was prophesied). There is talk of entering this picture into the Japanese Hall of Monuments (a place I just made up). 

 I was totally done first. We were making California Rolls. avocado, mayonnaise, imitation crab (nothing but the best...imitations), and egg omelet patty thing. 

Boom! Finished product. I must say that the really good ones are not my handiwork. The ones with flowers and shapes and grapes were definitely done by my version of sushi Mr. Miyagi. Amazing stuff really. Those two big and hastily put together plates are the handiwork of myself and Christina. 

I took this one with my camera. I know what you are thinking...photography skillz (yes, with a z) too? He has the triple threat! Sushi, photography and yodeling abilities. *

*Yodeling abilities are currently in a state listed as being untested, under no circumstances should you ask that I yodel for you. 

Remember Remember the 9th of November

You may be asking yourself why the 9th of November is an important day. Think about it long and hard and you may discover the answer. No? Well perhaps this poem will help:

Remember remember the ninth of November, the day of Millsap the beast,

I know of no reason why we should not have an NBA season to go with our turkey feast. 

If you haven't guessed, this is a post about professional basketball and my relation to it. If that is not interesting to you, then skip to the end. For those of you that stay, I must remind you that this was where we were exactly one year ago: 

My man Paul dropping 46 points on the Heat, who had yet to lose at home. Happily the Jazz gave them their first home loss, and turned around the next night and killed the Magic. One year ago, the Jazz owned the state of Florida. This year? Nothing. The Jazz were scheduled to play the Heat again tonight. Instead there is no game, and not cheering coming from Japan's only Jazz fan (I don't know if that is true, but I can say that I am definitely the most devoted fan among about 100 million people). 

The NBA is in a tiff with the owners, and are currently locked out. To put it simply, the millionaires and the billionaires aren't getting along. There are legitimate points, but the negotiations have started to look more like schoolyard bickering than professionals doing their best to get rolling with the season. It is still up in the air as to whether or not there will be an NBA season this year. The idea of no season is both comforting and frustrating to me living in Japan. One one hand, it is comforting to think that the one year I live abroad the whole league goes on strike so I don't have to miss a game (quite thoughtful of them). On the other hand, I have a lot of time that I could be devoting to the Utah Jazz on my free freezing nights in Japan. 

Ultimately, I would like to see a season. I find that there is nothing quite like getting really into a game, and the ones that come down to the wire are the absolute best. So lets get it together and get the season underway by Christmas. I don't want to hear anymore fighting, just shut up and play.

On another note (and the topic of tomorrows post), I learned to make sushi tonight. Jealous? You should be. It is probably the coolest thing I have done thus far in Japan. Turns out I wasn't terrible at it either. I did have generous amounts of help, but it tasted delicious!

Stay tuned.