Encouragement to read an interesting article

One of my favorite journalists is Fareed Zakaria and he has written an excellent article about Iraq in the new Newsweek, “Rethinking Iraq: The Way Forward.” I don’t agree with everything that he says in this article, namely comparison with the Korean conflict and the idea of a rapid response force, but I think it is a well organized review of the situation. To put it bluntly we screwed up in Iraq, and we’re losing. I know I discuss politics a lot but this is a good interesting read for anyone who has a couple minutes.

Happy All Hallows Eve

For those who are wondering there is “Halloween” here in Japan but it seems more of an adult “Halloween”. What I mean it is an excuse to put up decorations and have parties, even some sales, and of course the big bash at Tokyo Disneyland. There is no trick-or-treating and no one here at work is dressed up; except me in my Laura Bush – Karl Rove lovechild costume (it is how I dress everyday).

Yesterday I went out for Nepali food at a restaurant in Shibuya that is hidden down a long dark ally. It was very much exactly like Indian food, and not the best Indian food that I’ve had here either. Personally I need to find another Ethiopian restaurant, good food but they all seem closed.

There are 2 or 3 days before my internship report is due. I don’t know of the correct date because the time change, I need to send it to yesterday. No one seems to know. I have a draft done and my boss at work told me to work on it at work, because she wants me to present it to the company. That will be strange, I have heavy philosophical language to my presentation which I’m hoping will put everyone to sleep. If everyone is sleeping then I can say whatever I want… and affect their dreams!!

Chronic readers out there will recall that I entered the word “Fabish” in the Wikitonary. At some point they removed it to which I said, “A shame on all your houses and a pomegranate in your purse.” Well I’m happy to announce that Fabish is back and entered in the Undictonary!

Share and Share alike

If this is the shenanigans going on back in the US it means things really have changed…

I’m sure there is microphone down there, but why?

Lookout for the new border fence

Hooray, in a public ceremony President George W. Bush signed into law that will build a 700 mile fence to cover the border between Mexico. Of course let us not forget that the border is 1900 miles long which is a good indication that there is going to be a big hole in that fence. We should also not forget that climbing a fence isn’t that hard, it is really normal childhood activity.

This is a semi-humorous article by Dimitri Vassilaros trying to figure out some of the particulars about the bill. To sum up the article, there is no money appropriated for the fence, the government has no idea how much it will cost, no idea when construction will start, and finally because of that no idea when construction will end. The federal government dodge phone calls and even hung up on him while he was trying to figure this out.

I have opinions about border security as long as they don’t keep my anarchist ass out, but this bill is a bit of nonsense. The point is that we have our own government making up policy just to keep them in power. What does the bill do? It gives authorization for the government to build something on their own property. So this is like a guy who decided that he wanted to build a fence on his own property but is too lazy to go to Home Depot and buy one. I’m having a wonderful time explain this to my friends on this side of the pond.

No Job in Tokyo

As of today I’m not going to be taking a job in Japan. There was little incentive and a movement with my internship company away from some plans that I would be involved with. A lot change here at work the last week, but I can’t talk about it because of confidentiality. They are looking for another job for me with their contacts, but I feel the chances for a good match are slim. I like the company that I’m working for now, and they give me responsibility. I have had more responsibility here than I have had at any other job. The offer of a job was a great sign of appreciation by them because they told me in the beginning that I would not get a job as a result of the internship, I took it anyway because I would have responsibilities.

Now though my responsibilities are down to little because the projects, and there were many, have all been completed except two (and one will be done today). I’ll have my paper finished on time, I graduate in less than a month, and I’ll be back in the United States and it will be time to move on. Funny enough, I have some people that I met here (Americans) that said I should get a law degree; I’m going to pass on that until the time is right (retirement??).

Count Chocula clarifies position on Stem Cell Research and Abortion

As you may or may not know my name is Count Chocula, son of Blackula, and I’m running for Congress, as an independent, for the 1^st Congressional District of Hawaii. A post that is currently being held by Neil Adercrombie who is actually a great guy and has my support; which is either paradoxical or hypocritical I’m not sure which. Regardless of this I wanted to answer a few comments my critics have shot my way. The first is that I support abortion, and second my stance on stem cell research. Let me clarify, regardless of my pro-life stance I believe that we need to focus on the fundamental problems surrounding the issue first. The pro-life people seem to have a stance of no abortions, no birth control, and lots of children. I’m from Romania, as some may know, and let me tell you this is a dumb policy. So I propose before even addressing the abortion debate we address the reasons for abortions, which by the way are pregnancies which are a result of mating (SEX). Think about this, if people had the opportunity to only have children when they wanted to then there would be no abortions. So I propose better sex education and better availability of birth control. Let’s face it people abstinence only education doesn’t work and restricting birth control by either making it more difficult to obtain or by not teaching people how to use it doesn’t help reduce unwanted pregnancies. We may feel after the near elimination of unwanted pregnancies that that the entire abortion debate becomes a moot point. I love children, because they eat my cereal.

Second, I adopt a position supporting stem cell research. I was a vampire that grew up with a condition where I don’t crave blood but chocolate instead. Imagine the taunts that I got as a child because of this genetic illness. In response of when I think life begins I think that it begins with brain development, which is about 6 weeks after conception. Now embryonic stem cells are taken from in-vitro fertilized eggs with the permission of the fertilizers (the parents not the doctors). If these embryos are not used they are often destroyed. Stems are taken out well before the 6 week period. I support not only embryonic stem cell research but also research into adult stem cells. I do not think that this is an all or nothing debate, we can support both. I understand that opponents of stem cell research disagree with me about when life begins; and that is fine because America is a great place where people can have disagreements.

I hope that this clarifies my views, and vote for me Count Chocula if you live in the 1^st Congressional District of Hawaii. If not vote for Neil, he’s a great guy and a fan of beating baby seals.

Support the troops

It is becoming more clear that after the elections the United States will be pulling out of Iraq, there is intense pressure from the Democrats in establishing a timetable and the war has become such an embarrassment for Republicans they are sure to put pressure on the president. Bush himself has finally abandoned the “Stay the course” rhetoric. No the solders have become nothing more than a political football. The Republicans won’t pull them out until after the election because otherwise they would admit defeat, and admit that they are bigger hypocrites than they already are. Instead they should be thinking about what they should tell the families of the solders who will die until we pull out because they are keeping them there for purely political reasons, and that is sick sick sick.

This is not advocating bringing the troops home. I still believe that we can accomplish something there (though not a stable democracy). We broke Iraq under a pyramid of lies by the administration (something that I believe) and it is our responsibility to fix it. Nation building can work, but it takes time and dedication. It is also the right thing to do. Look at Bosnia and Kosovo (both multilateral efforts) and we should study what made those work. Some pointers, clean up Iraq (read the book “The Tipping Point”) it is no wonder the place is violent because it looks like a war zone. I know that this is not easy, and we may have screwed things up beyond redemption but we need to adopt tactics that work. At one time many people in the US supported a war on Iraq, and now that we can see the reality of war we’re backing off. We reap what we sow, and we messed up but it is time to fix it. People with integrity make mistakes too, they admit to them and try their best to make it right. The problem is that we don’t have people with integrity in the US government.

Nothing better on a cold Thanksgiving afternoon...

Cooking is fun and I have not been able to do much of it during my time in Japan. This is a result of living in a hotel room with only a hot plate rather than anything else, though in the last few days I did get to cooks something. That something takes about eight hours, just like a good turkey, tofu turkey, ham, or what others told me was a great Kahula Pig so this upcoming Thanksgiving I’m going to cook… and octopus.

It is quite simple really, the octopus needs to be turned inside-out, basically forcing the organs out through the mouth. Then all the organs are removed (with the beak) and it folded back. I washed the thing a couple of times. Then the great thing was tenderizing it, I do it the Japanese way. I guess in Europe they beat the thing, but I don’t have anything to beat it with. I rolled it in salt and daikon radish then boiled it for about 5 minutes. Afterwards I hung it up for a good 8 hours and it was ready to eat.

So this thanks giving I plan to give thanks to the bounty of the sea with some octopus, wasabi, and pickled ginger.

I’m only half kidding, I love octopus but think I’ll have some problems getting others to try it. As for mine, it was awesome though I have an easy time finding fresh octo here, but in Las Vegas who knows...

Sometimes you need to make a life decision, go figure...

The company that I’m interning for here is announced to me last week that they will be offering me a job. When I took this internship I was told that they were not going to offer me a job but they have been impressed with my work and maybe my slow progression in Japanese. So this was a little unexpected.

This is causing all sorts of problems because I haven’t found a job in the United States yet. I’m returning to the states in about a month and was planning to be in the Chicago area at least through New Years. I would have to talk about shipping things here, finding an apartment that is big enough for said things (impossible), and Cassie just got a car which I think is useless here.

I haven’t gotten money amounts yet but I already suspect that I would have 10x the responsibility here that I would with a job in the US (I work for a venture capitalist firm) and the money should be pretty good too. I don’t think Cassie would be as happy here though because it is far from “home” and she doesn’t speak a lick of Japanese. I could only do this if the both of us were happy here (and I’m not even sure if I would be 100% happy here). Of course there are about 100 other variables hitting me right now…

A weekend in Pictures

Oliva is hiding behind a stack of Legos, that look a lot like American Legos right down to the english instructions, but I still can't build anything that is on the box.

These arrows point at how to get on the train, I use them every morning because otherwise I run into the wall.

Capt Nemo look out, those are big fucking tenticles.

Yea, that is a Playstation 3, and yes that is a sign that says no pictures. The president of Sony says you'll spend a lot of money on it because it is awesome. It is awesome BTW, after playing it I was willing to sell my kidneys for one...

Jon Jon in front of the only vending Machine in Tokyo (that he is standing in front of) There are millions of Vending machines in Tokyo.

There is only one type of beer so we didn't have to put up with the BS of deciding what to drink and we got on to the drinking.

Sake, it'll get you drunk!!

It's hard to see but I'm getting my ass kicked in "Dead or Alive"

Fuck yea!! I wrote in Count Chocula for Senate on my absentee ballet!!

Is Lost X-Files 2?

This week Lost was much better, they are getting back to some mysteries that had been all but forgotten. It was also good to see Hurly again. My major complain was the single goal of the story this time around. It was good to see Charlie and John again, the entire mute thing was stupid, and he did not give a good speech. The flash back was a little interesting, but I also felt that it ended up unresolved. I hope that it is continued later. Desmond was back, I really like his character and hope that they do much more with him. The mystery about him deepens a little bit, which has a possibility to pan out a little better. My feelings for season three so far are not the best. This was a much better episode but I am feeling the series slide into “X-Files syndrome.” The biggest problem I had with X-Files was that the mysteries built on top of each other, so anytime they discovered anything there were five times too many questions, and at the end it was just too much. I felt that with X-Files there was no clear ending, the writers of Lost have said that there is a clear ending here which is a good start. The thing is that the threshold of mysteries is about at the limit, meaning that there will be too many to explain adequately. The episode with Hugo’s flashback in the insane asylum was the best episode yet, though I have a feeling the scene with Libby at the end will never be explained. I’m still a little pissed off about Libby though, I like her character a lot and can not shake the feeling that she is off the show because of the drunk driving thing (in her real life). There are unresolved issues there. So even with an above average episode (finally) I’m starting to get skeptical about the entire series.

Finally some good Cubs (rumors)

I was at dinner last night at one of those places that has huge chunks of gold leaf for people to just eat. It was with by boss and some big people my firm does business with. One guy spoke perfect English, cause he was from Jersey, and found out I was from Chicago; “You’re not a Cubs fan are you?” To which I replied, “I am one of those sad lots in life”

“Did you hear that Lou Piniella signed with them, that must make you happy.”

Shit, I didn’t really. I had decided to put the entire Cubs franchise behind me because they were a disappointment on EVERY level. In addition to sucking balls, the one game that I went to after flying in from Hawaii got rained out. Finally in the post season I get some good news, about next season. The good rumors seem to continue. Piniella wants Carlos Lee and Alfonso Soriano in the outfield, and Jason Schmidt to pitch. Not too shabby for rumors, though Soriano wasn’t happy with the Nationals and Carlos Lee has mentioned a preference for the Cubs. Now that the Cubs are going to have names on the back of the shirts again there will be two Lees.

Will Ramirez return, is the next important question before free agency wackiness begins. I would think so, he was happy in Chicago and he gets the money anyway. Next, will Piniella slap Prior around, cause damn I think he needs it. Here’s my final piece of advice, pull a coup and get Matsuzaka AND Jason Schmidt. If the goal for the next season is to win a world series as Cubs President John McDonough claims this is a move to make. There is another reason, money. From a business side more people watched the Sox than the Cubs, and there is an entire nation over here watching Seattle, the Sox, and the Yankees out here in Japan. Broadcasting is more money; he should be able to more than make up his worth.

Now make those rumors come true.

I'm not alone about Nonaka

A classmate of mine read my critique of Nonaka (oh there will be some more) and sent me this book review from Amazon.com. The crazy thing is that it was from an MBA student in Japan about a year ago. The information supports that this is someone in the same position as me one year ago.

“I was very disappointed by this book. Not only was it painful to read,
because it dragged on and was full of academic nonsense, the authors
views were also unconvincing and based on old research.

This book is outdated and not relevant to the way Japan is today. The
authors use a lot of research and examples from the 80s and even the
70s. They make the claim that Japanese firms experienced a lot of
success in the late 70s and 80s because of their superior ability to
"create knowledge." They seem to be in complete denial that Japan's
economic bubble had anything to do with this "success" that they are
talking about. Also, the book was written over 10 years ago, before
the financial crisis and before people realized that a lot of this
so-called success was just cooked in the books by accountants.

They do give some reasonable examples of knowledge creating firms that
are successful, but that's all they are, just a few examples and not
an accurate representation of the whole picture of Japanese
Management. Also, most of the examples are of Japanese manufacturing
firms. What about the service sector? Suspiciously they did not use
examples of companies from Japan's service sector, which are extremely
inefficient and not the text book perfect examples of successful
"knowledge creating" firms.

The theories and models in this book are a bunch of overly abstract
vague pretentious academic nonsense. The real life examples are so
nebulously related to the theories and models that most successful (or
unsuccessful) companies can be used as examples.

If you want to read a bunch of nonsense based on old research with the
names of Harvard professors and some philosophy thrown in to make the
nonsense seem legit and intelligent, then by all means, read this
book. But if you are like me and want to learn about Japanese
management, don't waste your time or money on this book.”

I continue to like the basic claim of Nonaka’s idea but most other things are “not factual”. The logic that he uses to come to his conclusions are wrong, and the reviewer is right that the examples he uses are dated. This book is written over 11 years ago which makes it very dated to use; but this is no excuse because Peter Drucker’s “Post-Capitalist Socity” is older but much more relevant (and simply one of the best books I have read). Nonaka has a critique of Drucker in his book thinking that Drucker didn’t go far enough, to which Nonaka has taken up the challenge and failed.

This review is a little harsh. It is correct about the service sector though in my discussions with Nonaka he says he knows the service sector but clearly does not. He tried to fit his theory with the venture capitalist firm that I am working for but could not. His own theory has handcuffed him. This reviewer claims the theories are “nonsense” which is not true. The problem with the theory, and in my dealings with Nonaka thus far, are that there is a belief that this is the end of the theory and no more work needs to be done. These things evolved and after 11 years things have changed. From a postmodernist standpoint it should be torn down and rebuilt over and over again. Now I have to dive a little deeper with the additional articles that I have so I may be wrong, but I’ll know in the next day or two.

More about Lost and Battlestar

Both Lost and Battlestar Galactica are on their third seasons, I’ve watched Lost from the start and got into Battlestar Galactica during the third season (because watch TV on Friday night wasn’t my cup of tea). I thought the second season of Lost was much better than the first, while the first was above average. As I reported last week I hated the season opener for the third season, by far one of the worst that I have seen. The second show of this season, much better but still falls far from the tree.

One reason that I like Lost is because of the wide variety of characters. The first two episodes of the season have dealt narrowly with the characters. I’m wondering much what happened to everyone else on the island. Yes, it is interesting to know what is going on with the “others” but I also know that the show isn’t going to reveal much so get back into the characters and the other mysteries of the island (the others wore itself out for me).

This last week had Sayid who is my favorite character. The Kwon’s were the focus of the flashback, and that was good in itself because their flashback scenes are better than their scenes on the island. This may change with their development, especially with some of the revelations during this episode. There is a major paradox in this episode though, the “others” seem to easily sneak past Sayid who has shown to be a competent former solder (another mystery because the Iraqi army wasn’t know for being that great); while Sawyer easily beats up a bunch of them. I understand that these were not the same group of “others” but it doesn’t seem right to me. This episode was much better than the opener. If the next episode has Hugo, Charlie, and Locke I’ll be much happier.

One issue that links the two series is the large cast of characters. After three seasons the group on Lost is at the same time narrowing and expanding. Some characters have died and others have left (possible); and there has been an expansion of characters as well. It looks to have some “others” become more mainstream characters. Where I think the series is failing is the focus on Sawyer, Kate, and Jack who I think are the three most hollow characters in the series. Battlestar on the other hand has embraced the smaller characters and given them a smaller role and fleshed them out. The main characters like Adama and Adama are becoming more interesting and minor characters like Cally and Zarek have smaller roles but seem as powerful as the main characters. Tigh is developing really well.

I have no complaints about the third episode, the story is progressing and once again I wanted more at the end of the episode. My only complaint is Starbuck, who in the first two episodes was a little boring, and it got a little more interesting now. The Cylons are becoming more interesting now that they are cracking down more on the humans and the revolt is spreading. What I am most happy with is Sharon’s role. There are continued mysteries mainly involving to what really happened with the Cylons, are they a rouge faction or will there be a rogue faction? What is up with Sharon’s baby; and now Starbuck’s baby? What makes the episode even better is that it really only a lead up to the next episode and it was still awesome.

What Battlestar is doing better than Lost is the character development. Yes, there are more “others” to develop, but the last two seasons has been developing them as a mystery and not as characters. That means I just don’t care about them as characters, and the mystery about their characters. They were always a “group” while the Cylons have had individuals about them from the beginning. There is one Cylon that appears to be developing, but she was developed before when everyone thought she was a human. Lost used to have smaller characters that were able to dominate a few scenes and make their presence know, so far this season there has been a desperate lack of that. I don’t care much for the others, and their development so far has been more attempting to reinforce the mystery (at the expense of other characters) as opposed to making them real characters.

My Swell meeting with Nonaka-Sensei

This Saturday I had my meeting with Nonaka-sensei and was ready to argue with him about his book. Every academic program will have its weak points and the weak point of this one is the final paper and presentation that we need to give. We have to use Nonaka’s theories as a basis for our presentations about the companies that we are interning at. At first glace this may seem like a project that is there just to stroke his ego. After meeting with him and talking with him about the project my theory seems more concerned.

My first problem with his work is his methodology. He describes items and other people’s works in his work and disagrees with them. In most cases it is never described why other theories are wrong. This is nothing but bad academics. After reading his book and several papers it is also apparent that he used inductive reasoning, weak inductive reasoning to be exact. For example; he makes a claim that some Japanese companies (specifically in manufacturing) follow his theories, therefore not only doe all Japanese companies follow his theories but because America has a “western” culture no American company follows his theories. Another problem with his theory is that he leaves out information that may run contrary to his theory. This is common and usually not a problem. Where the problem occurs here is that there are outright claims that are false. The entire way he presents this shows that there is some problems because leaving out information and criticisms is one thing, but making false claims is another. The root of this problem is the heavy reliance on few sources, many of which are secondary sources. This is a little perplexing because the primary sources are readily available. A certain history of philosophy book is used instead of going directly to the source and as a result there is an interpretation of some philosophy used instead of the philosophy itself (especially when he criticizes Western philosophy).

The second problem with his theories is that he claims to have created a catch all theory that can be placed in every situation. If there is such a theory this is not it. His examples in the book are limited to a handful of companies, each with an example. He continues to use these examples to the point where they are repeated several times in the books. During his lectures there are new examples that he used (which is a good idea because the book was written ten years ago). Even these new examples are limited and are usually only partial examples of an overriding theory.

Those are just the basic problems; I can outline more specific problems. Intellectual traditions are different between countries, and often even between disciplines. I have an academic background and have discovered methodology problems in other works as well. The basic ideas of these works are sound, and Nonaka-sensei has a good idea, but the idea isn’t new (knowledge based society). In the “west” Peter Drucker is well known for these ideas, and he presents it much better.

My mandatory meeting with Nonaka-sensei may have gone better than I thought. To be honest I was ready for a fight after probing him in previous discussions and how he reacted to questions during his lectures. I presented my thoughts about his works and immediately he was shocked not because I questioned him (he had not got that far yet) but because I discussed some philosophical traditions he neglected in his book. Then he got upset when he got to the point where I dismissed his theory and presented my own. Dr. Odo had to stop us and give us a break. My boss came and gave me some back up. In the end he was excited because I was introducing something new, or that is how he is taking it. I guess this may be healthy overall because he was forced to acknowledge that in my company his theories do not work. He ended up impressed and gave some additional material that he wrote. I have not gone over that material so I don’t know if it is an attempt to be helpful or an attempt to reinforce his point. At the end of it all he was really excited. After talking with Dr. Odo it seems I may have bee one of the first to question him but I think this may be more because it is easy to write something supporting his theories and we all just want this program finished. I personally am having a grand time working on this paper because it is interesting and I love research; most everyone else is dreading having to write this paper. The only problem may be that I may need to go last in presentations because I have a dissenting view.

Defense of Free Speech in Marshall, Mo

Now for something that is way out of my geographic range, in Marshall Mo, where there is a fight at the public library over two graphic novels, one of which is one of the best stories that I had ever read. Blankets by Craig Thompson is that title, the other is Fun Home by Alison Bechdel which I have not read (or heard of). Blankets does contain nudity all of which is central to the story, none of which is remotely obscene. Some citizens of Marshall, Mo are demanding that these books be pulled off the shelves. Their claim is that they are “Pornographic”, would cause “seedy people coming to the library and moving into our community,” and that it is just plain “common sense” to ban these books. Several members of the community complained that graphic novels are not art or literature. The library spoke out against removing the books but held a public meeting where both sides expressed their views. Ultimately the library removed the two books for a temporary basis while they make standards to admit books in the library, at which time the policy will be reviewed.

I am not a citizen of Marshall but I find the calls for censorship despicable. It is “common sense” to me that people read the books that they are attempting to censor (which the community members have not done). The Supreme Court in the US has ruled in the past that communities can not remove books from a public library because the community does not like the content or because of “unorthodox” views. Some would argue that communities should be able to set standards to what is acceptable, but I argue that is bunk. Communities DO NOT have a right to set standards on free speech because one of the reasons for free speech is dissidence. If I have an opposing view not only should I be able to express it, but I have the right to academically organize it. This is a check on the power of the masses when they have temporarily self-destructive views.

This is not entirely the case here. Blankets does have some themes that Evangelicals may not like. The theme here is if this is obscene. Is blankets pornography? Pornography is defined by Webster Dictionary has three definitions but one is an adverb. The other two each on has common criteria; does it arouse or cause sexual excitement? This is pretty objective because for some people high heeled shoes cause arousal, but high heeled shoes are not pornographic. Webster also has another criterion, intention, for two definitions. There is clearly no intention to cause sexual arousal. Now the people demanding censorship may have a different definition of pornography, one that Daniele da Volterra and Pope Pious IV may have shared, where any depiction of a naked body is pornography. The problem with this is that they use the word in a way to get a sensational response beyond their definition. They can not say “it has a picture of a naked person,” in it because most books depicting art would also be banned which is not what they are calling for. So my conclusion is that the people demanding censorship are abiding by the real definition of pornography. Without Blankets being porno it may still be obscene, but obscene is such an open term (used deliberately) that it is near-impossible to claim anything as obscene. Blankets and I think I can safely assume Fun Home are not obscene if hardcore pornography is not obscene.

Why is this issue an important issue? To me free speech is the foundation. Once people start chipping away at it then they will try to chip more. The freedom of speech keeps a check on everyone’s speech and claims because they can be refuted. Some people claim that this is the second amendment but that is a crass argument because we have access to both tools but with a few exceptions we have only had to use one.

Clueless Republicans

Could it be that the Republicans are reaching for straws to hang on to power? Recent Gallop Polls state that Democrats are ahead on every single issue now, including values and national security. The Republicans have backed off values because of the Foley scandal. Personally I don’t think that the leadership covered up anything, but I do think they were negligent. Some of the leadership knew something was going on but either did not know how to deal with it, or they talked each other into thinking someone else did it.

The North Korea “fizzle” as become another nail in the coffin for the Republicans. They are trying hard to blame this on Clinton but people know who have been running things for six years (that would be the Republicans). Six years is a long time, long enough to go into two wars, assault American civil rights, and allow the death of one out of every fifty Iraqis. For the current administration the attempt to blame Clinton continues though like six years hasn’t happened. I have been reading news about how Japan is may start making nuclear weapons; this isn’t going to happen either. People are against it and the government remains against it.

Less than a month, this election is starting to look more fun than the last one.

I am not being paid to get you to watch Battlestar

Another boring 3 day weekend. I was supposed to go to Yokohama (which is not that far from Tokyo) but those plans got put off after I put of other plans to go to Izu. So I worked on my project and stuck around to watch the F1 race and the season opener of Battlestar Galactica.

This was a rather boring F1 race really. A bunch of us were going to go down and see it because it is in Japan, but it was also too far from Tokyo. Instead we found a sport bar where the race was going to be shown. Slowly the bar filled up and I realized that I may have been the only American there (I went with some Eastern European friends). At least no one accused me of liking NASCAR. Through most of the race it looked as Schumacher would win the race, but he blew his engine. The entire packed bar cheered… except the one guy wearing a Ferrari shirt (he may have been crying). I forgot to bring my Renault shirt… or to bring a pack of Mild Sevens (even though I don’t smoke). It was a good day though, Renault and Alonso are all but assured of winning now (with one final race).

Now Battlestar Galactica did have a spat of poor episodes last season, about 6 or 7, but the season final was awesome. It was a tall order for the season opener which more than fit the bill. What a great show, I’m glad that they are bringing Cally to be a more visible character. Also Tigh is really starting to evolve better too. Besides all this the show is great because it deals with issues, which is something that good sci-fi does. The Cylons now are “sympathetic” to the humans and they are going to work with the humans to make a better society. Viewers are rolling their eyes at that which is exactly what the viewers are supposed to. Think about the implications though. The fictional Cylons are not the only power that have invaded a country, formed a “secret” police of collaborators, and claimed that their conquering another country is for the greater good (a good that will not be seen now but further on in history). Maybe it is because I think o myself as a postmodernist but there are definite real world implications here. For those who have not seen this series it is hands down the best thing on TV right now, and no so much hands down one of the best shows ever.

In other news for my final project I have to use Nonaka’s Knowledge Creation theories as a basis of the paper and presentation. I have encountered a problem with this, while the idea of his knowledge creation theory is interesting and may be partially correct, his ideas as a whole right now are bunk. His material is poorly written. He outlines something and makes a conclusion on it with describing how that conclusion came about. Simply put he is saying that other people are wrong because they are wrong. He also makes a claim that this is a TOE (theory of everything) though he does not explicitly say this. What he says instead is that Knowledge Creation is the sole reason for this and offers proof that has since been refuted (most of the readings are over 10 years old). So I’m in a bind because I don’t know him very well. I’m going to meet with him next week and feel him out. What my final project may be is what us postmodernists do best, tear it apart. Though I have done this before in this program and got slammed for it (not because I did poor research but because I disagreed with the professor to his own admission). So I’ll have to wait and see, though I may tear it apart anyway.

Tropical Storm: Tropical Storm

We just had a tropical storm coming through Tokyo, at least I think it was a tropical storm. Thursday night I went to a restaurant and slipped while walking down some stone steps. Water was running down them like a waterfall. So as I lay crumpled up at the bottom of the stairs I thought, “after making a spectacle out of myself I had eat there.” So we did.

While we (John and I) were eating another English speaker came down. This particular restaurant did not have English menus, or pictures. Those of you who have been to Tokyo can understand this is a little strange if there is an actual menu, it should have pictures. Well the guy sat next to us and started to complain that there was no menu that he could read. This is a little funny because I don’t think that any of the staff understood what he was saying. At one point he pointed to John and I and asked the waitress “how we ordered,” needless to say John’s Japanese is much better than mine. He finally got a bowl of fried rice; this was a seafood restaurant and John let me practice my Japanese. Strange incident, even though there is a lot of English in Tokyo I don’t expect to be catered to in English; I actually like it better when I’m not.

Friday night the storm was much worse, after walking from the station to cross the street I was soaked through my clothing, and my umbrella broke. I wasn’t the only one, the sidewalk was littered with broken umbrellas. Needless to say because of the weather and other circumstances I spent a quiet night at home watching the South Park season premiere, which was a WoW player (account currently on hold) was awesome. I also watched the Lost season premiere and what a piece of crap. That episode was so bad that I was thinking about abandoning the show.

Things to do in Tokyo when you're dead

So far this week it has been one of the most boring weeks at work. My boss has been out of town for weeks and I have finished the work that I was supposed to be working on. The last two days there have not even been English speakers in the office (私はじょずではない日本語はなしる。) So I have not been doing anything at work except work on some personal things, yesterday I sent out resumes.

I was supposed to go to Osaka with a bunch of people this weekend but the person organizing it must have slept through marketing class. It was a horrible e-mail and everyone started to think that he didn’t want anyone to go with him, so now no one is going. Instead there is a trip that is being organized in いず, which is closer to ときょ, and we’re supposed to stay at a beach house. It is another long weekend as there is a holiday on Monday, and it is an overnight trip so I still have my extra day to work on my final project.

There is a presentation that I’m supposed to give on aggressive American negotiation. I guess because I’m an American I’m supposed to be an expert in this type of thing. The closest thing to aggressive negotiations involves Episode 2, which is not what I think they want me to show people. This all came about because my boss wanted to say something really rude to some of her counterparts, but wanted to make it sound more business like. So she calls me and asks me how to say this rude thing (“Do you think I’m a fucking idiot”) in a nicer way. The result must have been good, now I have this assignment.

Deodorant Hunt

So the timer on my deodorant was starting to run out and I decided that I should buy another stick before I wake up and realize there is no deodorant for me and I have to go to work on an unusually hot day, and a train packed more than usual. The problem is that I can’t find any. After a few days of looking I decided to come about a new resort, using the internet. There must be some help for the wary traveler about this. So I found this article that basically says their sweat doesn’t stink. I had never had this problem before, and it just goes to show that there will always be a situation that comes up. The story does have a good ending, someone in the program brought several extra sticks (they brought TEN) and gave me an extra.