Sweet and Sour

Regarding Dr. Mercy

Here was someone who wanted to talk. To say something. Perhaps ‘pass it along’ and let it be known. 

Had I known more about certain issues, maybe I could have asked a few more questions.

But I didn’t. Cause I hadn’t expected it.

(Steps into chamber and logs in)

You got a minute?

“My time is yours. Go ahead.”

Taking Away Pressure

Just today…just recently in fact…this was there…in the background…this sound that is meant to somehow lend ambiance…because I can’t really listen…but I can barrow as I hear it…watching the ones who sway…because now is bad…in a deep way…that takes at least a few minutes in…to get to…going down…yeah…just how far…his body was so light…light as a feather…even in the coffin…that was passed along…light as mist gone up to heaven…not light...weighted sand of a dark soul…fallen…one grain at a time…down below…no wind to scatter…fierce…each too heavy…those little moments…lead-heavy tears…some sad…their streaks go down…pulling...not up…not like smoke…not like clouds.

Yeah, so the world didn’t end today.

No. No, it didn’t end. Not the world. Not the one that everybody else is in.

But mine is. I’m ending this world around me.

“Maybe you need to get away. Maybe you need some time.”

“Maybe we all do. That’s what this gives me. This gives me time. To get lost.” 

Now I close my eyes.

Traps

A hungry beast can get at your flock.

And if the creature has had a taste of blood, it will most certainly return until the last morsel has been devoured.

Traps can be fairly simple devices.

Some are meant to catch the target animal alive, while others are not.

Ash Gray

Credit

Makoto Aida's Ash Color Mountains are really interesting, especially viewed up close for the fine print kind of experience. You'd probably even notice that not all the dead, gray-suited men are Japanese.

See that mountain in the front?

I call it 'Mt. Olympus'. And I'm guessing it's about 40,000 pairs of feet high.

A little confused? You know what he is about, don't you?

Heaven and Hell

Several things are going through the mind at the moment.

Two are in a holding pattern:

"And the One?"

"The one just sort of fell out of the sky. Or maybe was shot down. Or struck. "

"Hmmm... Lightning."

"What's that?"

"Oh... nothing. Please, carry on."

"Sort of fell out of the sky and is on the ground. The one scene, the only scene I saw. Was the best. And I remembered that it was important. Somehow."

Got BS?

 Barium Meals: Spies and Housewives

Wifey went in a few days ago for a semiannual-ish checkup. And, par for the course, swallowed some chalky liquid to chase the fizzy stuff  before stepping up onto what looked like a um... viewing wall. This wall was connected to some kind of joystick that allowed for a ‘technician’ to actuate his subject to varying degrees. Not much to do but sort of lie there and hang on while trying not to burp. 

A cold, hard table.

During the procedure, the subject was told to turn right, turn left, and face forward.  This was all in order for the technician to get a better view of the radiocontrast agent imbibed while looking for irregularities on the gastrointestinal lining. 

Still with me so far?  Okay, this is where it got a little interesting.

Wifey was chatting with the radiologist/joystick man, an older, matter-of-fact fellow. After her session, she apologized for being a little confused when she was asked to turn left and right. She thought her response time was a little slow.  

Communication and Control with Plessart

 by Tohsiba

Old Man Tech said not to worry, that her reflexes were normal. Basically what is expected from the general population. And then he went on to mention that when the JSDF sends their boys, men, and occasionally a women or two over for their annual checkups. Those dogs are snap-to-it fast when when given commands. Maybe there is something to be said for their obedience training.

 From here *

“On a normal day, we can expect to get through twenty regular folks per hour.  Now, with the soldiers, we can run about thirty of those guys through here in the same amount of time. They are really responsive when it comes to turning left, turning right, and facing forward. Not at all like the police; they are slow.” 

When Wifey was pressed for clarification about what Uncle Joystick had meant, she said that it wasn't clear who the popo were being compared to. Either way, I got the impression that the boys in blue were described as being a bit thick, meant in a good way... for everyone.

(Barium Meals is a prelude to Sweet and Sour, third on the list of Dr. Mercy stories, found in the The Universe)

Limping Origami

 

(Fast forward to 2:29, the press play and don't listen to him...)

Smack at ya’, change that and give me one.

Poopin’ Kitchen, more over Godzilla and hello sandwich

Kawaii Hawaii, Wet my noodle with hot sake

Your direction line to Japan

Grapefruit Girl, fowl flower

Axle grinding tweet tweet onsen addict

Big on my English,  Pleasure red rude boy bushed

Risky skydiving, this must be the palace

Porschedellic linking blood sites

Picky eaters snake file

E-mails from the eagle, got on

Your bi-polar Asian connection

Kind of fits a registered alien’s carnivorous wank in Japan.

Sleep Jake, tidy-o beyond the scholars

Epic take saving spam.

This comes from an over-exposure to some really bad lipreading and then looking at a blog list...

Earlier in the day, I had watched the following:

Personally, I preferred listening to his voice. Unfortunately, he appears to have given misleading information if the first clip is true, something I will attempt to verify tomorrow when I am less agitated. 

All said, the background music is somewhat alluring, and the man's voice is somehow reassuring even though the lemon need not be cut into pieces to get more juice. Fuck.

 

Yeah... We Got Issues

Look, it's nothing to be proud of, is it?

Taking the time to figure out what it all means, I'm sure there is other 'business' that needs tending to.

A while back, before all this happened, I got a quite a few visits from them about this. 

Al Alletzhauser isn't about to bother anyone ever again, like he apparently did when he wrote

The House

of Nomura:

The Inside Story of the World's Most Powerful Company

That's all old news anyway.  More than twenty years ago. Not like is has anything to do with what's going on today. Which, judging by a recent headline, ain't exactly bad considering the big picture. Eking out a mere $25 million in a quarter isn't necessarily bad under these circumstances, is it?

They'll be just fine. 

Updates to follow...

Mourning Papers: The Day After

The best way to worstly respond to something a person don’t like is maybe ‘freaking out’ a little.

When I read what a man from Mu-zu-rrah says about believing who built what:

"There's one class in this country: Americans. We also believe that the source of America's great strength is our faith in a loving God, who allows courageous people the freedom to pursue the unique dreams that each of them have. And we believe that the Constitution is not a list of suggestions. We believe that ordinary people built America. We believe you built that." 

When I read what the man who once called himself 'Will' says, I can’t help but think about what people try to remember. 

Dreams...dreams are good to have. But there's a feeling some people could use a shot of the good stuff. 

Yeah, what people try to remember so that they can hold onto what they think they believe in.

Well, let’s take a look in the mirror then, shall we? 

There's a lot to see. And nowadays, it's hard not to.

Personally, I'm not so interested in what we the people believe in; I'm more interested in what we the people have actually done.  And, consequently, what we the people are actually doing. 

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna finishing reading my morning paper and pour myself another cup of joe.

Gonorrhea Blues

Or maybe it was chlamydia.

One of those special gifts that keeps on giving. 

Either way, it was "Down the hatch."

 "Wait. What do you mean, 'down the hatch'?!"

"Just be still. This will cause a bit of discomfort. If you back away, we'll have to take another sample." 

"I...Jesus!....that, really...."

"Almost...just another turn...okay. All done."

The symptoms were the same.  How could something that felt so good cause so much 'discomfort'?" 

Two kids, not even old enough to drive, were hanging out.

"Dude. You should always wear protection. You never wanna' catch anything."

"What are you talking about?"

"You ever piss razor blades? 'Cause that's what it feels like." 

"What happened?" 

"You know Deena?"

"You mean...?"

"Yep. Deena the Dyke?"

"No...you didn't?!" 

"No.  Not me. This time, it was Johnny. He was all freaked out. Called and said when he went to take a leak that it felt like someone was pulling barbed-wire out of his dick." 

 "That's too funny." 

"It wasn't when she gave it to me. I went to the doctor and they did a test. Took out this thing that looked like Q-Tip and..." (it starts up top, just after "Down the Hatch")

 Will's turn came years later.  For him, it was more of a burning sensation. A lot like fire.

Then a lot like a lot of fire. Nothing quite as painful as he'd ever experienced 'down there'.

His visit to the doctor was fairly straight forward. He went in. The nurse asked a few questions, wrote stuff down on the clipboard and then stepped out.

A few minutes later, a doctor came in along with his young intern. The intern, she had her hair pulled back. Intelligent looking, kind of beautiful, but also focused on what the physician was saying. He was explaining the procedure.

Everything was done matter-of-factly. The patient  was even warned:

"This might hurt a little."

When the doctor was finished, he looked to his intern and reassured her, "You have to be prepared to tell them not to back away or you'll have to start over." 

Later, when Will was listening to the diagnosis, he asked the doctor about what he had said to the intern. 

"Usually guys are up against the wall and we have to start over again. Yours is the first case where I didn't get any response."

"Oh?"

*****

Apparently, there's some relatively newer stuff floating around Japan. A super bug of sorts. Not really 'news' in the sense that the story has been out for more than a year. Still, it's something I wonder about.

When I told people about it afterwards, they always said the same thing: 'I didn't know you could get gonorrhea from a blow job.' Yeah, no shit. Neither did I. You learn all kinds of stuff when you go to a happening club.

There are a lot of preventative measures that aren't taken here.  

And the treatment is sometimes virtually ineffective. 

(pic from here)

Now, here's a song...just for its title. 

Whatever...

Sometimes... You Just Gotta Pass It On

Why?

Dunno. Just recall seeing it in a small theater. Not too many people, but they sure cheered at all the right spots. And considering where I'm at right now, it seems like a good reminder. 

Reminder of what?

Can't remember... that's the funny part.

Got a feeling the next one is going to burn like hell.   

 Nov. 8

Afterthought: 

The following video is just something run across after looking at a short list of films Countryman is in. Henzell wrote and directed 'The Harder They Come'. For whoever.

At 2:10, he begins to explain a scene that came to him…

“’Why? Because he wrote a song that was playing on my car radio the night I asked my wife to marry me.’… It was the power of his music that saved his life.”  

 


Anyway... this should be the only update for this post. 

Who's 'Under-the-Bridge'?

 Green is... pretty. 

After reading about Hashimoto's relentless bullying by the weakly press, I’m beginning to really think that the Japanese left-wing is really what would be considered right leaning in western terms.

Let me esplain.

Perfect Balance or Blown Away

That Dr. Mercy, he sure liked to talk. You see, it was his way of keeping his English up so that it flowed when he spoke. That, and the fact that he’d need to be understood when he gave lectures or presentations. Especially if he was going to be going overseas.

Admittedly, it wasn’t the technical jargon that set him back. It was the little stuff. The daily conversational kind of chit-chat words that a person really wouldn’t pick up from their year abroad, especially if most of that time was spent in a lab.

A Quikie in Your Face

Cycling for roughly two hours with men who train for triatholons will give a person a decent workout.

But what's even harder to prepare for is the unexpected binge drinking of beer-ish fluids that takes place while sitting in the parking lot of the nearest convenience store.

So went the conversation.

(Marketing to sexless herbivores of either gender doesn't require such a Kingly approach)

Why Some People Can Never Stop

During one of our 'paid' conversations or 'compensated interactions', Dr. Mercy took some time to reflect, probably upon his life, and share a bit of what he'd learned.

You see, Dr. Mercy kept a hectic or rigorous schedule. Upon any given week, he was performing three to four operations. Sometimes more. I have a feeling it was more.

No, the light shit doesn't count. At least a good eight hours at the table. And, on the odd occasion, nearly twenty. ER may be a bitch, but at least they've got excuses for their fuck-ups 'cause "You never know what's gonna happen."

So, yeah, Dr. Mercy had to be able to keep it up in terms of stamina and concentration. And a photographic memory sure helped.

In addition to his character, which was... 

How Many More Days?

 Another season...

"Hey look, there's something on the television."

"Hot dang! I've got my mask...let me put it on." 

Another season... of the witch?

Halloween was never such a big thing, not after the 3rd grade or so. Now, high school, that was a whole 'nother thang.

Anyway, it's still a few days away.

Breakfast of the Champion

We caught a praying mantis not too many days ago. And kept it in 'the cage'.

Dad promised to catch a cricket for breakfast. So, the next morning, we all sat at the table and savored our meals together.

Table-view

We were surprised at how fast our guest dug in to his meal.  Son was surprised I fed her, the cricket, to our guest. He could tell the sex of cricket due to the length of the thing on the back. Our guest was released after the kids went off to school that morning.

'Why Japan Sucks!'

Blog Vintage: 

November 2003

You can go insane trying to stay sane in an insane world....

Estimated Reading Time for Introduction: 2 minutes

Estimated Reading Time for Main Body: 10-13 minutes

INTRODUCTION

FIRST THE SMALL PRINT ON THE LABEL

CONTENTS: 

Number of characters (without spaces) :	16,125.00
Number of words :	3,463.00
Number of sentences :	214.00
Average number of characters per word :	4.66
Average number of syllables per word :	1.56
Average number of words per sentence:	16.18

Indication of the number of years of formal education that a person requires in order to easily understand the text on the first reading
Gunning Fog index :	11.37

Approximate representation of the U.S. grade level needed to comprehend the text :
Coleman Liau index :	9.77
Flesch Kincaid Grade level :	9.16
ARI (Automated Readability Index) :	8.59
SMOG :	11.47

Flesch Reading Ease :	58.22

WARNING: 

When in LA...

There are probably a number of things you absolutely shouldn't do when in LA, even if you're wearing your Dodgers cap. Really. 

In the summer... DUI checkpoints... well, they happen. Fact of life.

And when these facts of life do happen to happen, it's probably not a lot of fun for the guys and gals who are officially there to serve and whatnot.

Yeah, there are rumored to be quotas for making sure funds are generated, but being in charge of asking people for their ID and to blow into the little white tube.... giving some unappreciative clown a 'field sobriety test'... having to do that work when you'd rather be working on your buzz, it has to kind of suck.

When they are being serious, don't taunt them.

Heads or Tails?

Heads wins!

High fives to Dr. Nakayama Yamanaka.

Apparently this guy receiving a Nobel Prize is big news right now.
Time to pop open a few bottles and celebrate.
Just  be careful where you point those things.

Tales loses. 

Now, the second link is to the other side of the coin, *this guy. He appears to have fibbed (maybe just a little?).

What's kind of cool is how the highlighted link to Hisashi's exposure contains an explanation of what the other guy, Mr. Heads, did. A link within a link.

"induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells"

Oh, the 'veracity' of it all.

"I really hope Moriguchi did not do these transplants," he says. "That would be really disturbing."

Wutever...
Stay well. 

Playing Chopsticks

Sometimes it's the little things that we overlook, brush aside, or ignore... sometimes it's the little things we treat as not worth our time.

Sometimes we're too easily dismissive.

When it counts most.

Like once upon a Monday morning.


Not the best time of the week. For most people.


Still, that's no excuse for showing up late... if at all.

All the Little Stuff

“Is that picture over there from when you finished basic?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ve got respect for people who serve. Not saying that growing up near a base didn’t have its bad days.” 

“Oh yeah?”

“I’ve never felt quite comfortable about calling anyone a squid, despite my experiences, and I’m not stupid enough to say anything bad about the Marines. Never used the ‘J’ word, but I heard sailors use it a bit.”

“You mean ‘jarhead’, don’t you? Everybody does stupid stuff, from time to time. ”

“Can’t ever recall any bad incidents with any of the guys from the Corps. Somehow, I imagine that if there were any bad incidents with them, I wouldn’t be around to remember.”

“Actually, after my first time back, I almost got into it with a bunch of them. Thought I was going to die.”

“Really? What happened?” 

“Well, we’d just come back and a buddy of mine…we were headed to a convenience store with our girlfriends. We were dressed normal, didn’t have a car or anything. We were about to go in when a Jeep pulled up and a bunch of guys started piling out.”

“A Jeep?”

“Yeah, but with the top off, roll bar, headlights. They guys didn’t even bother parking. They just pulled up sideways, jumped out. Big guys mostly. Must have been their first night out after training or something. Those dudes had some arms. You could tell they’d been drinking. First guy out pointed at my friend and I and said, ‘I’m gonna kick your asses and fuck your women.’”

“Shit! Did you have to fight the guy?”

“No way. There were too many of them. They would have messed us up anyway. But I was carrying. I wasn’t technically supposed to be, but I’d just gotten back. Out of habit.”

“What did you do?”

“I drew my pistol while keeping my eyes on the big guy, their leader. They all froze. I guess they weren’t expecting it. Then the guy at the front called out, ‘He’s only got six rounds.’ That’s when I leveled the gun at him and said, ‘I don't miss.You’ll be first. Who wants to be second?’”

“Wow. That’s sounds pretty badass.”

“No, it wasn’t. It was fucked up.”

“Well, what happened? Those guys didn’t just fold up and leave, did they?”

“They were in a different branch, but all the jargon is close enough…I told them that I was going to report it in to their CO on base, that the crew better get back in their vehicle, unless the rest of them wanted to be reported for disorderly conduct too. One of the guys said something like, ‘Dude, this isn’t good, let’s go.’” 

“So, did you call it in?”

“Of course I did.”

“What happened to big guy?”

“I don’t know. I imagine he caught hell.”

“That’s heroic, the way you handled it.”

“Not at all. Look… the whole thing was messed up; it happened so quick. Someone could have gotten killed. I felt bad. They're our boys.”  
 

It's All Little Stuff

Blind

“I brought my lunch this time, along with a little extra. I know you don’t usually eat this stuff.”

“A little bit won’t hurt. My wife will bring something in in a minute.”  

“Yeah, she always does.” 

Tear

“So, did you see that new doghouse I was working on out there, the one that was just painted?”

“You mean the one next to the tree?”

“Yeah. Had some extra installation from the house. That thing will keep warm in the winter.”

“That’s gonna be one happy mutt with an insulated crib. It doesn’t get that cold around here, does it?”

“You know, even with the installation, you’d be surprised how the cold months can make make things hurt a little. That’s why you won’t see me in the water when the currents change.”

“You break anything playing sports.” 

Pull

“No. This is from when I was contracting. Remember how I mentioned that I did a few jobs after the service.”

“You mentioned it before. But I didn’t think I should ask.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. It doesn’t bother me… really.”

“I’ve never served or done any work like that, so I don’t know how to talk about that stuff.”

“Well, I wouldn’t recommend it. You never want to have to take anyone’s life… no, it’s okay. Kind of a trip, really.”

Pick Up

 

“Yeah?”

“After one of the patrols, we were sitting around, eating. Kind of like now. Just a group of guys from just about everywhere. South Africa, South Korea… guys from a lot of different places. A few of the guys were hardcore. When you have to clear a village, you shoot everything. Had some practical advice for that kind of work.” 

"Practical?"

Remove

“Yeah. How you never surrender. If the side you’re with is ever about to start waving the flag, the hired guns don't stand a chance. That’s why you’ve got to be ready to take out the people you are working with. Do you want your fries?”

“No, go ahead.” 

“So, we were sitting there, eating, and the usual questions get asked. One of them is how many people you’ve killed.”

“I’m listening.”

“We’re going around the circle. One guy says six. Another five. Another nine. And then one guy says over one hundred. We were all kind of surprised.” 

“I think that’s your wife at the door. She’s got her hands full. Do you want me to let her in?”

Dispose

“No, I got it. Could you do me a favor? I don’t usually talk about this stuff when she’s around.” 

“Sure.”  

“Thanks.” 

Fuck!

Retraction, retraction, can't get no satisfaction.

Graffiti

Men's room

 

 

Same men's room, two urinals to the left

Vernacular expression: Invitation to a 'smackdown'

So, yeah, this is one of those places where you are supposed to click 'Yes, I understand and agree' or something like that. If people usually have to put in an extra click, they usually want to see something for their efforts, maybe something 'dirty' or even a bit 'rude'. 

Maybe I've got a weak stomach or something, but this shit makes me sick. And, at the same time, like after a good chunda, it feels kinda good to know that some of this shit is getting sorted out.

Recently, magic tricks, shell games, short-changing...these kinds of things have been serving as major distractions. Part of the reason for looking at how people cheat (on all kinds of stuff) is one way of making sure that I don't get cheated... more than a couple of times.

But what really makes a stomach churn is when doing a  quick-search for "fraud in Japan" and finding something like this.  

Having lived in small towns, getting attuned to seeing what goes on is not that difficult.  Having access to the Internet and an instinctive distaste for that which don't smell too good...

Whatever...

Loophole Drugs: Crazy Daze

After reading the headline, 

“The Best Legal Drugs in Japan”, 

I got excited. 

Then I thought for a minute... 

And thought for another minute...or so.

And kept thinking....

 And tried to remember...

And then did (sort of).

And now, this.  

Oh well. 

P.S. 

I used to think Canadian's were uptight...