Japan Thoughts

The Great Wave by Japanese artist Hokusai

It's been almost two weeks since the Earth moved around Japan and changed so much over there. I once took a drive up that very coast the tsunami hit with my buddy Simon. We traveled to Sendai that day to check the city out. I can clearly remember it as one of the best days of my time in Japan. We saw the ocean in our drive through Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures. We went to see a movie, ironically it was Twister, and had a great dinner in the city center. After the earthquake, I thought back to that day and was happy we had made that trip and I had been to those places that you see in the pictures.

I was in Japan during the Kobe earthquake in 1995. I remember getting to school that day and several of the teachers were crying at their desks. I didn't even know what had happened. It wasn't like I woke up and turned the news on. We certainly didn't feel the earthquake in Karasuyama some 300 miles away and it didn't really affect my life that much. My parents and friends freaked out a bit because all they hear is earthquake and Japan and think I must be in the middle of it. I went through Kobe in the summer of 1996 to catch a boat to China. By that time, they'd done a lot work on getting the city center rebuilt, but the area was still hurting.

So now two Fridays ago, I came home after work and called my family in Toyama to check in on them. When Takashi answered the phone, he was surprised to say the least. We hadn't spoken since Brooke and I visited them in November 2007. His reaction to my question of his health was the same as mine to my parents after Kobe, "Earthquake? No problem." It's what I expected to hear, but it was nice to get that information directly. They didn't even feel it.

I can pretty much guarantee that Karasuyama felt this last one. I don't have any friends that I speak to in that area anymore. It's been over 10 years since I've heard from anyone around those parts. That memory of my drive to Sendai reminded me just how close my old place is to this devastation, less than 100 miles. There was only one of the many earthquakes I felt in Japan that had me running. It was one on the northern tip of the main island of Honshu in Aomori prefecture. It was long enough that I could get up and run outside my apartment to wait for the shaking to end. There was a minor tsunami for that one as well.

I've heard in the last week of two American teachers, like myself 15 years ago, missing from this tsunami. I can't even imagine what life would be like there now in Karasuyama. I can only say, I'm glad I'm not there...

Before and After pictures of towns in the tsunami's wake. [New York Times]

Some other links I've collected over the last several weeks...

The Internet is getting crowded. We may be running out of addresses. [New York Times]

Lego mania...check out these crazy Lego projects. [BuzzFeed]

Amazing story of one resilient puppy dog! Thanks for the link Depune. [WRTV]

Interesting story of the military challenge coins. [Washington Post]

Great article about the older generations keeping up with the newer technology. Not just Facebook but Skype and new iPads too. [New York Times]

Take care...

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Back after a Break - Friday June 11th

Back to the blog after a bit of a break. Been saving up some good links to post in a bit, so make sure you check them out.

Been living at Chateau de Mom and Dad over the past almost three weeks. Their hospitality has been great and Rowan loves seeing poppa and grandma every morning and evening. But it's time to get the party started at the new place. Found out this afternoon that we are set to close! The papers will be signed on Monday afternoon and we'll be officially moving to the farm. Hopefully we'll have more exciting news on Brooke's horse business to follow, including a boarder...

Went to see Get Him to the Greek last Friday and we really enjoyed it. Laughed out loud several times. The last third of the movie was a little different than the first 2/3's, but I'd recommend it. Definitely worthy of a DVD viewing at home. A few weeks ago, Brooke had a ladies' night out with the girls from Sex and the City 2. It's getting blasted in the reviews, but she and her friends enjoyed it. I think fans of the show would like it. [IMDb.com & Rotten Tomatoes]

The A-Team opens today. Brooke and I were big fans of that show on TV, so we may be checking it out. Doesn't seem to be getting too many positive reviews, but it's not horrible. Brooke informed me last night that the new Tom Cruise/Cameron Diaz flick, Knight and Day, is a must see for her. I sure hope it's good! [IMDb.com & Rotten Tomatoes]

World Cup 2010 starts today in South Africa. USA vs. England tomorrow at 2:30. With the lousy weather forecast, I think I'll be around a TV for this. I've been talking smack with my buddy Simon in London since the pairings came out in February. Here's a good link for following the schedule of games and teams for the next month. [official FIFA site & Marca.com]

On to the links!

This week's News Quiz. [Chicago Tribune]

Customer loyalty cards via cell phone. [NY Times]

Upgrading the GPS System. [Chicago Tribune]

A BP public relations spoof is getting more hits on Twitter than the real BP account. [NY Times]

Raising kids in the new tech world. I'm guilty of this with my iPhone. By the way, new iPhone 4 coming this month! [NY Times & Apple]

Animal odd couples link from Depune. [NY Daily News]

Video of Rowan taking Butsu for a walk the other evening. She did a pretty good job!

Halfway through the Tourney - Friday March 26th

Blog's been redesigned a bit this week. If you get the post from email, I encourage you to click the post title and go to the blog online. I think it's a cleaner look. Rowan's ready for cruising the neighborhood in her new power wheels ATV from Aunt Lynnette. She's not real gung ho about pushing the button and going, but I'm sure she'll get the hang of it.

Lots of big basketball games last night, tonight, and this weekend, the Pools are heating up. Go Butler!

We've been checking out movies with our Netflix subscription. Last week we finally saw Bond's Quantum of Solace. We both liked it but are eager for the next Bond movie when they reset the story and go in a new direction. This movie was a continuation from 2006's Casino Royale. Next week I think we'll hit the multiplex for Hot Tub Time Machine. It's getting good reviews (and another) and the commercials are working me over. A 1980's period piece, how old am I again? [IMDb.com & NY Times & Chicago Tribune]

A Happy Anniversary to my parents on Saturday: 40 Years! Awesome.

Adding something new this week. To shorten the main page of my blog, I'll be adding a jump to the middle of my longer posts. You can catch the rest of the post by clicking the Read More link below. I'm not sure if this will be included on the emails, if so, click it and you'll go the the new and improved web site! From now on these jumps will be detailed as follows: News Quiz and more after the jump...