Finding Japan

A special thanks goes out to Matt for sending this my way. Apparently, Finding Japan was put into print for the first time in a recent issue of Newtype magazine, a US-based Japanese Manga and Anime magazine.

Does this mean more trips to Manga-cafe’s and Akiba searching for obscure anime titles for me? Perhaps, perhaps not. I think the current formula for FJ works well. But it is nice to get the notice without even trying. Thanks Newtype and thanks again Matt for noticing and sending it my way.

But without Norm McDonald….

I have no excuse not to post another episode except for the fact that my belly is full and I feel sluggish. I promised my fiancée that I would write more along with the podcasts so I think I will start that now. Sometimes its much easier to write in fact, so I think I will enjoy this little departure for a moment.

I’ve got quite a few good topics coming up. I tried making a cooking-cast again but I didn’t turn on the recorder for the second part. I sat there happily making my dinner talking to myself for a good 20 minutes before realizing it, and by the time I did, dinner was done. At any rate, here is my creation. Its a combination of tempura fried pork (is that weird, I’m not even sure) and some delicious vegetables. To top it all off, the secret sauce, also known as tonkatsu sauce. This stuff is amazing.

This weekend I went to Arakawa park on the edge of the Arakawa river. It was pretty peaceful. Since it was a nice day out, I decided to try to go a bit further than I usually do. About 45 minutes away by bike, it was a perfect outing to break up my studying last Sunday. I also caught some audio of the local baseball team kids’ chants. Pretty interesting to hear the difference between what we used to say and how these kids say whatever it is they are saying. I will try to decode it later but I’m sure some of my Japanese speaking friends will know it right off the bat.

Besides that, things are good. Since there is no homework tonight, I’m going to head off to bed a little early and enjoy the evening just relaxing. New podcast out later this week with some excellent topics: Scary little girls, less sushi-eating in Japan, and a bit of Japanese fashion. Until then…

Man, I feel out of touch. Twitter was a no go and by the time it came back, I realized I didn’t miss it. I contributed Scott’s Calling Tokyo Calling #3 on Friday night. What a blast and a great bunch of guys. I’m already looking forward to the next one.

This weekend was totally wrecked by a really late, but fun, Saturday night / Sunday morning. I spent most of the day Sunday recovering just watching movies and enjoying some downtime. My fiancée always tells me I push myself too hard, so I took some “me” time the other day. I need to listen to her more often.

I’ve got three great episodes planned coming up. A few weeks ago I went to the Sanja matsuri in Asakusa and captured some great audio and photos. I’m thinking of putting up an enhanced podcast or something similar to the Stuart Isset piece I mentioned before. Coffee episode 2 is still awaiting another review. If someone else wants to contribute before I get around too it, feel free. You may find yourself in coffee episode 2 – not sure what that means but I promise it will be fun. Also coming up, the Sake project and “letters to future me” segment.

I’m in “collection” mode, I need to get back into “edit” mode. ぼくはがんばっていますよ！