i guess congratulations are in order...

...for those st louis cardinals for winning major league baseball's 2006 world series. my question for today though is if they really deserve to be called the "world champions." i mean, they are definitely this year's champions in the united states/canada, but that definitely doesn't represent the entire world.

earlier this year, there was the world baseball classic which was won by japan. so shouldn't we still be calling japan the "world champions" until at least 2009 (the next world baseball classic)? then again, on thursday, the nippon ham fighters defeated the chunichi dragons to win the 2006 japan series. so if they are the best team in the country with the best baseball team, then why aren't they the world champions? or, since so taguchi is the only japanese player on the st louis cardinals, does that make him the (gasp) best baseball player in the world!?

by the way, if anyone was actually paying attention to the japan series and shinjo's retirement after winning a championship, i read an article somewhere that called him "the nippon hammiest"....haha!! if you know shinjo, you'll know what i'm talking about.

speaking of international sports and athletes as national icons, randy and i got into some pretty intense debate over national soccer teams. when i visited japan in june, i was here for part of the world cup, and it was CRAZY how much the country supported their squad. for example, the daily newspapers were delayed so that they could include results from the games taking place in germany. i especially remember seeing the huge pictures of the soccer players adorned on the outside of department stores in shibuya. anyways, the point of all this is that no one really cares about soccer as a national sport in the united states, where prodigal athletes are groomed for basketball/football/baseball.

even though american teams might not be "world champions" so to speak, it is almost universally accepted that american sports leagues compete at the highest levels. so randy and i were thinking, if all of america's best athletes grew up playing soccer instead of one of those other big three, we could easily have a monster team that is quicker, stronger, bigger, and capable of complete domination. let me illustrate:

goalkeeper: my ideal goalkeeper is a long athlete with ridiculously quick reflexes, as well as an enormous ego and belief that he can single-handedly carry his entire team.

• kobe bryant - this was a no-brainer. all the aforementioned, not to mention mad hops. i can't think of a better clutch performer for those possible shootout situations.
• gilbert arenas (reserve) - just the fact that i'm making him a backup will make him try harder to prove me wrong.
  

sweeper: my sweeper is freak athlete. his intensity and massive size should intimidate opposing players, and his performance will back it up.

• shawne merriman - 6'4" 272 pounds and fast. he's still only 22 and will be a permanent fixture and legendary as kobe's personal bodyguard.
• ben wallace (reserve) - 6'9" 240 pounds and even scarier with the afro. this was my hardest decision on who to start and who to make a reserve. big ben covers shaq for crying out loud.

fullbacks: i'm a strong believer that the defense is the most important to a team's success. as long as you have a good defense, your offense will have opportunities to score. my defenders are great one-on-one competitors. the entire defensive unit will be led by the center fullback, who can also start a counter-attack.

• champ bailey - the best cornerback in the nfl will take on any striker in the world and make sure he doesn't even touch the ball.
• chris paul - cp3 might seem small, but that's cuz you're so used to seeing him on the hardwood. 6'0" is good size for a soccer player and he's my top choice as a center fullback to start the break.
• ron artest - ronron takes the final starting fullback position. no one will want to mess with him, trust me.
• deangelo hall (reserve) - the next champ bailey, could easily work his way into the starting rotation.
• chauncey billups (reserve) - i love proven point guards that are good defenders.
• gerald wallace (reserve) - he will be up in everything, guaranteed.

wings: my wings need unbelievable speed to get up and down the field.

• michael vick - this lefty is unstoppable.
• reggie bush - no explanation necessary.
• carl crawford (reserve) - another lefty with a lot to prove.
• maurice jones-drew (reserve) - this was the hardest position for me to fill. was also thinking earl boykins, but the bruin alum was just irresistable. i'm open for suggestion though.

center midfielders: i'll have one central midfielder to serve as the pitch general, and an attacking midfielder who will take a slightly more offensive position.

• lebron james - lebron will be the starting central midfielder. he's bigger, stronger, faster, and smarter than anyone in the world.
• ladanian tomlinson - l.t. loves to be involved with everything, and he loves to score too.
• derek jeter (reserve) - randy doesn't agree with my choice for lebron's backup, but his veteran presence will be beyond valuable to the team.
• larry johnson (reserve) - almost as good as l.t.

strikers: my two strikers will have distinct roles. one will serve as a withdrawn striker with the ability to score or assist a goal at any time. the other will have only one responsibility...to score goals. lots of them.

• allen iverson - a.i. is my withdrawn striker. he is the ultimate scoring point guard, as well as the quickest player on the pitch.
• terrell owens - he just wants to score and has the rock star personality and trash-talking skills necessary for such a role.
• dwyane wade (reserve) - d-wade wil be a.i.'s backup. while it was slightly disturbing that he's not a starter, his clutch performance will definitely be called up, especially since iverson isn't getting any younger.
• randy moss (reserve) - some say he's past his prime, but all those tip drills will pay off on cornerkicks.
• tracy mcgrady (reserve) - i don't think t-mac would ever be a starter on my team, but his height and ability to score 13 points in 35 seconds must be taken into consideration for the final roster spot.

coaches: this is perhaps the most subjective aspect of the team. comparing a baseball manager with a head coach in basketball is like comparing apples and oranges. but here's my attempt. i guess i'm being kinda generic by going with equal representation.

• joe torre - my choice for head coach of team usa is someone that has proven that he can manage multiple personalities while remaining competitive, even with tons of pressure to succeed.
• phil jackson (assistant) - all that zen stuff should help keep the team under control.
• charlie weis (assistant) - he helped bring glory and optimism back to south bend.
• bruce arena (assistant) - i guess it's important to have a coach that knows a thing or two about soccer.

there you have it. if it was up to me, and1 would be the official apparel provider for the team as a way of establishing street credibility. jon miller and joe buck would do the play-by-play. and color commentary will be provided by john madden, charles barkley, and mike krukow. admittedly, these guys wouldn't stand a chance:

sorry for being MIA

...but i've had a valid excuse!!

my first month of living in japan has been pretty good, with the exception of me picking up a case of colitis that derailed me for an entire week. it was pretty crazy, with my entire family getting sick. i lost track of how many times i puked and even crapped a pair of pants. i discovered that it actually is possible to lose three kilograms (almost seven pounds) in one night, although i wouldn't recommend it to anyone under any circumstance, ever. ever.

however, i can attest to how convenient it is to have national health care (yes, one of those perks i get for being a citizen), as well as how convenient it is to live in a big overcrowded city where the doctor's office is literally around the corner. to illustrate, it's closer for me to get to his office than it was for me to get to the mailbox at my house in mountain view.

anyways, at least i survived to tell the story. lots of other things have been going on, from parties to tv shows to even getting a job. i'll try to get around to posting pictures and interesting news over the next couple days. hope everyone back home is healthy!!

ethnic grubbage

as a graduate of the only college of ethnic studies in the world, i think i have a certain amount of clout when i stress the importance of embracing ethnic traditions in all aspects of life. perhaps the one single aspect that everyone can relate to--since everyone does it--is eating.

if you know me at all, you know how much i appreciate a good meal, regardless of what style cuisine. versailles, pho tau bay, you's dim sum, nak won, mona lisa, la victoria's...my personal list of ethnic grub goes on and on. but the one constant about all of those restaurants is the fact that their menus remain bounded by the laws of the land.

i've definitely had some surprising meals here in japan. turtle soup (suppon), live sweetfish (ayu), raw horse (basashi), and recently, seared--as in raw in the middle--chicken (sasami tataki). but my meal last night really took a whopper of a turn.

first of all, we were cooking the meal at the table, so there was this humongous gob of raw meat right in front of my face. i was slightly shocked that this meat was lamb...not exactly one of my personal favorites. suffice to say, i ended up using a lot of sauce and even more spice, and went through plenty of rice to work my way through the distinct lamb taste.

another dish that i used to mask the lamb was this bacon that my uncle offered. i thought it was some funny shaped bacon, but it tasted alright, especially when mixed with soy sauce and mustard. i wish i had an actual picture of it, but here's one i found on the internet that illustrates what it looks like:

now it's important to note that by my aunt's and uncle's standards, i eat at the pace of takeru kobayashi. so i made my way thru my share of lamb meat and more than my share of bacon long before the two of them finished their meals. near the end of the meal, my uncle offered my aunt the last couple pieces of bacon, which is when i realized that she hadn't even touched the dish. i asked why, and she said it has always made her kinda queasy since she was in elementary school. i know it's not that healthy and all, but honestly, who doesn't like bacon!?

then my uncle turns to me and says, "oh, did you know this is whale bacon?"

at that instant, my stomach was definitely ready to free willy. so much for embracing culture.

lazy day...

i woke up around 7am this morning, it was raining hard, so i went back to sleep. woke up again at 8, still raining. woke up again at 9, and it was pouring, so i decided to just get up. it's about 1730 now and still raining. was gonna go out tonight, but this typhoon just makes for a lazy day inside.

got some translation work done, took care of some school business, and watched the latest densha otoko special! computer geeks unite, there is hope for us losers. but regardless of how geeky all that tech stuff is, it sure can help make the world a much smaller place. here are a few examples:

1) cell phones. i have no idea how previous generations were able to have any type of social life without cell phones. seriously, it's ridiculous how much we take them for granted nowadays. and here in japan, the cell phones are on steroids. my mitsubishi d902is slider for docomo has a 4.0 megapixel camera with flash on the back. and what's better than one of those, is putting another camera on the front! it also has an english/japanese dictionary, music player, full high-speed web access, etc. if you ever feel like droppin a line, please send a message to initial_dean[at]docomo.ne.jp (but use the real @ sign) i feel all cool when i get emails on my cell phone.

2) voip. i officially endorse skype as the coolest voice over ip solution. my mom was telling me how she would pay $20 for a couple minutes of trans-pacific talk time back in the day, and now it's virtually free! couple skype (and skypein) with a bluetooth headset hooked up to my powerbook, and it's like i'm still the hermit hiding in my room in mountain view.

3) slingbox. this is pure genius. i hooked it up to my dsl at home before i left, and now i can watch mountain view's comcast cable here in tokyo--with no monthly fees--via "placeshifting." the things i do for american sports...

i have no idea how i could survive out here without the internet. but just to show how cool japan is, as well as prove that i've actually been doing stuff, check out these new glasses i got! there's this chain out here called zoff--think of it as lenscrafters meets ross. all of their glasses are marked with a colored sticker, representing three different prices: ¥5000, ¥7000, or ¥9000. i picked up a pair of the cheapest variety, gave them my prescription, and they had new spectacles for me in 45 minutes! with tax and the current conversion rate, that comes out to $44.49 for prescription glasses! what do you think?

herro flom japan!

i made it. i'm actually living in japan. well, i haven't even been here a full week yet so i guess it still feels vacation-ish. we'll see how i feel after a month. so besides not updating this blog like i said i would, what else have i been doing out here?

1. i officially registered as a resident of taito-ku (the ward in tokyo that i'm living in). this means that i am covered under japan's national health insurance, and it also means i can vote! i really need to start paying attention to the politics here.
2. i got the cell phone i've been drooling over for the past three months. it does everything short of wiping my behind. i have no idea what kind of plan i signed up for, so we'll find out how much it all costs when the bill comes.
3. i am officially a graduate student at sophia university (just got my spiffy student ID card). school has gotten off to a terrible start. due to my status as a kamokuto rishuusei (non-matriculated student), i basically have no idea what is going on, so not only did my class get moved, but the meeting date got changed as well. so i missed my first day of class. and then i couldn't buy my books because they only take cash. and the lunch room (although it is cheap and has good food) is ridiculously crowded, since the entire school has the same lunch break. couple that with the bell schedule, and it's just like we're back in high school. at least there are a lot of girls. OH! speaking of sophia girls, i saw crystal kay on campus yesterday!
4. been hanging out with randy, which has made my life so much less stressful. it's great to have someone around, not just in my city, but at my school, to make everything a bit more familiar. we've already had a couple crazy nights, and we're just getting started. speaking of friends, it seems that there will be a reunion of sorts this saturday. randy, mike morita, lauren nakasato, et al shall be good fun.
5. i saw a playstation3 in action. as absurd as i think it is for sony to charge $700 for a videogame system, i couldn't believe my eyes when i saw the graphics that thing was shooting out onto a 42" 1080p hdtv. better than real life, i'm not even kidding.
6. aside from transitioning to a new city, i'm transitioning to this new type of family life. since i grew up as an only child and even only grandchild, relatives for me have been few and far between. now that i'm here, i'm with my grandma, aunt, uncle, cousin, and her baby. lots of new responsibilities, but i'm embracing them.
7. i got a job doing some translation work for my cousin's husband's company. check out his webpage, he's beyond dope.
   
8. i'm still looking for other job opportunities, esp since i will only be doing a couple hours for central-west. i know i should use my college degrees for something grand, but what i really wouldn't mind doing is something brainless, at least for a few months. i talked to this dude last night that said i could easily get a job as a bartender at gas panic in roppongi. maybe i could use that as a starting point for some kind of dj gig.

i guess that's about it for now. i have a lot of stuff lined up to blog about; hopefully it'll be worth an occasional read. i apologize for all the grammar mistakes in the previous entry...i was writing that without any sleep. i also apologize for making this post so blah. i'll have pictures and videos up soon. and in case my personal life bores you, i'm trying to make some kind of regular schedule to write about too. for example, one of my goals is to visit a museum as well as a new restaurant every week. i'll also include some news from out here, event reviews, and whatever else comes to mind. stay tuned :-P