Grilled meat

Yesterday I went to a Yakiniku (grilled meat, a kind of Japanese BBQ) restaurant. I ate too much because it was buffet. So, now my body is kind of heavy.

Also, I came to know that buffet is buffet. The service you can get at the buffet is quite limited.

Memorize these names, even if you don't like them!

Some very advanced English learners in Japan yearn for becoming an interpreter. And some of them are interested in interpreting current news. Those people must memorize the names of Abe cabinet both in English and Japanese. For such people, I put their names and titles in English. I think that if you don't support Abe Cabinet (probably most of you do, I guess), memorizing their names and titles will be harder. As you know, becoming an interpreter is very very difficult. But, interpreting what you don't like is also hard. I had to interpret very stupid remarks of my boss at a meeting, which was much more stressful experience than be at a loss to find proper words or phrases.

Abe Cabinet (Info from the Japan Times. If you click the link, you can get further info about each person):

Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe

Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications
Hiroya Masuda

Justice Minister
Kunio Hatoyama

Foreign Minister
Nobutaka Machimura

Finance Minister
Fukushiro Nukaga

Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
Bunmei Ibuki

Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare
Yoichi
Masuzoe

Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Takehiko Endo

Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry
Akira Amari

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
Tetsuzo Fuyushiba

Environment Minister
Ichiro Kamoshita

Defense Minister
Masahiko Komura

Chief Cabinet Secretary
Kaoru Yosano

National Public Safety Commission Chairman
Shinya Izumi

State Minister in charge of Okinawa and Affiars Related
to The Northern Territories
Fumio Kishida

State Minister in charge of Financial Services, Administrative and Regulatory Reforms
Yoshimi Watanabe

State Minister in charge of Economic and Fiscal Policy
Hiroko Ota

State Minister in charge of Population and Gender Equality Issues
Yoko Kamikawa

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cabinet/cabinet.html

Good-bye, Kuwata.

Takenori Emoto says in Sunday Mainichi (9/2/07):

I realized how many people like Kuwata. Although he just got two outs at a losing game, the media praised him as if he made a great record. Most pitchers in the Japanese Baseball League can get some outs. In June, Ichiro swung out, but he did it
well. I suspect he was beaten by Kuwata on purpose.

After showing us that he couldn't be used in a serious game and it was the time to go, he will come back to Japan in the middle of the season. Thanks to Kuwata, the Pirates gained popularity among Japanese people. However, the team can't use him as a professional player too long.

His ability as a pro had already finished three years ago. He just won four times in the last four years. It seems like he didn't even think of winning in the major league. Some people may say that he trained himself very earnestly, but it doesn't matter. If you were a pro, you would have to show the result, not the attitude against training.

Takashi Saito belonging to Los Angels Dodgers gained 30 save points and now he is big in the major league. However, he is not appreciated by Japanese baseball fans. I think it is unfair.

Why does this happen? Japanese baseball fans cannot forget players who were heroes as high schoolers. And they tend to compare those heroes to themselves. The same thing applies to Kiyohara, another ex-high school baseball hero. I don't have such a sentiment, so I might be drier than fans.

Fans might want to make heroes always heroes. And Kuwata make the most of fans' feelings, I guess.

I don't think that he will be able to a manager right after retiring from a
player. It is impossible. The manager of Yomiuri Giants? You'll irritate Egawa and Nakahata...

I totally agree with Emoto regarding this matter. I don't want to hear silly news about Kuwata any more. He should quit being a hero and stay away from public for a while.

listen sb do sth

ANNIE'S MALXBOX by Kathy Mitchell & Marcy Sugar:

Should I just continue to listen to him moan about
how bad he feels and watch him nod off because of his
medicine, or should I tell him I can't deal with this any more and try to make a
life of my own?

listen to him moan
----- V------- O-----inf.--

I wasn't familiar with the usage. The semantical subject of the verb "moan" must be "him." So, the verb phrase "listen to" must be included in "causative verbs" like "have," "help," and "make."

By the way, there is another causative construction in this sentence. But, this is not that difficult. It is often tested in college entrance examinations, so even good high school students in Japan must know it.

watch him nod off
----V------O----inf------

By the way, "nod off" may be kind of difficult. It means to "begin to sleep, when you don't intend to."

Inland Empire

Today I went to the movies. I saw "Inland Empire" by David Lynch because of my ex-colleague's recommendation, who is from New Zealand and told me Lynch's "Blue Velvet" was one of his favorite movies.

"Inland Empire" was okay, but it wasn't as good as "Blue Velvet." I didn't understand some part of the movie. It was like a European movie, although David Lynch was an American.

Europe, Europe!

Denmark

Also, I want to write about Europe. Japanese people seem to identify the United States with Western values, Europeans are somewhat different than Americans. Although I don't know everything, I'd like to write what I know and I have found out so far.

How to while away

Should he be criticized more?

Although I told you that I didn't watch variety shows TV that often, I'm not having a very very classy lifestyle. I watch ball games and soccer games on TV. I watch movies. I listen to some music. But, I have to admit that I became picky as I grew older.

When I started out writing on this blog site, I intended to write mainly about English education and current news. However, to write about such a topic needs some time to stay out of the PC and think seriously about the matters. Therefore, it's hard to update this blog. I still have such topics to write about on this blog, but at the same time, I would like to keep writing consistently. So, I decided to write more about pop culture and what I like to do for my free time also. I hope this would work and more people read my blog.

Maybe I will write something old. Basically I would like to look ahead, though.

Learning English vocabulary

I'm trying to learn new vocabulary for some reasons. It is not easy, and something I want to make an excuse like "I'm not a teenager any more. My memory is not as good as it used to be." However, I know this is a lame excuse. My memory might be getting bad, but it is not as bad as I can't memorize a few of new words.



Especially, it is hard for me to learn the names of popular pin-up girls ("gravure idols" in Japanese) because more and more girls come and go very very quickly.

And this applies to other older English learners in Japan who always say that they can learn new words. Of course, they can. Even they can't, it is not because of their momories. Let me explain why I think like this:



I learned her name, but I still don't know what she does. Singer, pianist, actor, or comedian...?

My dad is much older than me. But, he knows much more TV personalities than me. Why? Because he watches TV shows much often than I do. I'm sue he can learn English words if he spends as much time to try to memorize them over and over as to watch his favorite TV shows.

Some people say that English is difficult to learn. But, I think that what is difficult is not the English language but repetition for learn it.

Finally, I remember her name, but it seems like she's already become one of the popular female actors in Japan. Am I too slow?

Simple Life

I don't want to recommend the TV show on which Paris Hilton has been Paris Hilton. However, I like the word "simple life" itself.

"Everybody loves Paris. Or everybody hates Paris?"

We are in the world in which something is going on at every single moment. If you are worrying about each of such small things, you'll be ruined. So, simplifying your life is very important. I think that there's a book about it that is written by a person from Germany and that is translated into many languages including English and Japanese. If you know about the book, you should read it. Me? Probably, but finding the book is not simplified.

Tokoha lost...

It's very regrettable that they couldn't win today. I think, though, they've showed their strength enough.

See the right, dude?

I think I was right. Tokoha Kikukawa is strong. They did it again. You'd better pay attention to them rather than a stupid news item about Masumi Kuwata.
Tanaka, pitcher of Tokoha, did a great job today.
I guess that their strength is not simply because they are enjoying baseball. Their defense is solid. Also, it is very reasonable to avoid using too many bunts, which often managers of high school baseball teams prefer.

Muggy, muggy, muggy!

Although I've got a lot to do, but I don't feel like doing anythin becasue of this crazy heat. I think that today will be gone while watching Papa to Musume no Nanona-kan (Daddy and daughter's 7 days) without paying much attention.

Since Hiroshi Tachi is doing much better job than Yui Aragaki, probably I should use her picture in order to draw much more attention from my readers. :-) (^ ^)

Ball game 2

Yesterday I went to watch a ball game with my friend. The game was okay, but we couldn't get any seat and we had to watch the game by standing.

According to the Japan Times:

Yakult Swallows hurler Seth Greisinger took the mound against the most
potent offense in Japanese baseball and responded with eight shutout innings to
lead his ballclub to a 3-0 victory over the Yomiuri Giants on Saturday
night.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/sb20070819j1.html

We left the Tokyo Dome right after the 7th inning ended. We were very tired. The time was still 8 o'clock, but we just said good-bye and parted. He was playing Nintendo DS while waiting for the game. I thought that he was rather unique, but probably I was wrong. At the café we were at, there was a group of high school kids studying. Each of them was occupied with their work and wasn't pay attention to their friends. Maybe this is a tendency of current youngsters.

After I was back home, I recognized that Seth Greisinger was such a dedicated picther that he took a note at every interval between the innings. No wonder he's one of the best picthers in the Central League despite his pitch is not that fast.

Speaking of baseball, I got very surprised by a game of the national high school baseball championship.

Nichinan Gakuen 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 3

Tokoha Kikukawa 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 1 4

Although Tokoha won the championship in the spring, I heard they weren't trained to do "small baseball." However, they won in the very hard situation. I think the team was much stronger than I had expected.

Although it is often said that the game isn't sure until it ends...

Obon -- Summer Holiday

Now, it is the Obon season. People are back to their home towns. However, I don't feel like doing anything. First, my hometown is Tokyo (BTW, my second hometown is Missouri, USA), so I don't have to go to the countryside during the holidays. Also, it is too muggy in Tokyo, it's better to stay in the house rather than to go outside.

When I was a teennager, I used to expect that something would happen in summer. Maybe I was influenced by the image of TV commercials that describe happy summer locations, beautiful ladies wearing swim-suits, etc. However, I became enough smart to know that nothing special would happen in summer. It may mean that I have grown up and I should be delighted. I feel kind of sad, though. Probably growing up means the end of the youth.

ballgame

I went to the Yokohama Stadium with my friend on Friday night. It was a very very long game, and I was so exhausted.

It's just a pie in the sky.

"International Affaris and the role Japan should play in..."

Sometimes people may want to discuss what is far beyond your head. It's plasing to have such a motivation, but usually a plan made in such a way doesn't work.