UDON

Today I have yet another film recommendation that I found quite interesting..



(Movie) UDON

• Japan Casts:
Kaname Jun, Katagiri Jin, Kiba Katsumi, Kinishi Manami, Kohinata Fumiyo, Masu Takeshi, Matsumoto Tortoise, Suzuki Kyoka, Yusuke Santamaria
• Description:
"There's nothing here. Just udon."
The story starts in a town in Kagawa Prefecture, home to 1 million residents and 900 udon restaurants.
Kosuke Matsui - an aspiring comedian and son of an udon noodlemaker - hates his small-town life, but hates udon even more.
After a fight with his father, he goes to New York to launch his dream career as a stand-up comedian, but six years and one massive debt later he is forced to go home.
When he returns, he finds nothing has changed -- his sister still worries about him, his father is still pounding away at noodles, his friends are the same, and there's still a bowl of warm udon waiting for him when he gets home.
To repay his debt, he works at a publishing company where he meets Kyoko. Together they write a column about udon, which surprisingly kicks off an udon sensation across Japan, changing their lives. Especially Kosuke's.

Review: When I sat down to watch Udon I expected a masterful movie about soup. However Udon makes an effort to emphasize in the beginning the growing resentment between the US and Japan in the late 80’s for Japan’s industrial growth. Then in a double back twist emphasize one of Japan’s rural backwoods culture that’s anything but industrious. I get that the movie was trying to show the audience that perceptions of a nation don’t always add up. Here we have Americans thinking that all of Japan is gearing up for economic war (from the beginning of the movie) then through the narrative of Kosuke we find out that there’s spots in Japan like Kagawa that still are dwelling in a 1930’s – 1940’s mentality. In the end, the town endures a revival and Kosuke returns back to New York where he was shunned earlier to make his stance which he became quite successful at. This left an unusual aftertaste. Perhaps in the end it’s the reassurance that Japanese shouldn’t take American’s resentment seriously. That even Time’s Square is for the taking if one looks back to his/her roots and follows their dream.

~J

A Stiffer Stance

Today after work I went for a "parts run." I found off of Craigs an awesome new suspension setup that I'm eager this weekend to try.

The sum of what I bought was:

• A set of Front & Back Koni Yellow Adjustable Shocks
• A set of H&R Racing Springs
• A front & rear under carriage sway bar set.
• (bonus) Two JG Forged Lightweight Cam Gears

All for a OMG only that?! Price.

The best part of it, however, was a chance to meet another tuner from Portland. What I like about builds is both the parts and all that, but also the people you meet along the way.

A new crowd of people to meet!

Next on my list of stuff though is as follows (in no particular order)

~A Brembo Big Break Kit
~New Brake Pads
~Powdercoating my Calipers
~(eventually) Installing a 6-Puck Clutch kit
~Skunk2 Single Bend Short Shifter + Type R shift knob (Ordered and Shipped)
~(Either) A Pair of Crower Camshafts A Garret t3/T4 Turbo Kit fabrication/install (This one is the biggest decision requiring lots of research/thinking :) )
~(If Camshafts) Upgrade my generic C.A.I to a AEM Short Ram with Dust Cover.

Back Burner Stuff:
~Darker Window Tinting
~Interior Work
~Paint Restoration.

Lotta stuff to do... Lotta new people to meet-- I can't wait!

~J

Foreign Film recommendations

Foreign Film recommendations:

I’m always into various entertainments from abroad and recently I’ve been watching some pretty good shows and films from Japan that I think are worth sharing.



(Movie) The Great Teacher Onizuka (GTO)

• Japan Casts:
Enjouji Aya, Fujiki Naohito, Hayashi Chika, Hayashi Tomoka, Ida Kunihiko, Ikeuchi Hiroyuki, Kimura Tae, Kirari, Kobayashi Masahiro, Kondo Yoshimasa, Kubozuka Yosuke, Kuroda Miki, Mabuchi Erika, Matsushima Nanako, Murakami Rikako, Nakamura Aimi, Nakao Akira, Numata Baku, Oguri Shun, Sasai Eisuke , Shirakawa Minami, Shirakawa Yumi, Sorimachi Takashi, Tajima Reiko, Tateishi Ryoko, Tokuyama Hidenori, Yamazaki Yuta
• Description:
While peeping up girls' skirts at a local shopping mall, Onizuka meets a girl who agrees to go out on a date with him. Onizuka's attempt to sleep with her fails when her current "boyfriend", her teacher, shows up at the love hotel they are in and asks her to return to him. The teacher is old and unattractive, but has enough influence over her that she leaps from a second story window and lands in his arms.
Onizuka, seeing this display of a teacher's power over girls, decides to become one himself. In his quest, he discovers three important things:
1. He has a conscience and a sense of morality. This means taking advantage of impressionable schoolgirls is out... but their unusually attractive mothers are a different matter.
2. He enjoys teaching and most of the time, he teaches life lessons rather than schoolwork.
3. He hates the systems of traditional education, especially when they have grown ignorant and condescending to students and their needs.
With these realizations, he sets out to become the greatest teacher ever, using his own brand of philosophy and the ability to do nearly anything when under enough pressure. He is hired as a long-shot teacher by a privately operated school to tame a class that has driven one teacher to a mysterious death, one to nervous breakdown, and one to joining a cult. He embarks on a mission of self-discovery by breaking through to each student one by one, and helping each student to overcome their problems and learn to genuinely enjoy life.
Review: This is a well known and popular anime/manga from Japan that’s been put into a great funny movie that works both the comedy aspect of GTO’s great narrative, while also inserting spot of real sincerity. I’d recommend this to anyone looking for a great sit back “good feeling” comedy.

~J

Bailout

Bailout

I wasn’t surprised to learn that our President chose to not veto the latest bailout of American institutions. Whether people want to admit it or not, a new precedent of “go ahead and we’ll cover you” has been set. Don’t be fooled though, the Government has it’s limits too and once resources are stretched so thin there will be an outcry of “whoa is me.”

The simple fact is that the ‘good times’ are over. The days of getting a lot for the minimum price has peaked and what’s ahead is long arduous work. To put it in reality America has been making half of what it spends on an average scale. This means that more assets from the pockets of Americans have been flying out to foreign countries then we’re able to retain. So we’re left with a deficit of cash in-country that we can’t fill, because the world has restructured to sell to Americans—not buy.
One solution that I’ll call “the easy route” is to devalue the American buck so that our debt is reduced by half. Half a debt is easier to pay off then a full debt, but that means that there will be a rush of people to rid themselves of American bucks in exchange for items of real value like land.

Think of it this way… If you own a million US Dollars that has a value of a million 2008 US dollars that is legal US tender for all debts, public and private in the US. The clause here is that it’s a note and that it’s governed by the US Treasury. If the US devalued it’s dollar by half (via pumping lots of cash out as well as other methods) that stack of a million dollars would half to only 500,000. If you knew that in advance what would you do? Chances are you’d trade that cash in for something that wouldn’t devalue… Something like property. Property has a perpetual resilience to certain economic crisis simply because of its unique supply and demand quality—i.e you can’t make more of it very easily.

This could cause a rush to buy US assets with US cash so that foreign investors don’t get ripped off by America’s cheap tricks. My suspicion is that is what was behind the Anheuser Bush deal, the Chrysler building deal, and Trump’s property deal. Those assets are likely to weather out an inflation storm better then simply hoping your wad doesn’t become worthless soon. This means in real dollars and cents that our money is also in jeopardy. When the US Dollars’ worth plummets so does the money you own behind a locked vault. Essentially it’s taking away the buying power of your cash abroad (and locally). Supply and demand as a principal will be twisted as the supply will remain the same, as will demand, but as grocers buy food across borders the cost per pound will go up since grocers buying power in cash won’t buy as much as it used too. Factors such as these will influence the cost of a bushel of X all around the world and prices world wide will inflate. It’s a bad lose lose situation just to settle a debt. However, the alternative solution may just be as worse.

The other solution is just to work twice as hard as we do now. In perhaps literal micro terms as double shifts or macro terms as greater output of resources. Either way to keep the doomsday from happening we need to pitch in. The answer simply isn’t buying more American stuff… It’s getting the world to buy American stuff other then property so that we can get back the money we loaned. In addition, we need to start acquiring more real foreign wealth and leveraging it against our debt abroad. That means more production of goods and making it less easy for American companies to operate outside the US. Not to limit US Corporate growth, but we need the cash. Honestly it doesn’t matter who gives us back our wealth only that is happens and happens soon.

Unfortunately that means a lot of work for me and my peers as gain back the squandered wealth of America. Call it…. Our Economic Olympic challenge

~J

Afternoon Tea Time Review

Today I took the brief moment to sample a new box of tea I had bought from a local Asian Groceries & Import Store. I wasn't interested in any particular brand only that the tea was Earl Grey.

I settled upon this tea brand "Impra" which was the cheaper "generic brand" of tea available. For roughly $4 I got about 50 bags of the Ceylon Earl Grey Tea Brand.

So back to this afternoon-- I opened the bag to reveal a not-so-quite tea label attached to the cotton string. "fancy" I thought. I then poured hot water over the bag and instantly smelled a strong aroma of Bergamot & Flowers.

I really had no clue what to expect other then plain old Earl Grey. Previous to this I had been drinking Celestial Seasonings' Earl Grey blend so with that as a marker I really didn't expect much. My first sip, however, changed that quite profoundly...

The first sip hit me with the taste of flowers followed by a strong taste of Bergamot then finished with a hint of mint. A real flavorful combination that I didn't expect at all-- Especially from such a cheap tea.

Halfway through the cup, the taste didn't change much. Every sip was a bombardment of flowery flavor and minty finishes.

It was enough that I decided to take a break and do some research on Earl Grey Teas, Ceylon, and the company "Impra."

Who was Mr. Earl Grey?

Earl Grey tea of course was named after a person but "Earl" was not his first name. Actually his name was Mr. Charles Grey, Earl was his proper title. Mr. Grey happened to be the second earl in his line. He served England as the Prime Minister to King William IV in the early 19th century. The famed legend of "Earl Grey's Tea" is that Mr. Grey was given the recipe by a Chinese mandarin with whom he was friends, and whose life he had saved.

That recipe was a blend of Indian and Ceylon (explained later) teas. The tea gets its unusual flavor from oil of BERGAMOT-- a small acidic orange. The latest research indicates that the Bergamot orange is a cross between the sweet or pear lemon (Citrus Limetta) and the Seville or sour orange (Citrus Aurantium). The sour orange is native to southern Vietnam, hence the Chinese connection.

The Origins of "Ceylon Tea":

Ceylon Tea, Ceylons, and the such doesn't refer to the science fiction "computer race" found on the BattleStar Series, but infact refers to the old name of Sri Lanka ("Ceylon" - renamed in 1972).

According to the Impra Tea Company (Makers of the Earl Grey I'm drinking, "Sri Lanka or the then Ceylon, was a coffee state. The plantation industry in Ceylon began in 1825 with widespread planting of coffee. However in 1839 the head of the botanical gardens in Culcutta India sent several Assam tea plants to the Peradeniya estates in the Kandy district. It is this Assam variety of tea which is now grown on every estate in Sri Lanka.

Tea only received an opportunity due to a leaf disease which spread widely across the country in 1869, thus putting and end to the booming coffee industry in the island. During the next 20 years, planters in Ceylon converted the decimated estates to tea plantations. It is probably due to the experience and knowledge of Indian tea planters and the efforts of the father of tea in Sri Lanka James Taylor that paved the way for Sri Lanka to be in the forefront of tea production today."

The Impra tea company markets itself as an exporter of Ceylon Tea. They claim to be one of the biggest in the market and aims as being "the most innovative and trusted exporter." I'll take it at their word for now because honestly this is a pretty good tea.

So there you have it... A little tea review/Info for your 3'o'clock tea time break.

Enjoy...

~J out

The Olympics Meaning

The Olympics is (and has always been) more then just a sporting event. Sports are a symbol representing in real strength the power of a nation. When one nation fights to secure the most coveted award (be it a trophy or a gold medal) the nation fights with them. The Olympics takes this one step further by not only putting an emphasis on individual sports, but on preparedness. Much credit is due upon a host nation who works tirelessly from the year they’re chosen to put on the best show on earth. When Athens came up late it reflected poorly on the nation as a whole for example. China, in this way, knows that putting on the world’s greatest show is essential to showing the world “China is ready and open for business.” This, at its core, will be the message China presents to the world.

I’ve heard some say that China is cloaked in secrecy. Its not true, but some of China’s practices are mysterious. Enter in world renowned experts on “the Orient” who’ll appear out of the wood work to inform you on all the symbols and meaning of “mysterious practices.” From China’s long standing Buddhist religion to it’s literal torture techniques of it’s best athletes. I’ve heard the clamor already from mainstream media to NPR and local talk shows.

All one needs to understand is that when pride is at stake…. Extreme measures get taken. This is not at all foreign to America. In fact we also pride ourselves on torturous preparation.

So this Olympics I’ll try to ignore the endless banter on “Chinese customs” since no one, but the Chinese truly do appreciate these customs. Instead my focus will be on how close China will portray itself as “western.” There’s much talk on the beginning roots of capitalism in China and we’ll see how China uses the Olympics to over emphasize it’s western appeal. It is a big change for China, but China has chosen this time “to emerge” onto the Global scene and make it stand as the 21st century pillar of modern global society. I’m still skeptical of how it plans to do this and not leave millions of poor behind in the dust…. But for certain these Olympics are a big opportunity to take China to the next level. It’ll be fun to watch.

~J out

The World Has the Right to be Skeptical

Right now the world is playing witness to a masterful attempt at political wizardry. It’s with no doubt that the Presidential Prince Barack Obama is the culmination of 8+ years of democratic studies on the overall American demography.

If we review the presidential past cases the cards have been reshuffled twice and democrats’ have lost both hands. Now the hand has been delt and with the help of some elite few (for whom we don’t know yet) Senator Obama has been hand selected to secure victory at whatever the cost to anyone who fights against him.

What I’m suggesting, be it as controversial as it may, is simply that the old saying that said, “If its too good to be true then it probably is” might apply most appropriately here. Day after day I see the biggest media campaign work tirelessly to broadcast the supposed “icon of the nation” speak eloquent words of no consequence.

The issue here is rights of passage. I am likely to be of the old notion that there are certain positions in society that merit a harsh litmus test before taking these positions. Experience and leadership are one of these tests… It’s naïve to say that both of these are worthless and meaningless when applying for a job of great importance. If one were simply to study America’s importance and influence with the world today, they will certainly be shocked at the sure power we weld with our foreign policy. Never in our history have we or should we be open to the idea of freely handing over “willy nilly” our influence through unbrokered negotiations.

However, the attempt at utopia is still at work. Already leaders with similar visions have fought, won, and dissipated yet Obama seems to be the one who thinks it’s different with him.

Obama’s weakness is simple opposition. The ability to accept that not all that oppose him are wrong and that there is merit in listening. Dictating orders to America’s military won’t better the situation, nor will photo ops and the like.

If Obama needs my vote he needs to show us the beef. He needs to step down from his self erected pedestal and show us that he’s not what my greatest suspicion is: The democratic elite’s puppet or ticket to the white house.

I hope I’m wrong… for the nation’s sake.

~J out