Palin Factor

About three or so days ago as the DNC railed McCain over and over on the 3rd term thing, I began to wonder who McCain's pick will be. There's a list of names that make since, but I wasn't happy with any of them... That's when I heard Palin. Hardly any coverage since Feb. had come up about her so I wasn't sure. So I wrote on a sticky in my cube "McCain's VP Sarah Palin?" and began doing side research.

It's clear even from rudimentary research that Palin would be the best fit for McCain. The choice for Palin is simple-- To say it's Political is a misnomer-- The one thing I've found about McCain is that if there's an obvious "path" McCain's told he has to make often he'll shock you by doing the opposite. Maverick to McCain means finding your groove and keeping with it even at the outrage of friends and party members.. I would venture it even call McCain "Gandhi-like" in nature. Not the Gandhi we know as a non-violent nationalist, but aspect of Gandhi's nature that drove him to keep on with his message at the point sometimes of enraging his own supporters-- Gandhi went forward with exactly what he believed in and never, never, drifted-- In a way McCain's first executive decision points towards a core Gandhi-isk nature.

The Palin factor is purely non-political. McCain, despite Obama's supporters deepest wish, doesn't pander. Governer Palin was chosen because in her short time in office she cut the rhetoric and acted accordingly to what she believed to be Alaska's most glaring problems. She's a fighter and dedicated worker-- She won't take a job unless she knows she can change something up and that's the core of who she is.

She's Sarah Barracuda and she would rather work to reform then to talk about it. Lack of C-Span coverage or archive footage means that she's been busy reforming a State with great potential.

McCain/Palin moving forward will show that this ticket is a ticket for action rather then lengthy speeches on a clean vaccumed senate floor. What'll be appealing most is that they're a team that isn't afraid to work-- We'll know what McCain and Palin will do on day 1... Work!

End the speeches and the pie-in-the-sky promises and get to work...

McCain/Palin -- "Actual Realistic Hope For America"

~J

As The Olympics Closes

We need to be reminded of the importance of things in our world. The Olympics this year will reach out far into history beyond anyone will ever remember... even as members of this time and era. We must remember or at least acknowledge that we are Human first, great nations second. This can and always will be obscured through out time, but it is that accomplishment that the human being-- with all it's imperfections-- can attain levels of achievement that transcends politics, cultures, and borders.

Remember the unity, because for a watchful world the next phase in human order is about to be decided... Tomorrow one man will attempt to stand and announce his bid for leader of the free world. He who runs America is one who can manage the world-- figuratively, as well as, literally.

This year, above all else, the divide is thick-- at times even as cruel as disowning people for their preference. May the unity we see in Beijing (of all places) remind us of our humanity and places in this world as Humans first, all else next.

For all the changes... I can see 2008 going down in history as a new era full of vivacious teenagers who'll either take the reigns of the future or continue to let the generation ahead of them continue on.

I think the real revelation that'll happen... be it now or soon is that no one man can rally a nation, but it is the new generation-- the generation of technologically trained, highly educated, and abundantly respected (and likewise respectful) who'll lead America to change with or without a party. Call it... The Generation Y Party. It's both-- or neither...

I don't what is on the horizon-- only that I can see the storm forming and there doesn't seem to be one leader in front-- Just a Storm and it's going to be big.

Good times~

~J out

(By the way-- nearly a week <6> of working out and I've nearly lost half a stone <7lbs> *<8^)

"Personal Training"

So I last reported about my joining a club like on Tuesday. Today, however, I'm meeting for the first time with a "Personal Trainer." Really I don't know what that means or what it'll do for me, but I have good expectations for our meet.

These last two days I've been pro actively warming my body up to exercise by hitting various machines and working out here and there for 1-2 hours. I've been surprised that the little workout over the past two days has actually yielded some results.. Like 2-3 lbs maybe. It's not like I'm dropping stones, but I'm encouraged that maybe after this visit... my head will be solidly focused on some tangible goals to work towards...

Generally my initial feeling is that while I'm working out... I'm feeling good. It's a positive experience and very personable.

I'm enjoying myself tremendously there.

~J

**Edit***

I met with "Jeff" my "personal trainer" and we went over all the goals, current weight, fat %, diet stuff... you name it. It was more of an "1st time meet & check in" on what I want to have happen.

Some good gouge was passed too... about diet and nutrition and I'm on a plan to watch my weight & health and calorie intake. It's the right direction for me I think. A lot of this is really taking on my guilt and facing my biggest obstacle which is personal health and wellness.

For the past weeks I've been praying for a shot at the Navy officer program and have been disappointed, but cosmically it could be that God wants me to take this opportunity to transition into a healthy routine. I can't explain my rather odd actions of signing up to a health club any differently then that.

I wonder... when I reach the day that I'm considered "fit" will that also be the day I'm accepted? That would be trippy for sure. I suppose it's a wake up call to pray for stuff that really we should pray about (good health) and not what we shouldn't (priorities, but not top priorities). Plus depending solely on OCS to whip me into shape would deter me from my duty to study hard for officer training. The way I see it now... If I'm twice as less concerned about my fitness, then I'll have twice as much time to focus on academics and other stuff.

Good plan or wishful thinking? Regardless I'm on a food watch/work out cycle program now..

*Keep my cals under 1600 a day
*Work out for 1 hr
*1 day is 50%/50% Cardiovascular & Circuit training
*The next day is 100% Cardio.
*Do that till Tues (when I meet Jeff again).
*Oh and log all meals & snacks (this'll be tough!)

~J out

New Fitness Goals

I made a deep plunge into something I honestly have some clue, but not a whole lot about. It's in the area or perhaps "the arena" of fitness, health, and "working out" on a regular basis. Working out I suppose was something I kinda-sorta cared about all through out my youth, but I was heavily subsidized by the fact that my metabolism was high. This made for a slacked off approach to working out.

***Confession Time for the R3dragon


At age 23 I'm still young, but young in the adult stage now. That means I'm pretty old for the child/teen years and I'm noticing that simple routines and walking a little extra isn't doing it for me. It seems my metabolism has either slowed down or I'm not exerting myself like I used too. Regardless I've gained all the weight I lost in Japan and then some. Coming home from Japan I was thin... real thin.. like maybe 155 lbs thin. I remember in the cold months in Sapporo bundling up 2-3 layers deep for warmth and I was often cold. Today I'm at nearly 199 lbs and it scares me. In the back of my mind looms the troubles of my families past with overweightness and I know that tipping the 200lbs mark will bring nothing but unwanted trouble. So I need a drastic change... '08 is going to by my year of change as I leave the undergraduate world. So working out more often will by my Anti-Dub.


To do this I need a nag... Parents are no good here because they quite frankly care too much. No I need a professional nagger. So this evening I did something wild... I went to the local 24hr fitness and signed up for a plan that'll (hopefully) kick my ass and turn my fat unhealty self into a lean mean candidate for OCS (if I'm privileged to get in some day ). This is working towards establishing a precident of good health and moving the ball to something positive that I hope I can keep doing for the remainder of my life.

We'll see... Under these tags I'll add yet a new blog topic "Working out" and "Advancement towards fitness goals."

Time to reap the whirlwind!

~J out

Rear Sway Bar Done

It was one of those weird times of the day today.. like just after 3pm when there's was some dead time between my last project (hanging a new overhead fan) and dinner. I was sitting there looking at the car and saying, "dang... a whole weekend and nothing done on the 'teg." Well that's when I started wondering how easy it'd be to get that rear swaybar on.

I had been eyeball'n a couple of times, but just thought it'd be a day project. Or I thought I'd do one then the other same day, but recently my projects have been often sidelined... No worries tho~..

So I just wanna eye ball the project again by jacking up the rear to look underneath. I spot the stock sway bar and notice there's not much to it... I then grab the instructions with a diagram on how it goes together and the wheels start turning... "let's do it"

Without double thinking I go at it with sockets & wrenches and pull the stock assembly out and put together the parts for the aftermarket sway bar. There were some funky how to and where does this go for a couple of minutes, but once I figured it out-- and put it together. Bingo.. 20 minutes of wrench work and it was nailed out by dinnertime. Well 10min after the first dinner call.

I was pushing to get it done before this thunderstorm hit... And I did it in the nick of time too.

Felt solid when I was done, but I'll see tomorrow I guess. Anyway, between the stock bar and the aftermarket one I can see why such a bar is needed. The stock bar amounts to nothing more then a dowel to just ease the car before rolling... This new bar is super thick and strong and will probably do the job. I can see later on down the road though... I'll be pulling all the stock suspension parts and replacing them :P

Ah well.. good times..

~J out

New Tranny project

Wednesday of last week I met a guy over a new transmission for my integra project. My old trans isn't bad or anything... but it's a matter of gearing. The trans I bought is known as a B16 Cable Transmission.. It's sort of a rare transmission that the Japanese made for their version of the civics so car enthusiasts call it "JDM." A tranny from a US made B16 engine isn't a cable tranny instead the Japanese used a hydrolic transmission so that'd be a "USDM" tranny for United States Domestic Market. Hydro trannys don't work in the 90-93 'tegs because those tegs used a cable tranny like the JDM version.

What the B16 tranny does is it replaces the long geared 'teg tranny with a short geared one. Short gears are better in cars with lots of low end power because it increases accelleration. With the B16 trans you can easily accellerate from 1st-5th much faster then in the old trans which takes a little longer.

Sometimes in a 1/4 mile that quick accelleration is the difference between win & fail.

So I'm putting this on da project list.

Good times..

~J out

stubbed toe ouch!

Yesterday was (in my opinion) not the way one starts a good weekend.

I went to work all normal like, but there was a bunch of energy in the office all due to this party we had scheduled for the afternoon. Well at like 12a I headed down to check on my car (because it was getting hot) and open up some windows. I headed back and heard the party was starting so instead of casually going up those stairs I rushed it 2 at a time.

I've done this before... no biggie, but with funky toe sandals I slipped and jammed my left big toe into the concrete stairs "OUCH!"

It was a stub... but my experience has been after the throb it gets better... 'cept it didn't. It just got all deep red and swollen. By the time the party and day was over it looked bad... real bad. My plan was to help out Dad with his work load, but by the time I got there it looked broke so instead I ran over to the Sunnyside hospital for an exam.

Their emergency services sucked... I mean I got checked in ok and even got some x-rays fine... but I had to wait with a bruised painful toe nearly 1 1/2 hours to get into a room.... dang.

Finally a nurse checked it out and sent the info to the doc... and it turns out all it was was a bad sprain. So like I checked in at 5:45ish and left at 8pm to find that I had a sprain..

Whatever... I got my notes and recommendations and headed home (my car's a manual btw). When I got home I sat down... put up my bad foot.. and turned on the olympics to find Gymnastics on with all sorts of wicked toe bending :( ...

What a night..

~J out

Downtime..

All summer the drill has pretty much been the same..

Wake up and do some morning exercises and turn on CNN.. Then eat.. wash.. Go to work.. work.. come home.. and eat/crash. It's been like that with little moments here and there.

This leaves some downtime or rest time periodically through out the day, but it's nothing like when I was going to school in Sapporo. It's really that 10-15 minute 'breaks' downtime stuff that affords little time to start something comprehensive...

Typically I've filled this void with video games, but many of the quote "Good Games" are really indepth long games... Organizing or finding music would probably be #2, but since I haven't turned on radio that often.. I don't know what all to listen too. I thought there wasn't anything entertaining anymore until I found this feature on Google Maps.. It's called "Street View."

Without going into it deeply, it's a 360 picture of what's happen'n on the streets of cities all around. I've toyed with it off and on looking through LA and other places, but recently they've added spots in Japan and so with my 10-15 breaks I've been on a quest to spot every hangout spot, temple, and Shrine (or bar) I visited while I was touring/living in old Nippon.

Lately I've been sniffing 'round my old parade grounds and found this:


View Larger Map

If you're wondering what it is... It's a spot I used to hang near by Hokusei University. It's a neat bridge on a walking path that I'd take to chill with friends in an old Coffee shop.

This bridge oddly brings back many memories... So thumbs up to Google for keeping the old embers burning in my heart. ;P

Let's hope this all goes virtual and I can surf with my 3d glasses!

~J out

Moichido Nihongo (w)o Benkyoo Shiteitai!

Once more I want to study Japanese with the similar fervor I began with.

This "learning Japanese" business all started right at the height of my Anime years. Of course I wanted to know the jokes before the subtitles listed it... I didn't want it all to be so foreign. So I started learning the lingo.... First year was tough, but easy and really I didn't know what I was getting myself into... I expected too much and got more then I could handle.

Now at this stage with lots and lots of practice and grammar... I've found that textbook learning helps establish a base and living the culture re-enforces that learning.

I think in comparison with my younger self... My new goals for Japanese comprehension are different. They're aimed at conversation tracking, building rapport, and being able to function within a society. I know the important stuff to know solidly.. It's time to apply my life lessons with the stack of textbooks I used to huddle over for hours (admittedly completely bewildered).

This might mean skipping over vast amounts of "ho-hum" Japanese for the bits I didn't understand before. Also nailing Kanji that constantly fights it's way outta my head everyday.

I'm a lot better then I think... I know it. It's just putting it all together.

Ultimately I would like to live there for maximum success, but that's not feasible at the moment... Luckily though the Japanese have embedded hundreds of thousands of videos, mp3's, and forums for the would be "student practitioner" to scour over... reference... and gain mastery over... over... well Japanese chit-chat & gossip (a feat mind you that's fairly difficult for you average yank).

More to come of course on Re comprehending my Second Language..

~J

Transferring Stiffness

Yesterday I set out to replace my stock suspension with Koni & H&R presented itself to be quite the challenge. 70% of course was my own inexperience in what to do and maybe 90% of it was bolts never ever unbolted before (since '91) and 100% of the challenge was probably running out of beer :).

Regardless I got the new suspension on (minus the swaybars) and today I installed a Skunk2 short shifter.. All feats weren't easy.. all required help from dad :P.. but the car is likely better for it..

Up next on my list is a set of Crower cams & a B16 cable tranny (if I can find one). Both challenges (I'm guesing) will make the suspension upgade & short shifter upgrade laughable..

Overall though... wakeing up this morning (and consequently all through out the day) the stiffness from what I supposed to have got from the shocks & springs has instead transferred to my achey muscles..

What a day.. But atleast my car looks better :D

~J out

Death Note Series

Today, like the other couple of days I'd like to make yet another film recommendation.

The Death Note Series

• Japan Casts:
Asaka Seto, Ikuji Nakamura, Matsuyama Kenichi, Tatsuya Fujiwara
• Description:

Light Yagami is a university student who resents the crime and corruption in the world. His life undergoes a drastic change when he discovers a mysterious notebook, known as the "Death Note", lying on the ground. The Death Note's instructions claim that, if a humans name is written within it, that person will be killed. Light is initially skeptical of the Death Note's authenticity, believing it is just a prank. However, after experimenting with it and killing two criminals, Light is forced to admit that the Death Note is real. After meeting with the previous owner of the Death Note, a Shinigami named Ryuk, Light seeks to become "the God of the New World" by passing his judgment on criminals.

Soon, the number of inexplicable deaths of reported criminals catches the attention of the International Police Organization and a mysterious detective known only as "L". L quickly learns that the serial killer, dubbed by the public as "Kira" (derived from the Japanese pronunciation of the English word "Killer"), is located in Japan. L also concludes that Kira can kill people without laying a finger on them. Light realizes that L will be his greatest nemesis, and a race to prove mental superiority between the two begins.

Review: There’s three movies all together: Death Note; Death Note: The Last Name; and Death Note: L Change the world. The cinema in this movie is what you would likely expect of Tokyo. Slightly cheesy, but with some good parts in places. The script, on the other hand, is well written for each of these movies. It presents a pretty good “what if” narrative that would chill anyone. I like it particularly because it’s a “thinking horror” flick. It’s somewhere between intense drama and freaky. A very good candidate for any US director to consider remaking for US audiences

~J