I have added a few good gaijin websites and blogs on the right, they should be at the bottom of the links...worth a look-see...

Been a while eh?? Work has me feeling like a mexican these days...being a gaijin makes me about as high on the food chain here in japan as the mexicans are back home...only difference is that I ain't in the fields picking onions haha. I have been busy the past few weeks. I finally saw Lost in Translation, I have the dvd now...so I seen it quite a few times and it gets better every time...what a great movie...for anyone who hasn't seen it you are a fool. Check it out and it might give you nihon-jin a small peek into what life is like here for myself, or you foreigners who haven't been to japan yet..it will give you a lot more...breath-taking views of Tokyo, which can be equally hideous and beautiful depending on how you look at it, and it will also show you what life is like here for us gaijin.

Moving on, I was in Hachiko with Miho the other day and there was yet another anti-war rally...which have become more frequent and sometimes even violent in the wake of the japanese hostage situation recently. Although it has been resolved it has only made things worse for myself, and any other "round eye" in Japan. As we are waiting for the signal to cross Hachiko this j-guy walks up and hands me a piece of paper...after doing so he ran away. the paper said in capital letters at the top "DO NOT HAVE SEX WITH MEN WHO SUPPORT THE KILLING AND VIOLENCE OF THE IRAQ WAR!!" It then proceeded to show pictures of dying children and such...I will scan and link it to this site in a day or two...so then I hand it to Miho and say "does this mean I ain't gettin' any for a while?" she laughed and said "doubtful."

After that Miho and I went to the ping pong palace on the road that goes from Shibuya station to Omotesando...it's called ETC I think...She won the first game and then I won the next 7 or 8...it was funny.

Got reemed at my quarterly review....pretty par for the course.


Some very senior guy at Lehman Brothers here in Tokyo took some bad coke in a club and ended up in a hospital...afterr blood test confirmed the coke made him go into a seizure of some sort (I think) the cops searched him and found a large quantity in his wallet...he will now goto jail for atleast 2 years...damn.

Weather here is almost summer-like...absolutely beautiful....low 80's and sunny...its good weather for a game of baseball...I am in the process of joining a corporate softball team affiliated with Merrill Lynch...they play on the military base in Tajima...so I can shop at american stores for american things if it all works out...sweet!

Red Sox Suck!


This is a really funny article I found on the net, some of the quotes/one liners had me pissing my pants laughing...do a search for "Nomar Swallows" on Yahoo and my site comes up as #4...someone did according to my webcounter so I followed and found not only the previous info out, but also this gem of an article...seeing my site related to that search on yahoo made my day...cuz Nomar does swallow...ask anyone

Screw Patriot's Day and it's 11am start time...

Let’s Go…Um…Whoever
BY CHRIS KULENYCH, ECSN Columnist

In any sport, not much can match the intensity of a good, old-fashioned rivalry game.

And fortunately, over the past few years, I have been front and center for a good number of them. I was in the left field bleachers for 'Rocker Returns to Shea' in 2000. I was in the nose bleeds for 'Clemens Drills Piazza' in 2001. I’ve been shirtless, painted and crazed for dozens for UConn vs. (fill in Big East team here) games, too.

Each of those rivalry games have been special, intense and memorable for a variety of reasons. I got to chant “racist” for the first time in my life. I got to see my favorite player nearly decapitated. And I got to taunt, cheer, bond, jump around, rush the court and turn the person next to me blue alongside 2,500 of my closest student friends. Basically, I got to go nuts for a good old-fashioned “love your guys, hate the enemy” rivalry.

This past weekend I was Switzerland.

And it really, really, really sucked.

After a couple holiday weekend days down at the Jersey Shore, I met up with my friend Brad (who had scored 10th row seats from his boss a few days earlier), his dad and his girlfriend for my first ever taste of perhaps the best rivalry in the business – Yankees v. Red Sox. Fourth of July, Yankee Stadium, Derek Lowe v. David Wells, 55,000 die-hards split half pinstripes, half Garciaparra.

And then there was me – with my blue hat and bright orange Mets shirt on.

Now originally, my buddy Rocket was supposed to pitch on the 4th, but a rainout last week bumped him back to Saturday, and left us with Wells – and me without someone to really root against. Now granted, I hate the Yankees like I hate Al Queda, but it’s still hard to root against Wells. He’s one Yankee I can stand. The guy loves the game, loves beer and hates Clemens, too. That’s tough to really root against – especially in his own house surrounded by wasted guys wearing replica “Boomer” T-shirts.

So, anyway, there I was – the biggest neutral fan in the Bronx, a die-hard Met fan at a freakin’ Yankee-Red Sox game – sitting in a huge rivalry game between two of the best teams in the American League, with no real care in the world who won. It didn’t take long to realize how crappy that was.

As I mentioned before, I’ve been to my share of rivalry events, but never to anything quite like Yankees-Red Sox. Not only are the stands filled with fans of each team, fans who know the tradition of the rivalry, they are home to some of the best chants of all time. They are also home to exchanges like this:

Dad 1 (drunk): “Red Sox suck, Nomar swallows!”
Little Girl next to Dad 1: “What does that mean?”
Dad of Little Girl to Little Girl: “It means that Nomar really F*CKIN SUUUUCKS!! Go Yanks!”

Or how about this gem…

Drunk guy 1: (chanting) “19-18, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, 19-18.”
Drunk guy 2: (right back at him) “19-99, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, 19-99.”
Drunk guy 1: Throws beer on Drunk guy 2, and is immediately ejected.

It was classic. It was hilarious. It was great. All tolled, it was basically three hours of taunts, swearing and beer in between a 10-3 Red Sox waxing, a Manny Ramirez moon shot, and a mini-homerun Derby off of Boomer, sending the guys next to us into some impressive tirades. After each big hit, the chants would start up, and in a couple cases fists would fly.

It was good old-school rivalry baseball. And, sadly, I had nothing to say. I couldn’t root against the Yanks, especially not with my Mets shirt on – which had landed me more than a few evil eyes throughout the game. And I couldn’t root for them – especially after Boomer left – well, because that would be like rooting for SARS.

One thing’s for sure, though, all of my indifference didn’t mean I didn’t have a blast. I did. I also started wishing that one day a Mets v. someone game could be like that, or a UConn v. someone game could get that intense outside of just the student section. A 50-year-old drunk alumni saying “Darius Rice Swallows!!!!” Is that too much too ask?

Unfortunately, it definitely is.

And unfortunately, as a non-Yankee or Red Sox fan, I probably will never get to attend and go crazy for a rivalry game of that quality – ever. Mets and Braves is nice, but the history, the loyal fans from both sides, and the competition is just not there. Ditto for Mets-Yanks. What do Yankee fans have to be jealous of the Mets over? The cool apple in the hat?

With the Yanks and Red Sox at least, it’s about winning. It’s about the pennant every year. It’s about pride, 1918 and the Babe. It’s old school and it means so much to so many people. It’s the best rivalry going.

Sure, Mets-Braves is OK. UConn-Syracuse or UConn-BC is quality too. Mets-Yanks is good for a couple games a year. Stack them up to my trip to what I saw at the Stadium last weekend, though, and they kinda suck.

Check that…

They swallow.

This is a really funny article I found on the net, some of the quotes/one liners had me pissing my pants laughing...do a search for "Nomar Swallows" on Yahoo and my site comes up as #4...someone did according to my webcounter so I followed and found not only the previous info out, but also this gem of an article...seeing my site related to that search on yahoo made my day...cuz Nomar does swallow...ask anyone

Screw Patriot's Day and it's 11am start time...

Let’s Go…Um…Whoever
BY CHRIS KULENYCH, ECSN Columnist

In any sport, not much can match the intensity of a good, old-fashioned rivalry game.

And fortunately, over the past few years, I have been front and center for a good number of them. I was in the left field bleachers for 'Rocker Returns to Shea' in 2000. I was in the nose bleeds for 'Clemens Drills Piazza' in 2001. I’ve been shirtless, painted and crazed for dozens for UConn vs. (fill in Big East team here) games, too.

Each of those rivalry games have been special, intense and memorable for a variety of reasons. I got to chant “racist” for the first time in my life. I got to see my favorite player nearly decapitated. And I got to taunt, cheer, bond, jump around, rush the court and turn the person next to me blue alongside 2,500 of my closest student friends. Basically, I got to go nuts for a good old-fashioned “love your guys, hate the enemy” rivalry.

This past weekend I was Switzerland.

And it really, really, really sucked.

After a couple holiday weekend days down at the Jersey Shore, I met up with my friend Brad (who had scored 10th row seats from his boss a few days earlier), his dad and his girlfriend for my first ever taste of perhaps the best rivalry in the business – Yankees v. Red Sox. Fourth of July, Yankee Stadium, Derek Lowe v. David Wells, 55,000 die-hards split half pinstripes, half Garciaparra.

And then there was me – with my blue hat and bright orange Mets shirt on.

Now originally, my buddy Rocket was supposed to pitch on the 4th, but a rainout last week bumped him back to Saturday, and left us with Wells – and me without someone to really root against. Now granted, I hate the Yankees like I hate Al Queda, but it’s still hard to root against Wells. He’s one Yankee I can stand. The guy loves the game, loves beer and hates Clemens, too. That’s tough to really root against – especially in his own house surrounded by wasted guys wearing replica “Boomer” T-shirts.

So, anyway, there I was – the biggest neutral fan in the Bronx, a die-hard Met fan at a freakin’ Yankee-Red Sox game – sitting in a huge rivalry game between two of the best teams in the American League, with no real care in the world who won. It didn’t take long to realize how crappy that was.

As I mentioned before, I’ve been to my share of rivalry events, but never to anything quite like Yankees-Red Sox. Not only are the stands filled with fans of each team, fans who know the tradition of the rivalry, they are home to some of the best chants of all time. They are also home to exchanges like this:

Dad 1 (drunk): “Red Sox suck, Nomar swallows!”
Little Girl next to Dad 1: “What does that mean?”
Dad of Little Girl to Little Girl: “It means that Nomar really F*CKIN SUUUUCKS!! Go Yanks!”

Or how about this gem…

Drunk guy 1: (chanting) “19-18, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, 19-18.”
Drunk guy 2: (right back at him) “19-99, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, 19-99.”
Drunk guy 1: Throws beer on Drunk guy 2, and is immediately ejected.

It was classic. It was hilarious. It was great. All tolled, it was basically three hours of taunts, swearing and beer in between a 10-3 Red Sox waxing, a Manny Ramirez moon shot, and a mini-homerun Derby off of Boomer, sending the guys next to us into some impressive tirades. After each big hit, the chants would start up, and in a couple cases fists would fly.

It was good old-school rivalry baseball. And, sadly, I had nothing to say. I couldn’t root against the Yanks, especially not with my Mets shirt on – which had landed me more than a few evil eyes throughout the game. And I couldn’t root for them – especially after Boomer left – well, because that would be like rooting for SARS.

One thing’s for sure, though, all of my indifference didn’t mean I didn’t have a blast. I did. I also started wishing that one day a Mets v. someone game could be like that, or a UConn v. someone game could get that intense outside of just the student section. A 50-year-old drunk alumni saying “Darius Rice Swallows!!!!” Is that too much too ask?

Unfortunately, it definitely is.

And unfortunately, as a non-Yankee or Red Sox fan, I probably will never get to attend and go crazy for a rivalry game of that quality – ever. Mets and Braves is nice, but the history, the loyal fans from both sides, and the competition is just not there. Ditto for Mets-Yanks. What do Yankee fans have to be jealous of the Mets over? The cool apple in the hat?

With the Yanks and Red Sox at least, it’s about winning. It’s about the pennant every year. It’s about pride, 1918 and the Babe. It’s old school and it means so much to so many people. It’s the best rivalry going.

Sure, Mets-Braves is OK. UConn-Syracuse or UConn-BC is quality too. Mets-Yanks is good for a couple games a year. Stack them up to my trip to what I saw at the Stadium last weekend, though, and they kinda suck.

Check that…

They swallow.

I have added a few good gaijin websites and blogs on the right, they should be at the bottom of the links...worth a look-see...

Been a while eh?? Work has me feeling like a mexican these days...being a gaijin makes me about as high on the food chain here in japan as the mexicans are back home...only difference is that I ain't in the fields picking onions haha. I have been busy the past few weeks. I finally saw Lost in Translation, I have the dvd now...so I seen it quite a few times and it gets better every time...what a great movie...for anyone who hasn't seen it you are a fool. Check it out and it might give you nihon-jin a small peek into what life is like here for myself, or you foreigners who haven't been to japan yet..it will give you a lot more...breath-taking views of Tokyo, which can be equally hideous and beautiful depending on how you look at it, and it will also show you what life is like here for us gaijin.

Moving on, I was in Hachiko with Miho the other day and there was yet another anti-war rally...which have become more frequent and sometimes even violent in the wake of the japanese hostage situation recently. Although it has been resolved it has only made things worse for myself, and any other "round eye" in Japan. As we are waiting for the signal to cross Hachiko this j-guy walks up and hands me a piece of paper...after doing so he ran away. the paper said in capital letters at the top "DO NOT HAVE SEX WITH MEN WHO SUPPORT THE KILLING AND VIOLENCE OF THE IRAQ WAR!!" It then proceeded to show pictures of dying children and such...I will scan and link it to this site in a day or two...so then I hand it to Miho and say "does this mean I ain't gettin' any for a while?" she laughed and said "doubtful."

After that Miho and I went to the ping pong palace on the road that goes from Shibuya station to Omotesando...it's called ETC I think...She won the first game and then I won the next 7 or 8...it was funny.

Got reemed at my quarterly review....pretty par for the course.


Some very senior guy at Lehman Brothers here in Tokyo took some bad coke in a club and ended up in a hospital...afterr blood test confirmed the coke made him go into a seizure of some sort (I think) the cops searched him and found a large quantity in his wallet...he will now goto jail for atleast 2 years...damn.

Weather here is almost summer-like...absolutely beautiful....low 80's and sunny...its good weather for a game of baseball...I am in the process of joining a corporate softball team affiliated with Merrill Lynch...they play on the military base in Tajima...so I can shop at american stores for american things if it all works out...sweet!

Red Sox Suck!