Half the week I drive along a scenic highway, with sea on my left and mountains on my right, and the occassional land mass on my left as well, such as the abandonded hotel. Anyways, two things about my commute:
There is a man who jogs every morning. He wears shorts. And panty-hoes.
If I am late for work, I will be further delayed by a yellow plate*. Today's yellow plate decided to stop and turn on his blinker to indicate he would turn right. Then he pulled twenty feet ahead and stopped again. Then he decided his turn was in fact a kilometer down the road. The whole time he was slow, and the whole time I was yelling, "Common! What are you--The panty-hoes guy is going to beat me to work!"
*:Yellow plate: Smaller, cheaper, fuel-effecient cars. Also slower. They sport a yellow license plate.
March 13, 2007
March 10, 2007
March 8, 2007
When polite becomes impolite, my predictions for nihongo
(warning, you'll probably only get it if you study Japanese, but I did try to put lots of clarification in here)
So I've been noticing something. A lot of things that have polite forms in the Japanese language are actually quite rude, utilizing a kind of sarcasm. For instance, 貴様 (kisama, bastard) essentially means "precious-good-sir". I'm under the impression that that one was always rude, but lately other polite forms seem to be gaining sarcastic meanings. For instance, a couple of people told me today that an honorific like, for example, おありだ (oarida, polite form of aru in "koto ga aru") could be considered to be bitingly sarcastic in some situations. Then there are things like Onizuka's "Yoroshiku", which has furigana* suggesting every time he says it he thinks a sarcastic double meaning in his head (sorry forgot that how particular one goes).
Basically, my prediction is that within a generation, the kids that are nice enough to not conjugate everything along the e-dan (jyanei instead of jyanai, shinei instead of shinu, hidei instead of hidoi etc) like a yakuza, will still use keigo (polite language) with a sarcastic double meaning. The older generation will probably have no idea that every polite word in the language will by then be rude, and the younger generation will laugh to themselves.
*Is it still called furigana when they are kanji instead of kana or eiji?
So I've been noticing something. A lot of things that have polite forms in the Japanese language are actually quite rude, utilizing a kind of sarcasm. For instance, 貴様 (kisama, bastard) essentially means "precious-good-sir". I'm under the impression that that one was always rude, but lately other polite forms seem to be gaining sarcastic meanings. For instance, a couple of people told me today that an honorific like, for example, おありだ (oarida, polite form of aru in "koto ga aru") could be considered to be bitingly sarcastic in some situations. Then there are things like Onizuka's "Yoroshiku", which has furigana* suggesting every time he says it he thinks a sarcastic double meaning in his head (sorry forgot that how particular one goes).
Basically, my prediction is that within a generation, the kids that are nice enough to not conjugate everything along the e-dan (jyanei instead of jyanai, shinei instead of shinu, hidei instead of hidoi etc) like a yakuza, will still use keigo (polite language) with a sarcastic double meaning. The older generation will probably have no idea that every polite word in the language will by then be rude, and the younger generation will laugh to themselves.
*Is it still called furigana when they are kanji instead of kana or eiji?
March 7, 2007
Never posted this, right?
So I thought I would. Me in a kimono that kind of fits.
edit: Did you know that the sleeves act as deep pockets? I think I can see my iPod peeking out.
March 6, 2007
A little zen in the mountains [vlog]
Yeah I know, zen as a catch-all for Buddhism is lazy. Anyways, enjoy the vid.
March 5, 2007
The Japanese Tradition is now subtitled (videos)
All, except for the last video, Dogeza, which doesn't need em. Enjoy this playlist I made to collect them!
These are vids by comedy duo Rahmens.
These are vids by comedy duo Rahmens.
March 1, 2007
I teared up a little when I found this site.
First, the photo is from Bluemoon. But it's not her site, but rather the site she recommended, that I am weeping for joy upon finding. The Meat Guy. Meat. Cheese. Duck! In Japan! To my rural Saga-ken door!
I wanna cook a duck just like she did.
Ghostrider was kinda good. Honestly.
So I ended up accidentally watching Ghostrider via youtube. It worked for me. Why? Because it was funny. I never liked Nick Cage as an action star, so I pretty much haven't liked him ever since raising Arazona. But this movie took itself as seriously as a bad comicbook-based movie should, and was pretty fun. Ten reasons to watch.
February 27, 2007
Here come the water works...
It is rather touching, that upon realizing that this is the end of the last English class I will teach to them, the students started to cry. Even boys. And this is the ninth grade. Now, I am not saying I am some sort of super teacher that inspired them like in those after school movies with the cheesy music. In fact, I feel rather unworthy of such sentiment. So I said, "Thank you very much kids! Please visit! Goodbye!" and walked out of the class at a brisk pace before I could feel more awkward. Besides, if I had stayed much longer, I probably would have started crying myself.
February 26, 2007
February 25, 2007
Holy Crepe
So I made a dumb, rambling video. It got 5,600 9,000 11,000 15,000 hits last time I looked. Crazy. This is what I get for responding to a featured video on racism.
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