Yuumoushin.com (勇猛心)

This (click here) is absolutely pathetic. I hate to say it, but this is why the younger generation (not all, mind you) are so poor when it comes to basic human interaction. I’ve seen these trends in the U.S. and in Japan. People lack the ability to effectively communicate with one another because of how heavily they rely on digital forms of communication. Disagree? Post a comment. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of sites like myspace, etc. And when it comes to networking, organizing parties, making a little space for yourself on the web (essentially what I’ve done here), or whatever else your heart so desires, they’re great resources/tools. It’s when you let your ‘status’ on myspace, so to speak, dictate who you are as a person. You see the same problems in Japan, with what’s called “me-ru tomo (mail friends).” Get deleted out of someone’s cell phone address book and watch all hell break loose. I’d argue this is a problem (or at least is becoming one) in the U.S.

Koizumi the rock star??

Although Japan is out, as expected, World Cup fever is at an all time high here (perhaps it’s a relative thing being that I’m from the U.S.). I asked a good friend of mine from South America what his thoughts were regarding the world cup, and who he was cheering for. I posted his email below. Japan seems to be very excited about Brazil, but that probably has more to do with Brazil’s extremely talented and well known roster, not to mention their success at the last world cup (perhaps it’s more of a pride thing, given that they lost to Brazil…it’s not so bad to lose to the overall champion, right?).
—
For Argentina. It is very simple, 8 teams left: Argentina, Brazil, Germany, England, Portugal, Ukraine, France and Italy.

Argentina: playing very nice football.

Brazil: they think they are the best in the world (and they are) but they tell everyone, so I’ll enjoy it when they lose…

Germany: playing very well so who knows…

England: boring, boring, boring… and they always chicken out against important teams…

Portugal: playing OK, but not good enough…

Ukraine: time to go home, more than what they deserve…

France: I don’t know why but I don’t like them…

Italy: boring football… but always there.

On the 18th of July, I’ll be heading down to Miyazaki for about 4 days. Like I said in a previous post, it’s one of the few prefectures in Kyuushuu I have yet to see. If the timing works out well, I’ll extend my stay in Kyuushuu until Sunday. That way I’ll get to kick it at the beach and hang out in Oita for a couple of days.

I’ve gotten a lot of emails lately regarding my knee – it’s doing great. As a precautionary measure I still wear the brace when I commute to work, but I don’t wear it at the gym anymore (unless I’m doing slightly heavier leg presses). Flexion is excellent, and other than the strange ‘click’ when I wear the brace, I walk normally.

I went ahead and added a lot of new pictures to the gallery, including some professional photos my good friend Laura took (check out her site at countingstars.com). In addition, I added links in the gallery to make transitioning between my main page and the about section a bit smoother. Most people will probably just use the “back” button in their browser anyway, but you never know. For those of you without Japanese fonts, don’t worry, the strange characters next to yuumoushin.com are Japanese characters. I’m pretty certain most browsers can see it, but there might be a few out there without the correct language pack. As always, suggestions welcome.

I posted some new pics, taken from the 8th floor of my building.  Unfortunately, it’s a bit cloudy today so the view isn’t too great, but you’ll get the general feel for the area I’m in from the pics I took.