Chew on this for a bit

One of the many bits about Calvin & Hobbes was Bill Watterson referencing his father's insane exercise regimen, and how it would "build character." The younger generations, annoyed at our elders' use of the phrase let it fall by the wayside.

Before tonight, I never realized we had adopted a new phrase of our own for impeding minor struggles.

"It'll be an adventure."

How about that linguistic revelation?

(I hope I didn't just kill the use of the phrase. My bad.)

This is the slightly cleaned-up version of the story

This was going to be a Picture of Interest, but I decided to write more than a sentence on it. First, back story: this was me and Richy celebrating a birthday of two Virgos. He offered to dress up like a cowboy, which is silly, because he's from Edinburgh. (Of course, to this Yankee cracker, he IS silly because he's from Edinburgh.) As for me, I got some red temp-highlights and spiked it up for the evening, so I could be even more cuspy.

That night, the birthday gals wanted to go to the Let's Go-recommended Lock-Up, a restaurant with a jail theme. (And yes, my first thoughts were slightly dominatrix related. Sue me.) However, when I called for reservations, I was informed that the place had closed. Oh well, I had a back-up plan, with the Rough Guide-recommended Ban Thai, located in the middle of wholesome and conservative Kabuki-cho. (Yes, we were guidebook whores. Sue us.)

Considering our expressions in the photo, you wouldn't be surprised to learn that this was one of my "regrets, I've had a few" nights. We ended up at Club Pure where the 3000 yen cover meant we had all-you-can-drink. I didn't see a White Russian in Japan before OR after that night. Needless to say, I drank EIGHT. Taking into account the wonderful (and legitimately spicy) food we had at Ban Thai we had earlier, you can draw your own conclusions about my Sunday morning.

Richy left the club after four, and had to loan his keitai to Angie, as she had left hers at the club. He told us later that he didn't get back to his apartment until 3 PM, because he kept falling asleep on the train and missing his stop.

As for me, I would have probably done the same when I hit the home stretch around 8:30, if not for (I don't know what to call her right now, except for referencing the loves of her life, Eddie Izzard and Lord Peter Wimsey) waking me up in time.

That was my second, and last, all-nighter in Tokyo. The city had bested me, partially due to it being over two hours away. (My first time equally awesome and equally regrettable.)

(Oh, and if anybody needs directions to Club Pure, Ban Thai, or the Lock-Up, which we found ON THE WAY to Club Pure, let me know. I have been hooking up people with directions since I've left.)

The man in black standing in the shadow of the boy who lived

I saw "Walk the Line" this afternoon. Let's just say there wasn't a line for it. As for the movie, Phoenix was quite fine, Witherspoon was real good, Robert Patrick was good, and overall, good movie. I do think Roseanne Cash is overreacting to her mother's portrayal, though.

As for me, I think I was, on average, forty years younger than every other person in the audience.

(As for the Goblet of Fire, that will be an IMAX® experience on Sunday. You can start hating me now.)

Quotes of the weekend

"Some people can grow a mustache. Then there's [Gilmore Girls Guy]." - redheadedstranger, told to me by Dr. Pookman.

"Would you pay attention to my pussy, please?!" - "Nikki," a stripper (overheard at fisherpriceman's friend's bachelor party)

(Yeah, I went to a strip club, big whoop, wanna fight about it?)

What a way to go out

I always loved how Johnny Carson retired, and aside from lifting a Buick Skylark on "the Simpsons," stayed out of the public eye for the rest of his life. It didn't cheapen his farewell. (Of course, I was 11 when he retired and never actually watched the Tonight Show then, so I am sorta talking outta my ass.)

Anyways, my last Quiz Bowl tournament was in Chattanooga for TRASHionals. (For the non-QB folk: TRASH is more commonly referred to as "pop culture." And you thought we actually hit the books for this activity.) I wanted to have one question to which I could be like John Kruk; that is, I answer it, and say, "OK, I've had a good run. I'm done. Good bye everybody!" in the middle of a match. (Of course, my teammates would be right pissed that we drove 700 miles so I could ditch them in the middle of a tournament.)

I got that question. It was an audio tossup for both teams, where the question was, "Given the song, name the movie it appeared in for ten points."

Two notes in. It's "Ninja Rap," by Vanilla Ice.

From Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze.

I waited FIVE years for a question on TMNT. What a way to go.




...And now, I'm back.


(And to make it cheaper, I also got an audio tossup on Kelis's seminal "Milkshake.")

A fairly amazing weekend

A few days ago, I read about 松井's love of porn on a fan site of the World Series Champs (shameless, I know), even learning that "he often trades with Japanese reporters."

Two things about this bother me: at nearly the same time, Salieri posted about this in his blog, although the story is over 2 and a half years old. (Edit: Duh, The Intern's Links of the Day. Stupid Internet.) That, and this article completely failed to faze me. Silly Japan. Enkais can be scarring.

Also, a Cinemax movie was apparently filmed in Tampa this weekend. Now that Angela and Renee are off the squad, has Vegas set up odds on which adult magazine gets a photo shoot first? I hear that "Matsui will acquire pictures or video of the cheerleaders" has been taken off the board. Ba dum cha.

TO fighting Hugh Douglas is cool, but Hugh Douglas calling himself "bad-assador" makes me giggle.

Hey Jill, you have the same birthday as Famke Janssen!

From the "You can't make this shit up" department, it appears that both Bryan Adams (beloved Canuck whom I don't really care for) and Ryan Adams (beloved Carolinian whose "New York, New York" was usurped by the wave of patriotism four years ago) celebrate a birthday today. I see that Ryan is Adams's middle name, which makes this a little less special.

While checking out his page, I came across this photo. No word on whether he shares a birthday with Billie Joe Armstrong.

(OK, you got me. I had to look his name up.)

For a good time, make it Suntory time

In case you were wondering, yes, my friends and I did run through a pachinko parlor a la "Lost in Translation," and no, it clearly wasn't my idea. We did it our first night in Tokyo (or Japan, for that matter), and, due to exits on opposite ends of the building, got lost and separated for a bit. That same night, we went into the famed Kabuki-cho, Tokyo's red light district (and so named because the government tried to clean it up into a theatre district after the war). Yeah, it was just as dangerous as you would expect out of Japan.

Anyway, the parlor trip was a fun waste of a few minutes of my life. And now I've done the same for you. Tata!