A two page spread

I may be headed north this weekend for the Tokyo Marathon, but things are really picking up here in Tokushima with opening night for The Lion King only two weeks away. Pics of my travels hopefully to come, but for now here's an article about the musical that appeared in one of the local entertainment mags just yesterday.


(click to enlarge)

Open for input

Playing an acoustic night with my good friend Adam next month and currently paring down song choices. Were thinking about a collection of Beatles "deep cuts" (if such a thing exists), but we still need input.

Anyway, just had a fun thought that I'd put it to a vote. Check out the songs below, rank them in order from best to worst (or rather "should play" to "shouldn't play"), and with my fingers loosely crossed I'll promise to include the top 3 or 4 songs in our short set. Onegaishimasu!

- You've Got to Hide Your Love Away (Help!)
- I've Just Seen A Face (Help!)
- I'm A Loser (Beatles For Sale)
- Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby (Carl Perkins/Beatles For Sale)
- I'll Follow The Sun (Beatles For Sale)
- Norwegian Wood (Rubber Soul)
- I'm Looking Through You (Rubber Soul)
- Oh! Darling (Abbey Road)
- With a Little Help from My Friends (Sgt. Pepper's)
- Across the Universe (Let It Be)

Hiding under the kotasu

This is a picture of a kotatsu:



What's that, you ask? (Or, rather, somebody asked. Probably. Once)

A kotatsu is a low table frame covered with a heavy blanket and table top which is heated from below, and its also where I've spent the majority of my time since returning from the States. Why? Aside from the obvious reasons of comfort and general sloth, it's likely something to do with the dotted line I signed last week and my looming job search in the fall. While I can't necessarily defend such laziness, especially with a 10k to run in Tokyo at month's end, I can at least report that I've spent my time under the glow engaged in a number of productive activities. Namely:

- catching up on blu-ray releases from the past year
- playing out any number of Super Bowl scenarios in Madden 10, including one in which Jeff Blake returns to the Saints and leads his team to victory after an injury to Drew Brees
- waiting for someone to call and offer me a job based on my enormous talent and word-of-mouth press
- eating pickles from a large and overpriced jar purchased from Costco in Kobe
- theorizing about LOST
- yawning audibly

How I'm planning on breaking out of this self-imposed hibernation is still unclear, but I'm guessing it's going to take something extraordinary to coax me from the warmth. Like the Lion King musical. Or another jar of pickles. The only thing I know for sure is that I'm going to start looking for ways to ship this table home.

And I'm serious about that job.