I’ve been recording loads of practice tracks for my students lately. Between that and making several guest appearances on a cool local BariBari FM show (which begs the question – is it still an appearance if it’s radio?), I feel like my voice has been slowly leaking out into the environment. And I’m embarrassed. Kinda. My voice will still be cracking when I’m 86, I swear. Oh well, at least they’re practicing with the CDs I record and hopefully laughing at the weird conversations on the radio. In the meantime, I’m PEter BrADY. Pork chops and applesauce.
Deas Customary Drivel
Ok, so I finished season one of Heroes, and I really enjoyed it. It was good – not as good as people had hyped it to be, but pretty entertaining in the end. I look forward to the next season. Having said that, I thought I’d engage in a little deconstruction of a few of the elements I noticed. If you noticed more, leave them in the comments! It’s interesting. Also, please note that this entry may contain spoilers after the more link. 
(And for those wondering, this is not the entry where I’ll talk about the use of Japanese language in the show.) Read more…
Deas Customary Drivel, Unsolicited Commentary
Those who are currently teaching as ALTs will probably sympathize (or empathize, whichever). Those who are thinking about working as an ALT in Japan – this is something you will likely bump noggins with. Ask yourself – given about 30 to 40 minutes, could you deliver on the following lesson plan?
1) Warm-Up Game – Any ideas? I want to do some game which has actions and speaking.
2) Let students understand “relative adverb” — like when and where. Try drills or a game — includes writing and speaking.
3) Let students speak out some sentences they make up by themselves.
4) Review or Textbook.
Now, could you do it knowing it would be in front of school visitors and prospective students? Hmmmm? Couldja? If your answer was yes, by all means, join up. But remember, sometimes this vague “plan” could be considered generous. In fact, sometimes you’ll get 10 minutes notice and your lesson plan will be “Let’s enjoy English with the ALT.” Nice. 
Lesson plans, my foot. Speaking of feet, about the only thing you can say for these gloriously challenging plans is that they sure do keep you on your toes.
Deas Customary Drivel, Unsolicited Commentary
Does anyone else know about Jane’s Krazy Mixed-Up Salt? I was fairly surprised to find it used in a Japanese snack. This is a seasoning that my dad used to use on London Broil steaks, and other various savory dishes. It’s hard to track down on the internet, and here it is, available in rural Japan, featured in some random Japanese bar-snacks. Odd.
The product is called CRATZ. I’m fairly sure that’s an abbreviated portmanteau of “cracker” and “pretzel.” Yes, it’s written in all capitals. It’s a salty mix of these little mini pretzel chunks and almonds. It comes in a few different flavors – Pepper & Bacon, Krazy Salt & Chicken, or Cheddar Cheese. The Pepper & Bacon flavor is the one that caught my attention – I thought bacon…in Japan? Yum. Then I noticed the package next to it, and the small reproduction of the familiar salt shaker… For those of you who are wondering, it tastes like a really excellent cornbread stuffing. It’s weird to think that I might try to stock up on beer snacks when Thanksgiving rolls around this year.
Needless to say, it’s odd to find that this tiny company has grown. Their website boasts new seasonings, like “Krazy Mixed-Up Sweet Lime Pepper.” I’ll have to try that sometime. Sounds good to me. But for now, I have to settle for CRATZ.
Deas Culinary, Customary Drivel, Unsolicited Commentary
I’m at Nishi today. It started raining the moment I stepped foot off the boat. Gotta love that. Anyway, just thought I’d jot a few thoughts down.
1) The teachers use binoculars in the staff room to read the 8 full-sized whiteboards that have all of the schedules, changes, special events, etc. I love that. You can tell when classes are going to begin, because the not-so-subtle spies begin resheathing their binoculars. Nice. I kinda want a telescope and eyepatch. You know, to put a personal twist on it and yet still belong.
2) I am finally drinking the Heroes koolaid. It’s all your fault(s). Expect an entry within a week about the use of Japanese. I’m quite bemused by it.
3) I have a whopping ￥710 on me. People who live in Japan know how close I’m cutting it here. I will have to make it to an ATM today, obviously. It will involve walking through the rain. But hey, my 6th period class got cut due to tests, and I could mosey on over to have some Mexipan food.
4) Speaking of which, I took Will to the Mexipan place two weeks ago. He rather liked it, though I don’t know if he liked the idea that I knew of a place he didn’t know about. Also, we ate at Jo’s place on Friday night, and Jo had recently been to the same place, too. I suggested it. I’m telling you guys, it’s good. You just need to walk in with the proper expectations. Can’t think “mmmm – chicken fajitas and queso.” Instead, try thinking “pumpkin tacos and smiley potatoes!” Yum.
And so works my brain today. Can’t help it.
Deas Customary Drivel
I definitely spent a few hours this week (in bits and pieces, not marathon style) watching the animated series Detective Academy Q. Yes, it’s Japanese – 探偵学園Ｑ (Tantei Gakuen Q). And yes it’s subtitled. And yes, it might possibly currently be available on video sites like Veoh…but I can not confirm, deny, or link to it. You can search for it if you want it. Anyway, similar to the series トリック (Trick) that Clay got me hopelessly addicted to, it is an episodic mystery show with the occasional long case that spans a few shows. It got me thinking about what I call the “Gotcha” mysteries, the ones that aren’t fair game for the person reading along or watching. For me, most of the fun of mysteries is in attempting to figure out the puzzle before the lead investigator can. Sometimes I succeed, but I usually fail. With “Gotcha” mysteries, you can NEVER win. Why? They pull some factoid or gimmick or prior knowledge out of thin air at the end of the case to wind things up. Something that was never presented to the viewer. That’s lame. (The series is still fun, but I think I liked it more when I was watching it to study Japanese…now that I’m just watching it, it has become easier to criticize.) The best mysteries are the ones where it’s all infuriatingly dangled in front of you, and sorting out what is and isn’t important and how it fits together is your challenge. Presenting a mystery where the detective winds up at the end and says “I know something you don’t know” is just frustrating. Ugh.
Deas Customary Drivel, Unsolicited Commentary
