...the Tokyo Yakult Swallows beat the Yokohama BayStars last night 5-4, in a game that wasn't close until the end.

We got a couple of home runs from the host teams, which means we got the homemade-trumpets-and-clear-umbrellas treatment:

The Swallows' mascot is, natch, a swallow in a baseball helmet:

Aaron Guiel was player of the game.

My meal was a bowl of ramen in miso broth, washed down with creamy Yebisu. Dr. No had the hot-dog-on-a-stick, grilled-chicken, fried-pork plate.

My friend, an American who was raised in Japan, compared all the synchronized celebrating to Asian deference to authority a la North Korea. Thinking of Hellx, I said it made me think of Duke. My friend said it's sometimes hard to tell the difference.

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one of the links on my chain snapped going downhill on the manhattan bridge this morning. here is the sequence of events:

chain: snap!

me: oh shit! (said it in not quite a yell, but definitely an exclamatory tone of voice. it came out before i even really knew what was happening, i just knew that whatever was going on was bad.)

bicycle: skid...

me (thinking this time): am i fucked here?

bicycle: skid...

me (thinking again): i have no idea what my body's doing, but i'm staying upright and slowing down.

chain: pop!

bicycle: rolling...

me: whew! fuck.

me (thinking): i made it!

woman behind me who witnessed the entire 5 to 10 second ordeal as she passes: smile.

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The offensive line is unbalanced to the right:

T G C G T TE1 TE2

There is a flanker out to the right of TE2. The QB and two RBs are huddled together and crouching down 2-3 yards behind the center. A low, short shotgun snap comes in from the center, and whoever catches it hands it to whoever is supposed to run it (all while still in the crouched position hiding behind the O line). The 3 backs take off running, and the defense has no idea who has the ball until it's too late.

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Everybody who owned Indie Top 20 Volume IX loved this weird song (I was one of them), but in the pre-Internet era there was woefully little information about the band behind it. Thankfully, we now have the Interwebs to give us everything ever done by obscure late 80s/early 90s shoegaze bands.

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The Alphabetical, Week Three

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So as I've mentioned before I'm doing a lot of Japan stuff these days due to severe short-staffing in our Tokyo office. I still don't speak Japanese and still haven't seen much of the country beyond a hotel and office. Dr. No and I hope to fix that later this week when we make a non-work visit.

Something I definitely want to see: Japanese baseball. Those who have gone say it's something to see.

What I hope to see includes the seventh-inning sperm balloons:

The backpack beer delivery system:

The synchronized cheering:

The concessions:

Plus the always-fun sport of baseball:

Japan has made my life hell for the past four weeks. It's time the nation gave back with some fun.

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"The not-so-fast fast food restaurant."

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... so here are some photos of dressed-up dogs:

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so, the MGMT show at celebrate brooklyn sold out basically immediately. i was like, "why?" then i looked them up. they have a real earworm, at least for me. it was a song that, when i heard it, i was like, "oh...that's who MGMT is."

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From the Lawrence Journal World, Sunday September 6 2009:

Joe's Bakery Reveals Doughnut Recipe

Unless you plan to make them for your entire neighborhood, break out the calculator.

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I was just out on my fire escape, enjoying the night and the pre-West Indian day festivities when I noticed the building across the courtyard. There was a guy doing something on a laptop on the first floor. He was really intent on whatever it was he was doing.

On the second floor there was a woman getting naked. I loved the juxtaposition.

edit: I also loved the woman getting naked part.

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Hellx's soul probably looks something like this right about now:

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Sunday

6 a.m. -- I wake up a bit hung over after a Saturday spent on a junk full of beer and food. But I gotta be at the airport for a 9:30 a.m. flight, so here I go.

9:30 a.m. -- Thunderstorms. It's typhoon season, you know. We sit an hour in an un-air-conditioned plane. I'm no longer hung over. The Chinese guy sitting next to me clearly is.

10:30 a.m. -- Takeoff! I spend the flight on my laptop. The Chinese guy calls for water, snores, calls for water, snores.

3:30 p.m. (Japan time) -- So this is Japan. Airport not quite as high-tech and robotic as I remembered from my quick changeover four years ago. Still, all these friendly airport employees seem happy to see me. Konichiwhatever!

4:20 p.m. -- The train conductor tells me I can't talk on my mobile phone on the train. Really? This is Japan. The mobile phone Mecca. I don't know if they invented the mobile phone, but they invented writing novels on it. But whatever.

5 p.m. -- The hotel. The aforementioned robotic toilet. This consumes several minutes of my time.

6 p.m. -- One of my colleagues is in the office, which is two buildings away. Why not do my work there? Sure. I wander out and discover there's a typhoon on the way. Wind and rain whipping around like wet sheets through the city streets. Glad I have my umbrella.

6:30 p.m. -- Dinner is takeout Japanese fried chicken. Greasy, messy. Most ends up in the round file.

7 p.m. -- In office, laptop hooked up. We have an election. Let's do this!

8 p.m. -- Election pretty much called. Well, that was quick.

9 p.m. -- Stuff coming in. This is kinda fun.

11 p.m. -- OK, enthusiasm starting to flag a bit, as is energy. Still, fun.

Monday

12:01 a.m. -- Oh yeah, it's now tomorrow. Getting less fun.

1:30 a.m. -- First hard-and-fast deadline. Tired.

2:30 a.m. -- Second hard and fast deadline. Tired.

3:30 a.m. -- New York chooses NOW to tell me what they want. Remember when I was having fun? Neither do I.

4:30 a.m. -- Final deadline. Questions begin to come in.

5 a.m. -- Hey look. Daylight.

5:15 a.m. -- Looks like I left my umbrella at the office. And how about that typhoon!

5:30 a.m. -- At hotel. Very wet. Need sleep.

6:17 a.m. -- More questions from New York. Sleep postponed.

8:30 a.m. -- Nothing stands between me and sleep...

10:50 a.m. -- ...except need to go back into the office for one more go.

1 p.m. -- I want something exotic and Japanese for lunch. The sign looks like sushi. It's not. It's Korean BBQ. Tasty, but I can get this in Hong Kong too.

2 p.m.-10 p.m. -- It takes forever, mostly because I'm having a hard time seeing straight, but we get together something that works and send it.

10:30 p.m. -- I walk into a tiny, crowded, steamy noodle joint. The guys behind the counter shout a greeting. I've been here long enough to now know that everybody in Japan shouts greetings. I nod -- action's a bit tough for me right now -- and try to take a seat. Not so fast. You don't order from people here. You order from a machine on the wall. I'm very confused. My waitress calls over the waitress who speaks English. Except the only word she knows is "spicy." Yeah, we like spicy. The machine I'm looking at looks sorta like a vending machine, with big lit buttons with Japanese characters and prices. I punch a couple of random buttons and the machine spits out two tickets. I turn around and hand the tickets to the guy behind the counter. (Later I learn that noodle places do it this way because touching money means washing your hands, so this cuts out that time. Plus Japanese people love vending machines.) A few minutes later I get a huge bowl of soba noodles with slices of pickled ham, an over-easy fried egg and some minced vegetables. The help instructs me on how to pour both the regular and spicy vinegar over it, then add the chili paste when I'm about halfway done. It's delicious.

11 p.m. -- There's a charming wood-paneled bar next to the noodle place, the sort of bar you don't actually see all that much of in Hong Kong. I curl up with my novel and a beer that's half the size but just as expensive as home. Still, with Blackberry off, this is nice.

12 a.m. -- Now sleep and I will be reunited. Nothing will keep us apart. I've seen all of two square blocks of Tokyo.

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