Monthly Archives: July 2007

宮本武蔵

Posted on July 31, 2007 by Clay

宮本 武蔵 Miyamoto Musashi was perhaps Japan’s greatest samurai. Mifune Toshiro, the absolute coolest Japanese actor of all time*, played Musashi in a trilogy of movies called ‘Samurai’ in English. One of my earliest posts here was announcing I had … Continue reading →

Posted in Books on Japan | Leave a comment

居留守 for When the NHK Man comes a-knockin’

Posted on July 31, 2007 by Clay

In my last post I mentioned a word which means ‘to pretend one is not home when one really is.’ Here it is: 居留守 i rusu It starts with 居. This is the kanji behind the famous 「いる」 which shows … Continue reading →

Posted in Word of the Moment | Leave a comment

Youtube Hits 300

Posted on July 31, 2007 by Clay

Today I got my 300th subscriber at Youtube. Whohoo! Well, it’s nothing compared to geriatric1927′s 44,466 subscribers, but I guess it isn’t bad since I started just a few months ago. I won’t make any more videos or audio stuffs … Continue reading →

Posted in くだらない Thoughts | 2 Comments

The Onion vs いじわるババア2

Posted on July 29, 2007 by Clay

It was quite an episode today. As you may know we’ve been following the new Korean Drama on NHK (through TV Japan on satellite) called 春のワルツ haru no warutsu – Spring Waltz. (see NHK’s page) First let me briefly go … Continue reading →

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～にうるさい

Posted on July 27, 2007 by Clay

Let’s take a look at using うるさい urusai to mean ‘fussy’ or ‘choosy.’ うるさい’s usage isn’t limited to ‘loud’ as in the level of volume only, but it is also used to mean ‘shut up!’ and as today’s post shows, … Continue reading →

Posted in Word of the Moment | 2 Comments

His, Her, His or Her, Their or Its

Posted on July 26, 2007 by Clay

Yumi bought a book by Supernanny Jo Frost called Supernanny by Jo Frost. Thumbing through it reminded me of a discussion in an English class I had at the university. The topic was about what gender should be used for … Continue reading →

Posted in English Usage | 6 Comments

Scholarship Opportunity from Hashi.org

Posted on July 25, 2007 by Clay

I got this from Atsuko Irisa today. I don’t know much about their organization, but it may be something someone reading this may be interested in: Hashi.org Offers $1000 Scholarship for Study in South Korea or Japan (DEADLINE: August 15, … Continue reading →

Posted in Japanese | Leave a comment

Log on to www….

Posted on July 24, 2007 by Clay

We’ve been slammed for the past few days. I blinked and here we are already halfway through this week. Log on to www…. I heard this on the radio the other day and it got me thinking. Do we really … Continue reading →

Posted in English Usage | Leave a comment

License to Kill & a 大学院

Posted on July 21, 2007 by Clay

[display_podcast] This morning, A friend and I had a conversation about another friend who is currently looking for a job in the area. I mentioned we may need to hire someone for packing and postage labeling, but knowing our friend … Continue reading →

Posted in くだらない Thoughts | 2 Comments

Having, Eating and Caring Less

Posted on July 19, 2007 by Clay

Just a few common sayings that are oddly wrong – if you think about it. Oddly Wrong: You can’t have your cake and eat it too. Correct: You can’t eat your cake and have it too. Many people say “You … Continue reading →

Posted in English Usage | 2 Comments