Last week at the Asian Festival in Gainesville, Florida, a Taiko group was supposed to follow Thai Elvis—yep, he was a Thai impersonator of Elvis.  The only problem was, as the Taiko group started, Elvis played an encore.

Don’t get me wrong, I like Elvis.  It’s just when you’re expecting cola and you take a swig of milk, something just ain’t right.

私は今ているおかげで私と言うのおかげで帽子を教えて
(translation)
thanks. i can now say thank you in japanese

Usually a machine translation of Japanese is funny.  It is funny because you can see how the error erred.  But I have no idea how any of this “translation” became what it became.  I mean, 帽子 boushi?

Anime is…
1) the very essence of life! Sugoi!!
2) –I could go a day without watching.
3) fun to watch because of the big eyes.
4) better than the Underwater BB Stacking Channel–but only just.

We need your input!  Vote now

This was the first season I actually watched on TV.  Every other year, I waited until it was finished, bought the DVD, and crammed 24 hours in a day or two–naturally with lots of popcorn and coke.  

Overall, it was quite good.  Although–and I’m sure I’m not the only one–I REALLY wanted to get up off my chair and slap Chloe #2 across the face quite a few times.  I call her “Chloe #2″ because… I can’t remember her name.  But she is the computer geek doing Chloe’s job at the FBI.  She could care less if a gazillon people were about to die as long as all the t’s were crossed… 

It would have been a much better season if she ended up being the mole at FBI–if she was connected with a radical anti-human trees-first organization, for example.

Other than that, I thought the cast was pretty good. Bill Buchanan came back and died;  Tony came back from the dead only to end up living; Chloe came back from the living, stayed on living, but didn’t get to slap Chloe #2…  

Why not!!?

Well, one can only hope for a little slap action in Season Eight. Go Chloe!  Defeat your nemesis!

He… (and I say “he” not to be sexist or as an attempted rebellion against political correctness, but because a woman would simply wipe the knife off before sticking it in the Peanut Butter–or the Jelly as the case may be)  …He has to make the decision before starting the P&B sandwich.

Invariably, once the decision has been made, there are regrets.

Starting with Jelly:
The splash of grape color in the Peanut Butter makes the “he” wonder should the Peanut Butter jar now go into the refrigerator?! Pure Peanut Butter can survive in the cupboard, but after a while the unrefrigerated and opened purple grape Jelly turns nasty white.  Clearly, starting with Jelly complicates things.

Starting with Peanut Butter:
Arguably, this is the cleaner choice since the Peanut Butter should stick more to the knife than the soft Jelly.  But something about dipping a soiled knife into pristine purple grape Jelly* disturbs us men.  In addition, usually a touch of Peanut Butter does end up in the Jelly jar.  Regrettable, but unavoidable.

Other Issues:
And then there is the issue of using the ends of the bread (called みみ mimi in Japanese, by the way) or not.  Men differ on this matter.  I am firmly in crustacean camp; I like the crust.  However, I do see the other side’s point and wish them no ill will.

Lastly, our young college student has to decide which side gets flipped to be the top.  Do you put the jellied side on top of the Peanut Butter or the other way around? Are you adventurous and turn the more drippy Jelly side–or are you the clean type whose safe Peanut Butter bet assures no messy Jelly drips on the table?

Some would make this into a gender issue with Peanut Butter being seemingly more masculine and Jelly feminine.  This worldview becomes stickier when one thinks the process through:  If you turn the Jelly, you are putting the feminine representative on top–BUT you are also causing her to do all the work while the male sits back and does nothing.  As you know, perceived sexism is the #1 cause of college-aged male angst.

Obviously, stating my preference could get me in a great deal of trouble.  Not liking trouble too much, I leave this one for the reader to decide behind closed doors.

As you can see, the process of creating a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich is far for simple.  It involves tough moral choices and a few logistical considerations.  Doing the right thing isn’t always easy.  But it can be tasty with milk.

–
* Just as men don’t eat strawberry ice cream–preferring chocolate instead–, they also prefer grape Jelly.

My friend called me the next day and asked if the dogs were using it.  I said, “Sure!  As long as I hold the flap up and push the dogs through!”

I’m happy to say Tevye (the boy dog) began going through it voluntarily a few days back and–miracles of miracles–Hana (the girl dog) started doing the same yesterday.

If you would like to follow me in my twittings, please find me here: http://twitter.com/theJapanShop

Also, you may want to follow Harvey too!  Oh, and I found Goddess Carlie there too! (her blog is all about Japanese dramas and fun stuff to aid in learning Japanese.)

Oh, that “weekend” project took him all summer…

Oh, that easy-to-setup patio only took him five years to complete…

So you want to buy this ugly statue and you say you can make a fountain out of it in a few hours… Right…

A good Japanese word for today’s theme is 中途半端 chuutohanpa - halfway measures; unfinished; half-baked

Well, it only took me 1 year and 363 days to fix our screened porch.  Here is when we discovered a hole in the screen.  And yesterday (1 year, 363 days later), I finally fixed it with the help of a friend.  Not only that, but we added a doggie door to boot.

I’ll throw up (not literally) a picture of it later.  It looks pretty sharp–thanks Gary!

Now I still have that fire pit to make…