Cyanide and Happiness

So it's Friday afternoon and the day seems to be stretching on and on and on and on...

So here's a little picker-upper so that we can live through the rest of the day.

http://www.explosm.net/

Un moment “Je m’en caliss”

Je sais pas pourquoi, ca m’a pogne cet aprem en finissant mon lunch et en ne mangeant pas ma salade avec les mini-poissons dedans que je trouve degeux. J’ai jete toute la salade pas bonne, pis pour la premiere fois, je me suis rendue compte que je me calissais eperdument de ce que les profs allaient penser que je gaspille la bouffe du kyushoku.

Retour a mon compu, ca me tentais de changer mon statut. Pourquoi et pour quoi? Bah, j’m’en caliss. Faque c’est ca j’ai marque.

Pis je pense que ca va etre la ligne directrice de mon reste d’apres-midi.

Me reste 3 heures a rien crisser.
M’en caliss.

Faudrait que je prepare de quoi pour mon mongol quand les 3emes annees vont revenir de vacances.
M’en caliss.

J’ai l’ecole primaire jeudi.
M’en caliss.

Fait des semaines que j’ai pas prepare d’activites pour mes kids ou change mon English board.
M’en caliss.

J’pourrais continuer comme ca longtemps, mais c’est pas vraiment important parce que je m’en caliss de toute facon. Faque bonne après-midi tout le monde.

Je vais continuer d’aller m’en calisser en lisant The Dresden Files, dont je ne me caliss pas. Adios!

For the Anglos: The English equivalent of "J'm'en caliss" is "I don't give a fuck." If it can make this post any clearer for you guys... ;) Cheers!

How I didn't sleep with the lead singer of Mindless Self Indulgence or any other famous rock singer for that matter...

Punk Spring was TEH SHIT!!!

Hightailed it to the big O Friday evening, checked into Lion’s Rock as per usual, so conveniently located 5 minutes from Rock Rock. Dressed up and went out, taking Rebecca with, hoping to run into some famous people. Luck was not so much on my side that night, but at least the music was good and so was the crowd. We grabbed a drink and a small spot on one of the counters at the back, attempted chatting while standing between two huge speakers… not the best plan in the world. Also took to observing the kids next to us, a pair of Japanese boys who, I swear, looked like they were my middle schoolers’ age.

The night wore on and the cigarette smoke drove Rebecca out while I sucked it up and stayed, heading for the dancefloor. The kids, who had as much energy as 12 years old on a sugar rush, followed me. Well, one of ‘em did. We ended up in a cluster of people, jumping up and down, prancing around and airguitaring like there was no tomorrow. Finally, feeling high on a mix of music and endorphins and feeling like breaking the law, I grabbed Junior by the neck and asked him if he drank. He told me yes, so I went to buy him and myself a drink.

We yelled in each other’s ears a bit. His English was all kinds of awesome, and he was really cool to hang out with. Unfortunately, all too soon, his buddy came to get him and they left. Hadn’t it been Friday night, I would have thought it was not to be too dead for school the next day. Also I realized, with some measure of disappointment, that I had forgotten to ask him for an e-mail or number. The music made me forget all about that soon enough though. Chance encounter, was fun, good times, oooh that’s my song!!!

I dragged myself back to the hotel, sweaty and gross at around 3h30 am. Felt so grimy that despite the late hour, I decided to take a much needed shower. But I felt that washing my hair could wait until the next day.

Groggily woke up that morning and soon enough Rebecca and her Mom came knocking. After quickly getting ready, washing my hair and all, we headed to Starbucks for breakfast. During that time, I also got texts from Hiromi and Ness, working out the kinks in our plans for later in the day.

Went to Mexican (again, I <3 that place) for lunch before meeting up with Hiromi at the hotel to put her luggage in my room. She had just been to the Nagoya show the day before, was coming to Osaka and then heading to Tokyo to see the show again the next day, following Madina Lake like the devoted fangirl she was.

We headed to the venue under the rainy sky with our borrowed umbrellas, met up with Mayu at CosmoSquare Station and headed to Zepp. Surprisingly, there was almost no one there! It didn’t take 5 minutes and we were in, fucking front row, middle left, and waiting for our show to start.

PunkSpring was a show of 6 bands, Marky Ramone (the original drummer from The Ramones), Oreskaband, (an all-girl Japanese ska band), Madina Lake (the ones I had come to see because they fucking rock), Mindless Self Indulgence (that I had heard of but didn’t know any of their music) and finally, Less than Jake (popular ska band that I had also heard of but never seen).

Marky Ramone was a good opener. The guitarist was right in front of me and for a guy over 50, damn he had energy! Put the singer (who couldn’t have been older than 30 something) to shame. Overall a good act, though to me, a lot of the songs sounded kinda the same. I still held my hand out at the end when Marky Ramone himself came to throw his drunksticks into the crowd… and HANDED ONE RIGHT TO ME (or to the guy behind me, but I’m the one who got it in the end. The guy got a guitar pic.)

And just then, as I’m admiring my shiny new drumstick, guess who tapped me on the shoulder going “Didn’t I meet you at RockRock yesterday?” Junior! My little guy!!! We talked for a bit before the next set started, he told me he was here for Less than Jake and that he’d be at RockRock later on that night! Saweet!

Oreskaband was a nice surprise, really genki and entertaining. However, I always find it hard, no matter how good, to appreciate a band playing right before a band that I really really want to see. But if I ever get the chance to see them again, I most assuredly will. And then, as they finished, came Madina Lake.

I’m sad to say that the sound for the first two songs was not what it should have been. Not their fault, but it still sucks and takes away from the show. However, the boys were on fire as is their habit. Nathan talked to the fans more than any other band up until then, saying his thanks and how cool it was for us to have come out and see them, the fans cheering every time he uttered “Arigato, domo arigato!”. Their songs were solid, the energy was there, only the sucky sound screwed things up a bit, but by the time they show ended, everything was right as rain and my voice was hoarse from screaming along to every song I knew. They finished with True Love, my personal favorite, and by that time I felt like I had been hit by a bus. Or several.

We were supposed to head back after Madina Lake, but Hiromi had heard of Mindless Self Indulgence and wanted to see their set. I excused myself to go to the bathroom, buy merch, get a drink and came back to my spot, right on time for their performance to begin… and god was I glad Hiromi insisted we stay.

Mindless Self Indulgence… fucking blew me away! Whereas Madina Lake are excellent performers, MSI are excellent entertainers. The music, though great, seemed almost an excuse for them to pull the craziest shit on stage. Their stage antics were quite amusing, and I suddenly found myself falling head over heels for yet another “I’m a rock star therefore I’m the shit, watch me strut on stage and do a striptease” lead singer. So yeah, they were…gah, words fail me. They fucking rocked.

We left before Less than Jake came on, and by that time I was positively dead. Was quite dead by the time Madina Lake was through, but luckily got a second wind as MSI came on (or rather, when I saw how much they rocked). But now, I was just BLERGH. Ready to drop. Still managed to go buy MSI’s CD and got Steve, the crazy guitarist to autograph it.

We made it back to the hotel, I showered and washed my hair again while Hiromi and Mayu chilled in my room, and soon enough Nessa came to join them. Another Japanese friend of Hiromi joined us a bit later, and we ate chips and drank coffee before splitting up, Hiromi and her friend taking their bus to Tokyo, Mayu Ness and I heading to RockRock.

The place wasn’t packed and that was a good thing I thought. To my disappointment, there was no Madina Lake in sight. But, as I had overheard at Zepp, Mindless Self Indulgence were indeed present and busy mingling. I pointed them out to Nessa, who hadn’t been at the show, as we got ourselves drinks. We managed to move a bit further in, finding a table near the back, where we chilled quietly while I furtively glanced at the musicians walking around. And soon enough, we were immersed in conversation with Jimmy, the lead signer. How the hell did that happen… I can’t quite recall as my brain was busy drowning in hormones and alcohol.

He was a nice guy. A really nice guy, fun to talk to and interesting. Rockstar or not. I surprised myself by actually being able to carry a bit of conversation with him, without turning bright red and stuttering as soon as he came within a 3 foot radius, what usually happens when I meet famous people. He was awesome.

The evening was pretty much a repeat of the night before, made even more awesome by the fact that we were hanging with a really cool bunch of musicians. As promised, Junior was there, and while MSI’s lead singer was busy flirting with Vanessa, she pointed out that Junior seemed to really like me and I proposed we trade men, since she was finding him real cute. And while I also do find him real cute, he really looked too much like a kid for me to feel “attracted” to him.

Also ended up talking with Aaron, the drum tech for MSI, who was really cool and talked to me about life on tour and such. I gave him my facebook, and also had the bright idea of writing it out another time and handing it to Junior, at his (drunken) request.

The band left quite early, but with another show to play the next day, that was understandable. And then, the most pleasant thing happened. Jimmy, who had been mingling closer to the exit door, came all the way back into the club, kissed Mayu, Nessa and me on the cheeks and stated that it had been a pleasure to meet us and that he hoped to see us again someday. A small gesture, but damn if that wasn’t the highlight of my night.

So what I have been doing since I came back yesterday? Adding MSI on pretty much all the websites on which I lurk and flooding their walls with comments. And if it wasn’t for the fact that I’m at school, therefore ipodless, I would certainly be listening to their music as well.

Verdict: This weekend was TEH SHIT!!!!


Quote of the weekend
Ness (referring to Junior): “You know… the more I drink, the cuter he gets. …Val, I think I’m a pedophile.”

Sometimes, I wish there were 2 of me...

What a strange feeling.

I’m not sure what it means really.

I’m going home in about 5 months, and though I am happy about this, glad to be going back, I realize that I am also dreading leaving here. Sure, my job sucks, my apartment is the size of my old bedroom and the only decent meals I can eat are in restaurants. But I’ll miss the people. And the get-togethers. And all the fun and memories they bring.

I remember now, one of the hardest things when I got here was being on Facebook and seeing all the stuff going on back home that I was missing. All the parties, the Hot Streak’s concerts, the gatherings at Guiz’s house, Clo’s dinner parties… I kept thinking how I liked it here, but how I’d love to just pop back there for a few hours every time something was going on.

I hated missing out on stuff. And I still do.

But now, I’m thinking of going back home and seeing Japan from there, looking at the pictures and hearing about the good times and all the things I will be missing… And I know I will be wishing I could just pop back there for parties and gatherings. I’ll regret not meeting the new JETs. I’ll regret not doing karaoke all night. I’ll regret leaving all the blossoming friendships I’m making here. And so much more…

But at the same time, I don’t regret my decision of going home. As much as I love parties, as much as I love my friends here, I can’t survive another year here with only those things to appreciate and look forward to. I miss my bed, my home, my city, my favorite foods, my hang out spots, my friends, my family….

It’s kind of a weird lose-lose but win-win situation at the same time. Paradoxical, kinda. Or maybe not.

Anyways… when is it that they will invent teleportation, mmm?? Or maybe I should try to see that solar eclipse in Okinawa; with a little luck I’ll develop Hiro’s powers. And then I can even go back to all those parties I’ve missed while I was gone… yeah! And hell, I’d even take Nathan’s power. Lot less fast, lot scarier and probably kinda cold but it’d do. Or I could do with the power of being at two places at once. Though I wonder how that one would work…

Monthly update

I keep wanting to post here, yet I never seem to be able to write.

That’s not new though. When I read other people’s blogs (especially those of my friends who can WRITE) I really feel that I can’t quite compete… but hey, for the sake of trying, here’s a recap of the last few weeks. Where I shall attempt to be brief, instead of losing myself in loads of superfluous details, something my stories usually abound in.

So what’s up?

Well, countdowns to the end of February are over. Stix opened up again, and thus my winter cravings for club sandwiches have been taken care of.

I’ve been to Ibaraki and Akashi, took care of the highly unpleasant business of getting a Japanese Driver’s License, lost an entire day to that, but hey, at least it’s done.

Fall Out Boy’s concert in Osaka was an effin’ blast, the concert itself, as well as the aftermath and the beforemath. Ran into two of the boys, Joe at RockRock before the concert and Andy the day of the show, wandering Dotonbori by his lonesome, trying to find some vegan food. (Good luck with that…) Approached them, managed to talk in something more than gibberish – which I am intensely proud of – and took a pic with Andy at Rock Rock later after the show. The rest of the weekend was spent running around with Eric, his friend Lauren and Rebecca, drinking ourselves silly, karaokeing till 4h30 AM and stuffing our faces with the most oishii Mexican food I’ve had in quite a while. Also, I finally got to indulge, and danced my ass off to my favorite music with an amazing crowd on the Saturday night. Indescribable. The best feeling in the world, booze, music and the endorphine kick. Though Mexican was pretty awesome too. ^^

Since that Epic weekend, the job’s been kind of a drag, especially now, as I am left by my lonesome in the staffroom while the kids trudge on through exam after exam. Highlight of my day is usually checking my McGill inbox and finding the daily e-mail from Kozue, my one very good student, to which I reply with enthusiasm. Though pretty basic, it’s still fun to have someone to correspond with, and to whom I can actually “teach” sometimes.

Speaking of teaching, my eikaiwa is now over, so Monday nights are free again. Though I wouldn’t take on another class so soon (vacation coming up and heading to Tokyo), I’d be glad to do it again in the future since, hey, it’s good money, plus I get to plan my own activities and TEACH them. For real. To students who understand! …most of the time anyways.

Last weekend was spent hanging with the expatriates from home, as part of the Montréal Genki Crew gathered at Luc’s girlfriend’s place in Kurashiki for Hadaka Matsuri. Drinking and gossiping on Friday night was followed by a lovely outing in DT Kursahiki, before heading to Okayama to morally support our courageous boys who were participating in the Naked Men fest. It was COLD. And I was wearing a couple of layers. Winced in sympathy as I saw our guys run past us in Saidaiji (after yelling my head off in encouragements of course). We recuperated slowly the next day, chilling and sleeping around Sumie’s house while her family fussed over us dead Gaijins. They were also busy assembling the doll display for Hinamatsuri, which, for some odd reason, reminded me of how me and my family put up our Christmas tree. Then, for dinner, Sumie’s mom made us a plateful of tempura, salad, rice, miso and veggies. We were so stuffed when we got on the train home…

Coming back was pretty harsh, as is every Monday after a great weekend. We’re now Wednesday. Two more days to go before another weekend of fun.

And for some reason, I find that life is funner with countdowns. So without further ado:

Yoka Lodge party: 9 days
Rebecca’s birthday party in Kobe: 16 days
Mom and Dad’s visit: 20 days
Punk Spring 09: 38 days

*EDIT* Oh, and I forgot, silly me, that for once, my V-day didn't suck this year as it was spent having dinner in an Izakaya with Dan, Lydia, Allie, Tania and Rae before heading out for drinks and getting thoroughly plastered. Fun times ^^

*Insert crappy metaphor here*

I don’t know if that’s the case for everyone, but I’ve noticed something about my students.

They can all draw. And draw WELL.

It’s incredible! My san-nen-sei had comps due today, and they were putting the finishing touches on their final drafts and completing their accompanying pictures. I was walking down the rows in awe. Now I’m not total crap at drawing, but I certainly am out of practice. Plus, when it comes to drawing cartoons, I suck tons of ass, always have. What these kids draw, it’s freaking amazing! I swear, most, if not all of them, have their own chibis (cutsey cartoon version of themselves) and I swear that looking at these cartoons, I can know who’s who. Amazing.

I am also deeply, deeply jealous. Meh.

On a side note, January is almost over, and my posting for the month has been lacking, nearly non-existent. Not for lack of trying, but because I just thought everything I typed sounded so overly emo, I was ready to tear my eyes out and carve names into my arms with a razorblade while listening to My Chemical Romance. (Just poking fun here, I <3 that band).

Well, I am glad to say that while I still listen to MCR, as well as FOB’s latest album, I am decidedly un-emo now, back on track, being the cheery if slightly bored ALT of Minato JHS. Life is picking up the pace, the last few weeks were slightly fuller than the ones upon my return to Nippon land and coming up are a bunch of cool things that are bound to make life all the more enjoyable. Stix is opening up, mercifully, at the end of the week, Fall Out Boy’s concert is fast approaching, my folks have booked their ticket to here and I think I just thrilled my JTE by telling him we would ALL be coming to Minato’s closing ceremony on March 24th. Add up to that that my eikaiwa is definitely not as bad as I thought it would be, that the weather has suddenly decided to turn nice and that snow is melting (hopefully we won’t get any more… *crosses fingers*), life is lookin’ mighty fine at the mo’.

Cheers peeps, I’mma head home and watch some Dexter.

Oh, winter...

Well, I’ve been postponing writing here since the beginning of the year. I wanted the first post of 2009 to be merry, stating how much I had fun in Taiwan and how stuff is cool and blah and blah. Unfortunately, the New Year’s cheer has left me decidedly Emo. So apologies, my friends, if I sound like a whiny brat for the beginning of the year. My only hope is that my morose mood melts away, along with the damn snow, come springtime.

Taiwan was cool, if not overly planned. It was a nice change of scenery, a nice change of temperature too. Though I look enviously at the pictures of the peeps who went to Thailand – beaches, the sea and palm trees – I did have a nice time running around a Chinese New York with the Inaka King and Gunma Pimp.

And now it’s back to my freezing Inaka, to my boring ass job. Luckily, the partner in crime has returned from Amerika and will save me from the boredom of the first week of January.

Still… winter (pre and post Christmas) has never been my best season. It seems worse this year. Away from home, constantly cold, I keep thinking longingly of my basement, the fireplace, blankets, and my stack of Buffy DVDs. I’m back to making countdowns for stuff. Looking forward to things makes it easier to get through the days. I just wish I knew how much longer I have to hold out till spring.

Countdowns: Kobe conference: 2 days
Stix reopening: 17 days
Visit from the folks: 8-9 weeks
Montreal: 7 months