Eye friendly post

I started seeing white lines everywhere after I would review my posts which totally screwed my vision for the next few minutes. I decided to change the color of the font to Gray or whatever dark form of Gray it is to reduce the glaring contrasts. Hopefully this will make my blog easier to read. Let me know if you have any suggestions to better spruce this blog space.

ありがとう！

Back in the office

I haven't been to the office in while. Since late November of last year my manager has been very flexible to let us work from home. I believe I've been at the office less than 10 times this whole year.. maybe less than 5 if I really think about it. Its really cool (no 1 hour plus commute, get to wake up at exactly 9AM to turn on my laptop, and get to watch ESPN while I work), but at the same time, when I'm working at home, I work like crazy. Sometimes I do prefer to go to the office and work because at least I get to move around. I remember during one of the busy times, I didn't even get up from the couch for 7 straight hours. In the mist of all the conference calls, client requests and just くそう hitting the fan, I didn't even have time to go to the bathroom. I really hope I don't become a fat slob, but I'm starting to see the early signs now... きゃあああああああ！！！！！

Anyways, today I had to go to the office to attend this design meeting for an upcoming project that will be deployed soon to production. I will be involved during the initial phases but will leave the team and or company during the "meat and potatoes" phase because it falls about the same time of my move to Japan. Knowing this, my mind was in and out of the meeting. The presentations covered countless diagrams and a 50+ page document. The only interesting aspect about the meeting was the animosity that raged between the two main speakers. These type A guys are very bright but also very stubborn. I was really hoping for a fight to break out to make my day interesting but was not so lucky. Fortunately, I managed to excuse myself for the afternoon part of the meeting to attend to some higher priority activities. On a more interesting note, my boss talked to me about my upcoming plans in moving to Japan. He tried to contact a few people about potential positions in the 新宿 office but has not heard any feedback as of yet. He said that him and my manager are trying to escalate up the ranks to see if he can get me transferred. I have about 3 months left in the company, so hopefully I will hear something soon.

Belgium show

My best friend living in Mexico showed me this clip. I managed to find the subtitles for this but the version I first saw had no subtitles so I did not know what the people were saying. Yet, when I saw this I almost peed in my pants. After watching the clip over with the subtitles, I think I am very similar to the host. During serious and high tension times, I can't help but to laugh out loud for no apparent reason. One example of this was when I was attending a sales spiel to join a pyramid scheme (they were very popular when I was in university), but at the time I thought it was a legit business. The sales consultant took me to a small room with no windows. It did not help that I felt a bit claustrophobic. She began her pitch very passionately. About 3 minutes in to the presentation I just started laughing like a wild hyena. I had no idea what sparked this laughter. I tried to stop but failed. What really kept me laughing was that the sales consultant did not even stop her presentation during my giggle attack. She kept going through her material with the same intensity while I was just laughing to the point I almost fell off my seat. This pretty much lasted through the whole presentation. I apologized to the woman, which I don't think she cared and just wanted to see me leave. Thank goodness my case of the giggles has not yet appeared in my professional career *knock on wood*
Anyways, here is the clip:

Letters from Iwo Jima

Just got back from the theater to watch Letters from Iwo Jima. I was able to catch the first showing of the day so prices were 5 dollars per ticket, which is super cheap compared to the usual 11.25. I almost didn't make the movie because it was REALLY hard to wake up, especially since I slept late from watching Babel the night before. It also didn't help that there was a small snow storm. However, as mentioned before, paying a mere 5 dollars to see this film was definitely worth it.

The movie's film quality was dark and a bit grainy which was a nice touch. The story showed the Japanese perspective in the U.S. invasion of Iwo Jima. I thought Ken Watanabe did a great job, though his character was very similar to that of his role in the Last Samurai. Saigo, the young baker who did not want to be in battle, or how I refer to him as the guy from 嵐, did an unexpectedly good job. The inner conflict between Watanabe and some of his subordinate commanders was interesting, especially because in Japan, honor and loyalty were highly recognized. Overall, the movie was good. The 2.5 hour run time ran by quick. I don't know if it is a movie that I would watch again, because it seemed like one of those flicks where you have to be in the mood to watch. Then again, I thought the same thing when I watched The Last Samurai, but when it starting playing on the AMC channel, I was right there watching it over.. and over.. and over. Now the only movie I have not yet watched that was nominated for Best Picture was the Queen. Oh well, I tried my best. I wonder who will win tonight.......

Babel

I finally managed to watch this movie after countless trips to the local video store. Having said that, my first impression of the movie without even watching it was that it must be a great film. Not only has this movie been given a Golden Globe for best picture, but different video rental stores from across the area were rented out. Even one of the rental stores had its display case ransacked for any signs of this mythical movie among the display boxes. Asking the video clerk and being very polite ended up paying dividends as I scored after he checked the "steel box" return.

Since the Oscars will air tomorrow...errr later tonight, I gathered my family to watch this potential winner. I really liked the flow of the movie (Similar to Crash) but didn't anticipate the adult scenes it was going to show. I have no problems with the adult scenes but since I had "youngins" watching the movie, I was hoping that there were not going to be any signs of nudity and sex. As my mom always pointed out to me, I was wrong. As I digress a little, this same exact situation happened when I rented Sideways for the same reasons I went out to rent Babel. It got raved reviews and I wanted the whole family to watch what the hype was about. The description on the back of the DVD only stated that it was a comedy about friends exploring themselves while going through Nappa valley. It was rated R, but I mean, it was a comedy. I thought it would be some vulgar language thrown out a little here and there and nothing more. After the first 15 minutes, I found out this movie was about trying to get laid in wine country. Moments later, I just said out loud "Ehh.. this movie seems like it will be boring.. I don't see any comedy going..lets watch something else" I ended up watching the movie later without the pre-teen family members and found that the movie showed full frontal male nudity. Though hilarious, I was relieved that I avoided watching this movie with my whole family. I'm not old fashioned, but seeing a hairy, one eyed jack, and I'm not talking about the Pirates of the Carribean with my family especially the young kids doesn't classify in my book as "quality family time". Anyways, going back to Babel, I knew this movie was rated R, but thought it was due to the violence. I didn't really get to check the back of the DVD case, because again, I got it at the last moment. Well, as I was watching the story unfold with my family, we were all stunned when Chieko decided to pull a Sharron Stone and let her eager beaver out. Not once, not twice, but three times. Yeah, I counted because I'm a horn ball myself, but that is beside the fact. As cliche as it sounds, I was "thinking about the kids". Besides for the unexpected cameo of the wood-chewing rodent, the movie was pretty good, but I liked Crash better. For me, the premise and the connections in Crash were more logical and intriguing than in Babel. I also liked how Crash depicted racism in America.

I want to try to watch the rest of the "Best film" nominations before the Oscars. Hopefully, I will be able to. I'm far from a movie connoisseur but its kind of fun to have watched all the best film nominated pictures before finding out what the "Academy" thinks.

First entry

よこそ！
I was thinking about continuing blogging with my previous account but decided with everything going on with my life right now it was better to have a fresh start, so here I am.

Fresh start? What fresh start?

Yeah, well my previous account documented my JET life and my phase right after JET. Compared to those times, my life has changed. The biggest change being my brand new life in Tokyo, Japan beginning this summer.

Doing JET again?

No, I will be trying to continue my current career there. As the key word being "trying", I have yet to find a job there, but have submitted my resume to a friend of a friend who is a head hunter in the area. I am also trying to tweak my resume some more and then will post it on-line. I also asked my current employer to try to transfer me to their satellite office located in 新宿　but I am not sure if it can happen. My managers are trying their best to make that a reality, but I not really expecting much from it. If all else fails, I will go to Japan and start applying for jobs while I'm there. If anyone has any connections in the Finance or Telecommunication industries in Tokyo, please holla at me. よろしく！

Why be a salaryman in Tokyo? I hear they work like dogs!

I heard the same things, but I've been working crazy hours at my current job. 12 - 16 hour days, plus weekends, I don't think it can get much worse than this. I want to try to join a multinational firm if possible since their quality of life perspective will be more westernize and hopefully I will be able to have/enjoy my personal life.

What's up with the Japanese letters appearing in random places?

My Japanese 日本語 sucks big time, so I'm going to try to place more Japanese writing in my entries to practice and use what I am learning.

Aren't you going to miss your friends and family in the U.S.?

Yes I will. I have great friends here and I love my family a lot. I will miss everyone greatly. However, I also do have my own ambitions and at my age, I think its time to write my own chapters instead of following them. Besides, I will always be in touch with everyone and they are more than welcome to visit me (depending on the size of the apartment I get). I also have some great friends in Tokyo, one that is like my older brother so I am looking forward to hanging out with him and the rest of the crazy gang again.

Ok enough about Japan now, what is going on in your life now?

Nothing much really. Just working and getting prepared for my move to Japan. e.g. Looking for apartments (that are dog friendly, since my dog will also be making the move), transitioning my home duties to other family members, and looking how the Job market is in Japan. I'm also trying to re-gain my French citizenship. If I am successful, I will have dual citizenship with access to U.S. and the European Union. Other than that, I just hang out with family and friends, keep up with sports (Dallas cowboys and Orlando Magic), workout when I can (I hope the weather gets warmer so I can start playing basketball again) and playing around with my Macbook Pro.

Will you be updating this blog frequently? Or will you treat this like the other account and hose the readers?

I will try to update this blog as much as I can. My days are busy, which sometimes I don't even have time to sleep. However, I really want to keep this up to date and try to update this at least once a week. I have some late night CMC's a.k.a working late night, so while I'm waiting for my scripts to run, I will update this blog. I feel this will also be a good way to reflect on things and keep things in perspective.

I should wrap up this entry now and try to figure out what to cook for dinner. お腹がへたよ！

じゃね！