Category: General Musings

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Style Free!

Do you want to be style free? Do you want to drink a product that has no style? Asahi Breweries thinks that you do and they are proud to offer アサヒスタイルフリー – Asahi Style Free beer! Yes, this beer has no style.

Tasty Style Free Beer

 

I think, probably, the idea of the beer is that its style is free from calories, as a matter of fact it has 0 calories but 4% alcohol. Hey, that’s a deal.

And for the body, it is zero, but for the throat it is tasty!

Tasty for the throat

 

I saw the advertisement on the train today. I wonder how many times I’ve looked at the ad and never seen the name. Probably not often since it is a new product.

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One speed and flat roads

I used to be a pretty decent cyclist. Sure, a lot of people could drop me, but I could hold my own against a lot of folks as well. I think when I was living in Luxembourg I raced against the Schleck brothers (Fränk and Andy) as well. I probably beat them too. Well, maybe I was only beating Andy. At the time we would have been racing against each other in Luxembourg, Fränk was 16 and Andy was 11.

Now, my beautiful titanium bicycle is sitting in my garage in Los Angeles, gathering dust. As you know I have my similarly colored ママチャリ here in Nagoya. On Sunday I was feeling sloth-like, and needed to get some exercise. I had planned on a bike ride, but the day was passing without any action. I was making excuses, like, “Well, if I go out it will probably rain.” Lame.

As I was falling asleep on the couch I finally shook myself out of my lethargy and started mapping a course. I knew that if I could just get to a river, likely I’d have a bike path to follow. One thing that drives me crazy is the constant stopping and starting. Why even bother with a road bike when you would be clipping and unclipping most the time? A riverside ride would at least give the illusion of an open road.

I was checking out the Nagoya map and found a river out by the Nagoya Dome. Hey, that had potential. Around 5 pm, on a hot and humid day, I headed out on my bike looking for some exercise.

Yada yada yada

Indeed I found a bike path, one that was actually pretty nice. I told myself I’d go out until 6:00 pm and turn around so that I’d get two hours in. Of course, just getting to where I could ride consistently without stopping took some time, but once I got along the Yada river I found a very serviceable path and had a nice, long ride. On one speed. It is kind of hard to feel like a cyclist sitting upright with a basket in the front, but I kept plugging along. I wonder how fast I was going?

My ride for the day

 

The Yada River meets the Shonai River and the trip starts feeling like you are actually out in the country.

Peaceful countryside

 

So the experience has made me think, “Do I want a real road bike out here?” Should I drop the cash and get a low end road bike? Even low end is still serious cash. Will I actually ride consistently? I’m not sure, but I do know that I’ll get out there again on the but this time I’ll put some water in the basket!

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They’re back …

Sign of the timesI’m glad to report that on July 14, 2010, I heard my first cicada of the summer. One lonely soul was buzzing away outside my office window. It was a sound of relief for me as they seemed to be delayed compared to previous years. The next day, he must have called his friends because there was now a chorus of cicadas humming outside. Soon, it will be so loud that we won’t even be able to talk on the phone in our private conference room (which, actually is outside. Since we all sit in one room there’s absolutely no privacy so you have to go outside if you want to talk to anyone without everyone hearing you.) We witnessed many holes in the soil outside, where apparently the cicadas are emerging. Cool.

And with the cicadas comes the end of the rainy season and the really hot and humid season as well as typhoon season.

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What goes up …

Must come down. That’s right. I used to have a 20 story building across the street from me. This is what the view looked like when I moved in. I had a big white building obscuring the sun from my apartment. You can get a peek-a-boo view below. I mean, why take a picture of the building across the street?

A bit of the building across the street.

A while ago I got a notice that they would be doing work next door. Apparently it is asbestos abatement (lovely). I figured they would just renovate and open the building up again. Scaffolding went up around the entire building. 20+ floors of scaffolding. It went up amazingly quickly as well.

Over time I noticed a larger scoop / backhoe (I have no idea what it is – it looks like the modern machines in “Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel”) pulverizing stuff on the site. Hmmm. The scaffolding also looked like it was getting shorter and shorter. Which made me wonder, “Are they tearing this building down?” Certainly my bike was covered in enough dust to know that something was happening across the street.

The picture below should answer the question. Indeed, they are tearing the building down.

A bit of the building across the street.

This happens quite regularly in Japan. To the point where sometimes you are walking along a street and notice an empty lot. Wait, what was there before? Since I’ve lived here, three or four new 15 – 20 story buildings have been built in my neighborhood and at least two have been torn down.

And now, more scaffolding is going up just down the street. What is next for this building? Is it on the demolition list as well? I don’t know, but there are still people working inside.

A bit of the building across the street.

 

Nagoya Basho

In other news, the Nagoya Basho has started. This is the annual sumo tournament in Nagoya that I went to last year and the year before. I do not have plans to go this year, although I have some opportunities for tickets and might end up going anyway. There is a big controversy this year linking sumo wrestlers to gambling and organized crime. Oops. NHK, the national network, has threatened not to televise the tournament. I didn’t look at TV today so I don’t know if they are getting true to their threats.
 

The Sound of Summer

I still have not heard my first cicada. Last year and the year before I heard them the same weekend as the sumo tournament. My colleague has stated that he’s heard one already, but I haven’t so I won’t claim it. I know it is summer when they cicadas start buzzing in my ears. That, and when it is horribly humid and hot. It is humid and hot now, just not horribly hot. I was in Tokyo all weekend, so maybe that’s why I missed the buzz.
 

Apple Update

I went to get an iPhone4 this weekend. Or, more appropriately, look at one. I found out that since Tomo and I are on the same plan, we can only order one at a time. So we ordered one for him and the wait is 2 MONTHS!?! Say what? I guess we should have signed up earlier. Maybe I’ll get one, maybe I won’t. I guess it depends on how much longer I am in Japan. I should be able to get by with a 3GS.

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Bored and uninspired

At least I was inspired enough to say that I was uninspired.

Sometimes life is just that – living. I go to work, work long, stressful hours, I come home, try to accomplish something but lately have been accidently falling asleep on the couch. Amazing! I’ve been trying to watch some World Cup as well which might explain why I am having accidental naps. The games are on at 11:00 pm and 3:30 am. I’ve seen two of the 3:30 am matches. The US is out but at least I still have Japan.

I was supposed to be in either Shanghai or Madrid this weekend but instead I am in rainy Nagoya. We had to cancel the Shanghai trip because Tomo had a conference that never actually got organized. My friend Wouter got married in Madrid this weekend. Congratulations. Unfortunately I could not find a reasonable way to get there and I feel bad about that. Sorry Wouter.

The iPhone 4 is out and I’m jonesing for it. Sound familiar? I can’t justify a new phone but it is tempting, especially when an Apple executive I went to college with tells me it’s their best product ever. Well, that’s saying a lot.

In an effort to get out of the house I made the Apple Store my goal. Being bored and uninspired can be dangerously expensive as consumer therapy can kick in. I was a good boy though, I only bought a pair of boxers for 600 yen at The Gap. Too much information, I know, but they were fish boxers and I can never pass those up.

I can never pass up fish boxers

Anyway, checked out the new iPhone 4 and the iPad prices. The iPhone is sweet, but I think FaceTime makes me look fat. To quote Thom Yorke, “Gravity always wins.” Tomo and I are having a contest to see who can get to their target weight. I’m basically at mine already so I need to shift my focus to redistribution of weight. That used to be a LOT easier.

Well, that’s general ramblings from Nagoya. I never thought I would post a picture of my underwear, but there you go! I can’t wait to see what hits this entry generates.