The Curse of Indecision

This evening, while I was watching TV and winding down from a tiring day, I was given a clear choice. My mother, who was in the kitchen setting the table, shouted to me: "What do you want to drink?"

I thought about the sodas that were in the fridge. Did I want Sierra Mist or Caffeine-free Diet Pepsi? The choice was simple, but I couldn't seem to decide. "What are we having for dinner?" I shouted back, hoping that this knowledge would make the choice easier.

"Hamburger and scalloped potatoes," shouted Mother.

No good. Either of those drinks would do. Yet I was paralyzed with indecision, and too tired to be bothered with it. Impelled by a lazy desire to shirk the responsibility that had been placed before me, I shouted back again: "Surprise me."

Relieved at successfully having passed the buck, I returned to my TV-watching pursuits.

Momentarily, the call for supper was made and my step-father and I dutifully filed in to commence chowing down. I looked to the table and saw two caffeine-free Diet Pepsi colas--one for Mother and one for Father. I looked to my place setting, lazily curious as to what had been chosen for me.

There at my end of the table, standing as strangely out of place as a hippie at a policeman's ball, was a tall, cool, half-finished jar of La Victoria Thick and Chunky Salsa.

I had been well and duly surprised.

Awesome Kung Fu Action Pics!

We all know that kung fu rules, right? Of course we do. It's even more awesome than ninjas, but only by a little. So, gentle reader, as a reward for your acknowledgment of kung fu's supremacy above all fighting arts, I have decided to reward you with awesome kung fu images I found online. Please enjoy.

"Nun"-Chucks! Get it?

Hilarious Harry Potter Video

If you are a Harry Potter fan, then be sure to check out Erica's blog for an awesome Harry Potter vid she found on YouTube. It's pure comedy!

Obligatory Sexual Harassment Post

So, I finally found a job! I started training there on Monday. I will be working as a customer service representative for a cosmetics company. I myself do not use cosmetics, but I have a lifelong preoccupation with many of those who do.

On Monday we had the obligatory warning speech and paperwork signing with HR. Of course, the subject of sexual harassment came up, as it always does. I looked toward the wall and rolled my eyes. "There they go again," I thought. It's always been a touchy subject for me. The HR representative was reading her little sheet full of examples of behaviors that could constitute sexual harassment. When she read the words "unwanted advances," something stirred within me.

"That's not fair," I protested. "All of my advances are unwanted."

The HR rep was phased for a moment, then she looked at her sheet again. She nodded her head as if confirming something to herself. "Well," she replied, "'unwanted' does appear to be the keyword here."

Touché.

Oshikku Deru Deru Shiipappa

While looking for information about sumo, I somehow managed to stumble on this delightful little gem. It's just too awesome not to share with everybody. My favorite part is about 29 seconds into the video where his parents shout "Shimajiro, let's go for it together!" and he gives that determined little nod. He looks like a samurai facing battle. Also amusing was the little guy at the end shooting his fist into the air and shouting "Yatta!" meaning "Hooray!" or "I did it!" After expending so much effort in pursuit of a worthy goal, it's good to feel a proud sense of accomplishment.

(Unfortunately, the original YouTube video was taken down, but here is a link to another version of it, without subtitles. Unfortunately, that version won't allow me to embed the video.)

And for those of you who would like to sing along:

oshikko deru deru
shiipappa
shiipappa
shiipa shiipa
oshikko shiipappa

unchi deru deru
unpappa
uunpappa
unpa unpa
unchi uunpappa

It just another example of how the Japanese make everything look totally awesome!

Honey & Clover

A few days ago I finished watching season 1 of Honey & Clover, so I decided to write a brief post about my impressions.

Since I started watching anime about 2 years ago, I have been quite partial to slice of life stories. I enjoy animes like Diamond Daydreams, Welcome to the NHK, and Bartender. Of the relatively few animes I have seen over these last two years, Honey & Clover is definitely one of the best.

Honey & Clover follows the lives of five Japanese art school students as they each work through a very difficult period of change and self-discovery. The main characters are Yūta Takemoto, a shy yet earnest young 2nd year art student; Takumi Mayama, a serious student in his last year of art school; Ayumi Yamada, an attractive and extremely talented young potter; Shinobu Morita, an mysterious, insanely greedy yet strangely compelling individual repeating his "final" year of art school for the 3rd time; Hagumi Hanamoto ("Hagu" for short), a brilliant 18-year-old sculptor with the appearance and general demeanor of a much younger girl; and Shūji Hanamoto, an art school professor and guardian of Hagu, his late cousin's daughter.

Upon meeting her, Takemoto immediately falls in love with Hagu, whom he finds intriguing. Morita is also taken with Hagu, and expresses his feelings in ways that horribly frighten poor Hagu-chan, such as posing her to look like a forest fairy or a mouse and then frantically snapping picture after picture of his adorable creation. The beautiful Yamada, though adored by almost all of her male acquaintances, is in love with Mayama. Although aware of Yamada's feelings for him, Mayama is obsessed instead with an older woman by the name of Rika Harada. Rika had lost her husband in an auto accident and bears both the physical and emotional scars of that horrible day. As a result, she is withdrawn and aloof, pushing Mayama away out of fear of hurting him.

The tensions of this thorny situation are punctuated by moments of uproarious hilarity, almost always inspired by some outrageous plot or behavior of Morita's. In one such instance (episode 8), Morita creates a Twister-like game mat to give to Takemoto as a last-minute birthday gift, but he uses too many colors (such as lapis, moss green, ocher, mineral violet, and passion blue to name a few). The contortions needed to cover the proper colors result in both Morita and Takemoto injuring themselves during the game and collapsing in a depleted heap of lifeless limbs.

There are also moments of tender poignancy throughout. In one of the most memorable scenes (episode 6), Mayama has to carry Yamada, who has had too much to drink at a party, back to her house. On the way, Yamada breaks into tears, desperately repeating "suki" ("I love you"), to Mayama, who soberly acknowledges her with gentle grunts. She is precious to him, but he doesn't love her the way she loves him, and probably never will.

It is this delicate combination of pain and humor that make this anime such a pleasure to watch. After following the story of these characters, it is easy to become attached to them and to identify with their sadness as well as their joy. It was difficult having to watch it come to an end. I am sure it will be quite some time before we shall see the likes of another series so rich in heart and humanity and beauty.

Awesome Godzilla Tokyo Pics

In response to one of my recent blog posts Janelle, an old friend of mine from high school, sent me a couple of pictures that she took while she was living in Japan. They are pictures of a Godzilla statue which sits in Tokyo's Hibiya Park. Fortunately for you all, she has given me permission to post them on Kungfupower Blog. Thanks, Janelle! Enjoy, kids!

Even though Godzilla has visited and ravaged Tokyo numerous times, mastery of the language somehow eludes him still...

"Yo! Mothra! Where you at, dawg?
We still goin' out for noodles, or what?"

Janelle comes face to face with the horror...

Weird Recurring Dream

Last night I had it again. It's this really strange recurring dream where I'm driving around town, but I'm driving from the passenger side. There's no one in the driver's seat, and I have to reach over to the driver's side to steer. I have no idea who's operating the brakes and gas, but that detail doesn't come to mind while I'm dreaming. Also, there's never any clear reason why I'm driving this way. In the dream, I think about how unsafe this must be, and I fear getting pulled over by the police. In last night's dream, I almost was pulled over by the police, but I woke up just in time. Thank goodness. I hear that dream traffic court is a real bear.

I ran a Google search and found this interesting interpretation from a website called Dreamcrowd.com: "If you are driving from the passenger side of a car, then it suggests that you are trying to gain control of the path that your life is taking. You are beginning to make your own decisions." Whatever. Maybe there's something to that, but isn't that the case with 90% of people out there?

I think the real reason may have more to do with the fact that I went to bed hungry. Maybe if I have a small snack before bedtime, then that will keep the dream-police at bay and my dream insurance company won't be able raise my premiums! That sounds like a good reason for a bedtime milk-and-cookie snack!

How King Ghidora and Godzilla Crashed Our 4th of July

Spending the 4th of July with my folks this years was pleasant. I got to watch my stories with Mother (I sure hope they don't have Chelsea Brady break up with Nick Fallon and hook up with Jet Carver—unless they soften the blow by pairing the super-geeky Nick with someone even hotter, but smart this time). After the soap, Mom retired to the kitchen to whip up some of her famous macaroni salad (which I won't eat because of my aversion to freshly-cut chives and all other raw onion-like substances). While she was in the kitchen busily preparing her Epicurean classic—and the pungent sulphuric aroma of freshly cut chives began to fill the room—I decided to see what was on TV. While flipping through the channels in the hope of finding something interesting, I had a little thought. I said to Mother, "You know what would make this 4th of July even better?"

"What?" inquired Mother.

"A Godzilla Marathon!" I retorted, enthusiastically. Mother shook her head in dismayed resignation and returned to her gourmet task.

I continued flipping through channels, hoping for the impossible, then—SHAZAM!—there it was! As if in answer to a prayer, the program display showed four back-to back, commercial-free episodes of Godzilla movies! What joy! Then, as if that weren't enough, one of those movies was none other than the glorious 1991 Toho Productions masterpiece Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah!

So there you go, kids—if you wish hard enough, sometimes you can have it all!

July 4th Redux

[This was a blog entry that I had originally published on my MySpace Blog on July 4th of last year. The MySpace blog is now defunct, but I rather liked this post, so I decided to post it again on this blog. After the entry is a YouTube video with clips of this year's show (which was at the same location as the show referenced in this post). Sorry about the quality—the videos were taken with my cell phone. —Kungfupower]

Shooting up into the sky, a ball of flame with a tail of white fire, rapidly climbing like an eagle on the wind. Then, an explosion of fiery sparks—glowing blue, then red, then white—scattering out suddenly, then gently cascading back toward the earth whence it came. This, of course was Kungfupower perfecting his Phoenix Fire-Fist Falls from Heaven Technique—a technique in which so much chi power emanates from Kungfupower's body, that it would surely melt away the eyes of anyone unfortunate enough to gaze upon it.

After a productive Kung Fu work-out session, it was time to go see a fireworks show.

Fireworks were invented in China, as was Kung Fu. Even today, the best fireworks can be found there. In China, there can be found shells that explode and form dragons in the sky. There are others that form luminescent cubes, shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow. There are even some that create patterns of such glorious complexity, that mathematicians have been driven mad in contemplating their beauty. Kungfupower saw none of these.

Even so, the fireworks show was both beautiful and thrilling, conjuring up memories of a time long ago, when innocence and wonder were the windows through which the world was still seen—a place small and cozy and safe, yet infinitely fascinating. Every summer, the rich kaleidoscope of light that danced across the sky in hues of green, white, purple, red, and blue was a welcome addition to the rich tapestry of experience being eagerly explored and assimilated by a young and curious mind. These brilliant flowers of light had the power to startle with the voice of thunder, then soothe with the chromatic iridescence of a rainbow in a waterfall. Watching this show from a strip mall parking lot in Tustin, CA, I was pleased to discover that the years that have passed have not diminished the power of this yearly ritual to quicken and to calm, and to coax the mirthful laughter of unbounded joy from some secret place long forgotten.