Curse of the Colonel Lifted!

I previously reported here about the "Curse of the Colonel". You might recall that some Hanshin Tigers (a Japanese pro baseball team) fans threw a statue of Colonel Sanders into Osaka's Dotonbori River while celebrating the Tigers' Central League title win. That was in 1985, and the Tigers haven't won the title since, prompting claims of an evil, secretly spicy sort of curse.

Well a Mainichi Daily News article from yesterday reports that the "Colonel's upper body, minus the hands, was discovered on Tuesday evening by divers checking for unexploded bombs as part of riverside pedestrian walkway improvement works. The figure's legs and right hand were discovered Wednesday morning." Is the curse lifted? Or do his remaining hand, feet, and glasses need to be retrieved as well? Only time will tell. If the picture of a ghostly, cursed, handless and legless Colonel Sanders torso rising from the depths of a river doesn't strike fear into your heart I don't know what will.

"The Osaka Municipal Government, which is responsible for the riverside, is holding the statue and will consult with Kentucky Fried Chicken Japan on how to handle it." I'm really glad to hear that the government has this delicate issue under control.

Rising Fame

If I'm in too many more magazines I'm going to need to hire an agent. Why is it that Ashikaga understands that I should be famous while my hometown doesn't? Hehe. Maybe I should start a fan club.

I appeared on the back cover of what I believe is the Ashikaga International Association newsletter(?). Anyway it's called Symphony and it gives the public what it wants, in depth interviews with John Milito. That's all I need to know.

Along with my 100-word little blurb, I attached a shot of me at the sumo match in Nagoya last year.

I wasn't given much instruction on what I was supposed to write about, so I just whipped up something general.

Greetings from Fukui-cho,

My name is John Milito and I am the ALT at Yamabe Junior High School. This is my second year teaching in Ashikaga, and what a great time it has been. I've met lots of interesting people and done plenty of memorable things.

This year, I have two goals. The first is to develop my Japanese language ability. Someday I hope to reach fluency. In addition, I want to pursue one of my interests: travel. Living in Japan makes traveling to other countries in Asia fast and inexpensive. I hope to explore more of the world before I return home.

Thank you, Ashikaga, for this opportunity.

Sincerely,

John Milito

Reading it now doesn't exactly fill me with pride, but I did what I was asked.

Next is the December issue of Ashikaga Magajin.

I was in it for the same reason I was last year, having an awesome costume at a Halloween party.

Over the past few weeks I have done lessons with elementary school kids at 5 or 6 different schools. Last year I only did a lesson at one, so I was a bit surprised by the increase. The kids are really cute and fun so I really enjoyed the experience.

The problem of what to do with your hands in a picture is thoroughly addressed in Japan.

"Maury, my fear of mustard and pickles is ruining my life!"

My friend Sam recommended a fun little online geography game to me. It's called Globetrotter XL. Check it out here.

Thailand Part 7: Movie Time

Mike and Allison left for Hong Kong the day after we returned from Hua Hin. Clarence and I still had a day or two after that to mop up the last few things that we wanted to do.

I went to the first class cineplex at Siam Paragon Mall and watched a movie in style. It was all pretty slick. At 600 Baht (about $16.50) the tickets were more expensive than the normal screens available, but there were plenty of benefits for the money. First there was the private lobby with couches and coffee tables. It was a nice quiet place well removed from the bustle of the masses outside. There was a bar and waiters taking orders. My ticket entitled me to a small soft drink and some little cookies. I sat and flipped through a magazine while I waited for movie time. I think there might have even been electric massage chairs in another room.

The lobby had curtains like a harem.

The theater itself was small in a good way, with a maximum capacity of only 25 or so. I think there were two different types of seats. One was a larger love seat kind of thing. The one I picked had an electric recliner in it. As I sat all stretched out with the provided pillow and blanket, a guy came around to take my order. I said something along the lines of “John commands that you bring him a large Sprite and a caramel popcorn posthaste!” only much more politely.

Thailand seems to release movies when everyone else does, as opposed to months behind like Japan likes to roll. As a result I had trouble deciding what movie to watch. The Day the Earth Stood Still? "What the heck is that?", I wondered to myself. It was like being released from movie exile. I ultimately decided on Transporter 3, which wasn't bad. Perhaps the coolest bit of Thai culture I received from the whole experience was the playing of the national anthem before the movie began. It wasn't just a little song either, it was accompanied by some nationalistic tribute to the king. I read in a couple different sources that “everyone stands up” for the anthem but a large portion of this money-wasting audience was foreign, so I'd say participation was around 50 percent. Super dramatic and emotional, by the end even I was just about teared up and I didn't even understand what the heck was going on. Propaganda at its finest, I guess.

I'm gonna say this is the first and last picture I've taken in a movie theater. (Oops, that's a lie. I took a few in the Chinese Theater in Hollywood). Sorry about the blurry shot, it was dark in there. You get the idea though.

What's Going Down at the North/South Korean Border

North Korean and UN Command officials have recently begun talks on the border at Panmunjeom, according to Reuters. I was eyeballing the North Koreans myself at Panmunjeom just last Spring.

Here is a nice little pan of the North/South Korean border I posted in a blog about my trip here, to refresh your memory.

Then here is a clip of what the soldiers on guard duty are doing when there aren't any tourists around.

Highspeed Rail Finally Coming to America?

I read a Wired Blog article that reports that $8 billion from the $787 billion economic stimulus bill will go to developing high speed rail in the US. That sounds genius to me. It will give people jobs while working on the track, it will give the US a much needed infrastructure boost, and it just might lower emissions from all of the cars people will leave in the garage when they choo-choo-choose the train.

Japan has a train system that far surpasses our own, and I've had the pleasure of using it a great many times(I rode the "bullet train" with Angelica here). Japan is a very small country and the high concentration of people is good for a train system, but the US has areas with similar population density that can really benefit. It sounds like a great public works project to me. The Department of Transportation's Federal Railroad Administration page has some dry governmental things to say about the effort here.

The article points out that Chicago stands to be a big winner in this plan as the hub of the Midwest. That line from St. Louis to Chicago looks dangerously close to Springfield. Let's hope the train bothers to stop for us!

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood: "I think President Obama would like to be known as the high-speed rail president, and I think he can be."