Ga-o-o-o! Gr-r-r-r! Yea-a-ah!

Stress. It isn't fun.  It's also hard to get rid of sometimes.  Some people do yoga, some people go to the hot springs.  Some people go to karaoke or just hang out with friends and enjoy chatting.

My favorite way to relieve stress is to go to the hot springs in Mikawa, but since I can't do that since I moved back to the States, I have to release my stress in my second-favorite way.

First, let me explain one thing: I love sharks.  I love crocodiles & alligators. I love really big marine animals that could potentially eat humans.  I'm not sure why I love them so much, but they make me happy.  They make me so happy that I too want to attack things and bite stuff.   I also LOVE movies about giant sharks or crocodiles or alligators, or dino-sharks or dino-crocs, or... well, you get the idea.

When I'm really stressed out, and I can't go to Mikawa, the best way for me to release my stress is to watch these low-quality movies.  I drink beer and yell at the movie.  I complain when there's a scene with too much talking ("Come on!  I didn't rent this to see you!  Shut up and show me the shark!!"). I cheer when someone gets chomped in two ("Yea-a-ah!  More of this, please!").  These movies always follow the same basic pattern.  They always have a crusty charter boat captain, who'll help hunt the beast, but he'll only do it by HIS rules.  There's always a pretty scientist lady, and her creepy, jealous, overbearing boyfriend who gets eaten by the shark/croc/etc.  There is always, always,  an old drunk guy who stumbles around near the water and sees the creature.  Usually he survives to tell the townsfolk (there are always townsfolk to tell), but nobody ever believes him.  Sometimes he doesn't survive, but before he becomes dinner, he'll say something like "I gotta quit drinkin' this stuff."

These movies are so stupid.  They aren't original at all.  But because they're so-o-o bad, it's easy to enjoy just how silly and preposterous they are.  After 90 minutes of shouting and cheering and laughing (and drinking), I always feel relaxed and refreshed, and ready to take a bite out of my agenda.

This is a picture from about a year and a half ago, taken at an exotic BBQ in Amakusa.  Here, I'm turning the tables, and I'm the one eating part of a crocodile! It was delicious.

Father's Day

How does your family celebrate Father's Day?  Do you go out for dinner or have a party?  Do you get together with grandpas, too?

Father's Day, as you know is always on a Sunday.  My dad is a minister, which of course means he works on Sundays, so in our house, Father's Day has always been an evening addition to the regular routine of going to church in the morning, having a slow-cooker lunch, and then taking an afternoon nap.  When we lived in Wyoming, we'd grill burgers on the hibachi in the backyard.  When we lived in northern Minnesota, we'd go to Jay Cooke State Park to grill sausages over a campfire and take a little hike around the woods.

After I graduated from high school, Father's Day was a phone call or something sent in the mail.  My father and I would have contact, and I'd tell him "Happy Father's Day!"  However, we were always in different states or different countries, and we couldn't spend the evening grilling or hiking or anything like that.

This is the first Father's Day in about 20 years that I actually spent with my dad.  What do you think we did?  Yep, we fired up the grill!  It was really windy, so while I made burgers (with tofu... don't tell Dad) and marinated portobello mushrooms, Dad pulled the grill into the covered area just outside the front door of the house.  It isn't a porch, it's just a small cove barely big enough for my dad and the grill, but that was all the space we needed.

Next year, I'll be in Hawaii on Father's Day.  Who knows? Maybe it'll be another 20 years before we grill again.  I sure am glad that I got to spend this past Sunday with my dad.  It wasn't just a "Happy" day for him; I was pretty happy, too.

Bond is back!

I really like James Bond.  I enjoy reading Bond books and watching (most of) the movies.  I haven't read a James Bond book for a long time, but I just found out that a NEW Bond book will be released in the US this week!

The first Bond book was "Casino Royale", written in 1953 by Ian Fleming.   James Bond became so popular, Ian Fleming wrote many more books.  After Fleming passed away, other authors wrote Bond novels & short stories.  Many of the Bond books became movies, and some Bond movies were written before their book counterpart.

If you want to read & learn more about James Bond, I recommend the "Simple English" Wiki page

(http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Bond)

If you want to learn more about the new novel, and practice your listening, I recommend the new 6 Minute English page on BBC's Learning English website

(http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/general/sixminute/2011/06/110608_6min_english_james_bond_page.shtml)


Of course, I recommend reading the books and watching the James Bond movies, especially earlier Bond films like "Goldfinger".  You can get ready for the next Bond movie, which is supposed to come out next year.

Long time no eat!

After a long visit to Minnesota, we returned to Colorado and hosted a very short visit from my aunt, uncle and cousin.  It had been about 5 years since I last got to see my cousin, so I was very excited for the chance to catch up with her.

Despite having always lived in different states, my cousin and I are very close.  We don't see each other often.  We don't call or write e-mails or use Facebook to keep in touch.  However, whenever we do get the chance to see each other we have a great time.

Last night, while our parents were chatting in the living room, my cousin and I enjoyed chatting and making dinner together.  I had picked up some ingredients at an Asian market in a big city on the way home from Minnesota, so we made a LOT of Japanese food:
-tofu (with ginger & soy sauce or with taberu rayu)
-chicken & leek skewers
-sauteed spinach & natto
-potstickers
-burdock root, eringi mushrooms, carrots, onions, & chicken boiled in broth
-tea-on-rice with pickled plum & seaweed
-roll cake with fresh fruit

My folks & aunt & uncle drank wine, but my cousin and I drank potato spirits on the rocks.  I was so happy!  This was my first time to enjoy a Japanese dinner since leaving Japan.  Of course, my cousin and I didn't cook things as well as my friends back in Japan can cook them.  However, just smelling the dashi and seeing the natto's slimy strings made me feel like I was back in Japan.  Then, drinking the potato spirits made me feel like I felt when I was in Japan (Hey, heyyy, kampaaai!!!).

It was also really great to hear my family say how great the food was. It was their first time to eat burdock root and natto; I'm glad I got the chance to share some of my favorite Japanese food with them.  My uncle said, "It's nice to be introduced to new dishes, something other than the usual teriyaki & tempura."

My cousin's family left this morning.  It was such a short trip, but we'll remember last night's dinner for a long time.