Fresh tomatoes, salt, bit of mayo = perfect. Katsuura farms are brilliant.

Bonus, tomatoes were free.  Because while Katsuura farms are brilliant, Katsuura farmers are awesome.

Comics that kick ass - Justice League: Generation Lost - "Don't leave me to be hangin'."

I dig on the 80s run of Justice League International, which makes me inclined to dig on this series, but this crop of heroes having to deal with a resurgent Maxwell Lord, who's manipulated the entire world, is remarkably good.  Complex with some depth there in the characters.  This beat, though, is pure comedy win.  "Hypocrite on Justice League!" indeed.

Comics that kick ass - "Scarlet" by Bendis & Maleev - "Everything is Broken."

This is awesomeness, Made of Win.  Bendis' work at Marvel has always been...  good.  And interesting. But the Bendis stuff I've loved is his more indie work - Torso, Fire, Goldfish, Jinx [and to a lesser extent, Powers & Alias] - those are books I absolutely love.  This is a return to that form.  Brilliant.

Brian Bendis's Scarlet Revolution - Comics Feature at IGN:

"But what if one of these people, rather than protesting, legitimately fought back – with as much absolute feeling in their heart that they are right? And this person's situation as a victim gets them so far… but then are they a part of the problem?"

Damn, Tarantino was right - you really are an Elvis or a Beatles person.

I always thought the analysis was bullshit, but considering Japan's unabashed love - for folks of a certain age - of all things Beatles, I recently picked up The Beatles 1 and it was good. Damn good. But I followed it right up with a listen to Elvis 30 #1 Hits and OMG, holy jesus, yeah, that totally just resonates with me on a whole 'nother level. Makes me an Elvis person, clearly.

Due in no small part, I'm sure to Mom running Elvis on the 8-Track [fuck me, I'm old] almost every weekend. In hindsight, probably the best thing I took from... no, let's not go down that path tonight.

The cut scene from Pulp Fiction that lays it out:

And some Elvis breaking it the hell down.

This, all day. John Rogers, Leverage showrunner, on capitalism & corporations.

Worth the clickover/reading in full.

Kung Fu Monkey: Side Note: Writing, Corporate Bad Guys, and Worldview:

"...I like universal health care not for any moral reason but because it encourages job mobility, enterpreneurship, takes the burden off our manufacturing industries, and leads to cheaper health care costs. I like to spend money on education because it makes our workers competitive in the international market... I want solar power so people with thousand-year-old grudges in countries half a world away stop yanking us around. I want to cut defense spending so we can move it to border control and humint resources. I favor separation of church and state because, like Thomas Jefferson, I don't want people of faith to have other faiths shoved on them by the power of the government.

I'm a goddam 1972 Republican.

But, some people have a knee-jerk reaction and assume I'm generally anti-corporate or anti-rich people, and so the show is written that way. For this I have... responses, in ascending order of crankiness...

b.) The fact that you're having an emotionally defensive response for a corporation, or corporate culture in general, but not for the parallel personal example of say Criminal Minds or Law & Order: Super Rape Squad means that the century-long campaign of multinational billionaires to convince you they are both invaluable and oppressed has worked. Congratulations, you've been mind-hacked.

c.) Sorry we made you feel unsafe. That maybe, just maybe, some -- not all, but some -- of the people who you've been taught to trust are not very nice. The world's unsafe, sookie-baby. Grow up."

The Onion FTW - "Repeal Of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Paves Way For Gay Sex Right On Battlefield, Opponents Fantasize."

Repeal Of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Paves Way For Gay Sex Right On Battlefield, Opponents Fantasize | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

Great song, haven't listened to in a while - Keali'i Reichel/Wanting Memories.

"Arrested for blowing bubbles at the G20" - this cop is a horrible human being.

Who positively reeks of "respect my authoritah!" Worth noting, it seems to me, his compatriot seems embarrassed by him.

Arrested for blowing bubbles at the G20 in Toronto? - Boing Boing:

"If the goal of the police at the G20 was to act pissy and escalate minor incidents into major ones in order to assert their authority, mission accomplished. If, on the other hand, their mission was to de-escalate, keep the peace, find rapport, and celebrate the democratic right to protest, this officer is an abject, total failure."

"August 13th - We Take Back What's Ours" - That's pretty funny - The Expendables: Call To Arms Trailer.

Oh, insomnia, I fucking hate you.

The more I read of religion, the more I wonder, how do you not know THEY. ARE. JUST. MAKING. THIS. SHIT. UP.

Today's observations brought to you via the works of Alcoholics Anonymous and the Oxford Group.

Believe nothing from anyone who claims to know the mind of god.

Ha, Ha, I say - "Catholic priest accused of stealing $1 million for male prostitutes."

You know what kills me? I kind of approve of the theft of church funds for the use on hookers, even male hookers and whatnot... because, honestly, fuck the church. And bonus points if he was doing meth or blow at the same time. What bugs me is at the same time this jackass was doing all this, I'm sure he was inculcating soft-headed impressionable kids with visions of fire and brimstone for doing the same things he indulged in. Hypocrisy 101 pisses me off to no end. Not to mention medieval moralities, sanctimonious fairy tales and puritanical nonsense.

Catholic priest accused of stealing $1 million for male prostitutes | ksdk.com | St. Louis, MO:

"A Roman Catholic priest in Connecticut has been arrested on charges he stole $1.3 million in church money over seven years to use for male escorts, expensive clothing, and luxury hotels and restaurants.

Waterbury police say the 64-year-old Rev. Kevin J. Gray was charged Tuesday with first-degree larceny. Gray is the former pastor at Sacred Heart/Sagrado Corazon Parish in Waterbury."

Mixed Emotions - The Definition. Via a Skype conversation w/the Mrs. - "Cannot wait to live under the same roof again..."

"...Simultaneously, would strangle a midget to be able to keep teaching my students here in Japan."

To be really evil you need a bureaucracy. Kafka would be proud.

Were I a violent man I'd suggest that the 9th Circuit need to be summarily strung up and have the shit kicked out of them.  But that would be wrong. 

Pointy headed jackassery at it's worst - Ninth Circuit Panel: Innocence, Schminnocence. We Have Rules, You Know. - Hit & Run : Reason Magazine:

A three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has rejected an Oregon man's petition for habeas corpus relief. This despite acknowledging that the man has established actual innocence for the crimes for which he's being imprisoned (sexual abuse and sodomy of a four-year-old). The reason: He was late filing his petition. By the panel's reckoning, adherence to an arbitrary deadline created by legislators is a higher value than not continuing to imprison people we know to be innocent."

That's funny stuff - "As a product of Christian culture, your understanding of Africa is comprised entirely of lions, elephants, and unsaved savages..."

Liberia, ho!

#168 Africa - Stuff Christian Culture Likes:

"As a product of Christian culture, your understanding of Africa is comprised entirely of lions, elephants, and unsaved savages, and you are only vaguely familiar with the political unrest and economic corruption there but you've inferred somehow is that if Africa were a Christian nation then they wouldn't have these problems."

Yellow Fever proofed through 2020 - Africa prep is ongoing.

Salty Butter Biscuit Haagen Dazs Ice Cream - Japan blows your mind!

Tasted... odd.

Some final elementary school classes.

Flyswatter Karuta - the 'go-to' elementary school game.

Teaching via sticker bribery - an approved education modality.
3rd Grade.

Alphabet Concentration, the kids are totally better than I am at this.
4th Grade.

1st&2nd Grade.

I will crazy-eye you as long as it takes.

5th&6th Grade.

Lunchtime = Awesome.

Really, I think they're just trying to make me cry at this point.

Heart punch.

Vibram 5Fingers + laziness = defeat of Japanese cultural norms.

So, in Japan, just to go to school requires 3 pairs of shoes. Outside shoes/school inside shoes/gym shoes. But! Recent discoveries have allowed me streamline. Indoor shoes = the VFF Mocs, but when going out to the konbini from school, realized I can just slip my outside/bike to work/sport sandals overtop the VFF. Laziness win. Cheers.