I was in the 7-11 the other day when something caught my eye. Not something, someone. Brittney Spears. Ah I remember back when she sang at my high school Disney World Grad Night. I totally hated her back then.

But here she is, doing the cover of some beauty magazine called Blendy. She still looks hot to me, but more in a MILF way now.

Although I've taken many pictures for the blog, and gone to many places, this might be the first purchase (aside from web hosting) I've made just for you. /feel special now

Link: http://www.sanedrachunter.com/

I fought this nice piece of Engrish on the tag from a shirt I bought in Tokio. It reminds me of my favorite DJ Duo, SanedracHunter. Hear their latest mix, and give 'em the five star vote they deserve!

I remember when I first moved to Japan, flying over the Pacific, Zen in hand. I knew that it would be a long flight, followed up by years of riding around in trains. That's why I bought a Zen. It had a bigger screen than an iPod, a battery that you could change, and it used standard cables.

It served me well, but like all personal electronics I carry around with me everywhere, it broke after a year or so. Enter the second Zen I bought. This one had a wider screen, but was otherwise identical to the first. I loved it! There's not a train line in Tokyo I didn't ride with it.

But alas after an unfortunate drop, it too died. I found myself returning to Creative to buy my third Zen--this newest model called the Zen X-Fi 2.

Well the Zen X-Fi 2 sucks. It really sucks hard. Like major donkey balls. Okay I'll give you the details.

At first it seemed cool. Touch screen, light weight. The X-Fi 2, as you can see from the picture, is actually the size of the old model's screen. Yet I still found it big enough to be comfortably viewable. Then I tried to watch a video on it. At first I thought it was a problem with the video file--the movie kept on skipping and jumping.

After repeated tests, it become clear. The Zen X-Fi 2 is a piece of crap. Sure if you're watching a drama where there are just people talking on screen, it looks fine. But any sort of sudden movement or random action causes the damn thing to freeze, skip and jitter.

The piece of crap couldn't handle the intro to Big Bang Theory--which is one of my favorite montages. Why would Creative make two previous Zens that could play it just fine, then a piece of crap device that couldn't?

Neither can it play the introduction to The Colbert Report, The Daily Show, or even Family Guy without skipping. Bottom line is if you're planning on watching video of any sort, stay away from this now tainted product line.

Mourning the loss of the Zen--a once great product now fallen.

I went into a bathroom today and saw the usual assortment of buttons--along with a blog entry worthy addition.

The Extraordinary buzzer!

As you may already know, I'm an avid Daily Show / Colbert Report fan. Even though Colbert has totally sold out--his show equal parts comedy and commercial--I still love him.

And he often makes Japan references. The first one I personally investigated, you'll remember, was the Mayonnaise Kitchen. Then, on December 7, 2009 he mentioned the Windows 7 Burger King Burger. I had to find out for myself.

Though McDonalds is everywhere in Japan, Burger Kings are few and far between. I only know of one in Ikebukuro's Sunshine Plaza. An hours train ride later I was standing in line. A sticker on the wall proudly proclaimed Michelob to be the official beer of Burger King.

Americans, if you think you love beer, you're wrong. The Japanese, they love their beer. Can you get a beer in Burger King? Enough said.

I asked the woman behind the counter for a Windows 7 Burger. She told me that the Windows 7 Burger promotion was long over. I asked her the next obvious question--can I get a burger with seven patties? She had to check with her manager. I admired the always slender bodies of the Japanese ladies for a moment before she came back and told me yes.

The burger was big and heavy. It wound up being such a hearty meal that it took me four sittings to eat. But here it is, the Windows 7 Burger (or more accurately, just a Whopper with seven patties).

You woulnd't believe it, but I'd actually forgotten about my blog. Lost to oblivion until they sent me the final warning--pay or the site goes down. I paid, and grudgingly made a silent agreement with myself to continue blogging at some point in the future.

Several people have emailed me thanking me for writing it. That helps keep me going. My blog, I was told, is among the most up to date about modern life in Japan. True that. Hearing it made me wanna browse through what I'd previously written.

Many of my most recent posts were about the "Yes we can" phenomenon. It seemed strange to me because, as of the time of this writing (December 9, 2009) the craze is over. Long dead. Reading about it on my blog makes me feel as though I'm misrepresenting Obama's current popularity.

In fact, I've come to hate Obama. A man who got elected by correctly reading the country's want of change. He then promptly gave us more of the same, the bum. Big banks on Wall street failing? A great time to change where so much money and power lies. But no, he used our money to keep the status quo. Given the Nobel peace prize while Al Queda is down to less than 100 men in Afghanistan? Perfect chance to change things up. But no, simply another surge ala Bush.

I've come to wish that McCain had gotten elected--not because he would have been any different, but because people might have continued to protest had the lack of change been more obvious.

And the strangest turn of events comes from a Japanese porno I recently downloaded. The lucky pornstar in question is wearing perhaps the only Obama reference I've seen in months. "Yes, we did."

It's Midterm Examination time here. The students must wear their formal attire to take their tests. Suits and clip on ties for the boys. Skirts and lady-like bow ties for the girls. It really is a strange thing.

Having lived here for four years I brought my belts into school and asked the shop teacher to help me. They call it "Industrial Arts" class. I needed new holes drilled into my belts, all of them. Even the ones I purchased on my last visit to the US. It occurs to me, as I'm asking the shop teacher to do this in my broken Japanese that I've made my belt one notch tighter for every year I've lived in Japan. (It's probably worth mentioning that during the time I worked and ate lunch in Tokio I got fatter. But working in the same town I live and riding my bike to school--that's the ultimate get slim quick trick)

And in four years I've come to a new phase in cultural adjustment. The "I think I'm turning Japanese" phase. The one where I go to a saloon and get a straight-perm. The one where I find myself sitting at a long table filled with Japanese school girl, and can actually understand when they're talking about me and the essence of what they're saying.

After a many months hiatus, I've finally dragged myself back to the PC. Long enough to write another entry. Long enough to scan some of the new Japanese Dr. Pepper bottles I've collected. The true inspiration--the bill for this webpage. Another hundred dollars for another year of web hosting. Anyone else would have allowed the webpage to elapse. Somehow, I couldn't let that happen.