hmm... so much to talk about, so little time before I should really go to sleep! I'll try to keep this short (which is the standard lie with which I start everything I write ;)
By the way, thanks for the responses to my poll so far. I think this post falls in the philosophy category, and I did take some good pictures, but I don't know how to get them off of my phone, so I won't be able to post them quite yet.
So, two topics to talk about today. Or should I say, two insights. But they're not deep enough to call insights... more like stray thoughts. My brain seems to do a lot of work when I'm not asking it to. But then again, what does "I" mean, if it's not my brain? Suffice to say, my brain's putting in a lot of unpaid overtime, so to speak. Connections. Maybe they're connections, like that TLC show.
Connection #1 - Full Metal Alchemist and Montego Bay's 10th anniversary
Anyway, the first connection. I went with my friends Alvin and Linda this week to see the "Full Metal Alchemist" movie (it's an anime about two brothers who are alchemists, looking for the philosopher's stone, and a lot of sort of philosophical reflection on the principle of equivalent trade in alchemy and in life). I enjoyed the movie, although it seemed kind of short - I essentially watched the entire 52-episode series in one weekend when I was stuck in my room with food poisoning last month, so... well, anything would seem short after that! Anyway, back to my point. The movie was cool, but the plot wasn't really what made it cool. The thing that was great about it was seeing all the old, familiar characters again. One of the characters even died in the original series, and the character that was in the movie was his corresponding persona in a parallel world... it had nothing to do with the original character except that it looked like him! But it was a lot of fun to watch anyway.
The reason I bring this up now is that tonight, I went to a party in Osaka to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Montego Bay, the bar I used to go to regularly when I lived in Toyonaka. It's a great little bar, and as my friend Adrian describes it, it feels kinda like you're in some guy's basement. Very casual, very friendly. I haven't been back there since I came to visit Japan in November.
Anyway, I went to this party. It was fun. I think I knew about 30-40 percent of the people there. It felt a little weird, because I don't really get up to Toyonaka much anymore, so I probably won't be hanging out with these people much (in the same way that, really, how much can develop and change in a 90-minute movie, compared with a 52-episode series?). The great thing, though, just like with the movie, was seeing all the old, familiar characters again. Pretty much everybody I had ever met at Montego was there, even this guy Tomi, who had moved away years ago but came down from Tokyo for the party! Life has moved on a bit - a lot of my old friends are married now and whatnot, but we partied it up just like the old days, and we drank and danced until the last trains loomed near.
Actually, a little too near. I ended up running the whole way from the club back to the JR station, making it to the platform with just two minutes left before the last loop line train ... that connected to the last Nara-bound train ... that connected to the last Kyoto-bound train at Saidaiji. This is the third night in a row that I've taken the last train home, and I've finally memorized all the key schedules!
So that was connection #1. Connection #2 needs less background to explain.
Connection #2 - my iPod and life in general
On the way to this party tonight, I again cut things as close as I possibly could (as usual), and ended up running out the door and down the hill to catch the train into Osaka. These train rides tend to take a while, so I always bring my iPod with me to help pass the time. As I jumped the last four steps going down to the platform and hurtled myself into the train just as the doors were crashing shut, I instinctively switched on my iPod and realized that its battery was pretty low. I'd been neglecting to charge it for the past couple days (so many things to charge! Two cell phones, an iPod, and my camera!) and its battery meter was already in the red.
So, I thought, I could listen to it for the ride into town and have nothing to listen to on the way back, or I could conserve energy and just sit in the uncomfortable silence of the train for the next hour. Of course I chose the former... chances were that there would be some juice left on the way back, and if not, I would probably be exhausted and drunk anyway. So I switched it onto shuffle. Beastie Boys ... Sarah McLachlan ... change trains at Saidaiji ... DJ Micro ... Fatboy Slim ... Carmina Burana ... Louis Armstrong ... Darude ... shuffle is awesome ... Def Leppard (wow, haven't heard them in a while!) ... Milli Vanilli ... Kuraki Mai ... Public Enemy ... change trains at Tsuruhashi ... B-52's ... a song from Bill and Ted ... Jim's Big Ego ... finally arrived at Osaka. Battery level critical.
So the lesson we almost learn from this is that, when you don't take the time to charge your batteries, although it doesn't really stop you from doing the things you're going to do anyway, it sometimes means you have to do them without any background music. And of course when I talk about "charging batteries" and "background music", I mean those things in the most general, metaphorical sense possible (but if you've read this far you probably realize that).
The reason I said "almost learn" is that, in the end, my batteries lasted for the entire train ride home, including the walk to the only convenience store in Takanohara that's open until 1am, so I could get some seaweed-covered fish-filled riceballs, which are the PERFECT epilogue to an evening of beer and dancing! So yeah, somehow I managed to just make the last train, and my batteries just lasted the whole way. Someday this will ostensibly cease to happen, and I will ostensibly learn my lesson. Until then, carpe diem!
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