Holiday Oddities
weirdness on both sides of the Pacific
note: Japan news coming soon. My report will be in the form of interviews, with people living here. Me- I’m just getting ready for standard, apocalypse-themed 2025 kla/bbr interviews and also catching up with family and old friends in the short time I’ve got before returning to Seattle. Speaking of which here are a few snippets of weirdness on my trip:
On Christmas Eve I was with family in Seattle. Then I spent Christmas with my mom in Olympia. Then it was back to Seattle to see brother and sister in law, nephews, step mother, etc.
My mom’s a FOX watcher but she knows I’m no fan of the TV. When I leave the apartment she’ll turn on her 24/7 Fox stream, and kindly turn it off upon my return. Here was the ‘news’ after my morning walk:
The retirement home in Olympia has a mix of Republicans and Dems. Probably 2 to 1 in favor of Dems. Downstairs on the table was a NYT waiting to be claimed by the resident in 523. I snapped this one because of the big picture on the front page. It’s horrific of course and terrible to think of the terror and tragedy and loss. On a less emotional and more analytical note, there’s one thing I always think of when I see the debris from an airplane crash- where did that plane come from? Everyone knows, since Shanksville, PA, that large jet-airliner crashes leave no trace of stuff like fuselages:
Up in Seattle at my step-mother’s retirement place, the Dem/Repub imbalance is greater. I’d guess it’s at least 4 to 1 in favor of the Kamala crowd.
Trump’s not real popular here:
This Trump’s ushering in a fascist era theme has a problem: Whatever they mean by fascist is probably something that came around long before Trump. Remember Eisenhower warning about a military/industrial complex (and the original, intended speech had it military/industrial/political complex)? That crap has been going on since before (and during) Eisenhower’s presidency. Of course the military and big corporations and government are all together in a royal ream…screw…ehem, exploitation of the populace in favor of a satanic plutocracy. Mussolini defined fascism as the melding of central-government and corporate power. It’s been that way for a long while and both parties feed off it. It’s the corporate eternal warfare state. Read your Smedley Butler, already.
Down in the commons, there were some nice holiday decorations. The Christmas decorations are secular, to not offend anyone.
The holiday children’s reading selection had a nice combination of secular and religious:
OK, I gotta be fair. Some guy was giving a talk on Hanukkah and I think he put these books out in preparation. When they were setting up, a nice lady by the coffee machine told me about the talk and invited me to attend. I said, “thank you but…” whu, what? Wait a minute. What the…
Is that some kind of joke? Hanukah Money? Aleichem and Shulevitz?
Where’d they get this, the satire rack at the Aryan Brotherhood bookstore? A book with this cover- you’d almost expect the typical canards like love of money and protagonists counting sheckels or something. Wait a sec…
euuwkay.
That’s it for Seattle pics. All I have from Japan for now is this small collection.
On the plane there were some really great movies to choose from:
Visited a friend in Shizuoka. At the station they have these big posters in glass cases.
Take it easy. Japan is not nearly as far gone as we are in the West. There is wholesome advertising too:
The little girl says, “Why’s mama carrying (a backpack) too?” I don’t really get the punchline and my kids aren’t sure what the funny part is. Daughter Lyndi said, “It could be that the little girl is surprised her mom still has a school leather rucksack, and the company is telling you that their packs last forever.” That’s very plausible as these traditional ランドセル (randoseru) are very rugged and well made. When I first came to Japan, it was black for boys and red for girls, but they have lots of different colors now. I think my kids were fond of brown and orange, in the spirit of the 70s airport lounge tradition.
I saw some more wholesome stuff, like the cozplayers at the park. I like the guy in the street with the head balls thingy.
Here’s the entrance to the castle grounds:
Mom’s taking picture of daughter and best friend. It’s seijin no hi, coming of age day for the local high school graduates.
Baseball buddies after practice:
I met my buddies at this Izakaya, a finger-food and beer place to meet friends after work.
-Hey Shumway. You’re neat little up-close-and-personal vignettes like today’s post are semi-entertaining and occasionally funny, but when are you gonna get back into fight-the-dragons mode? I mean, chicken skewers, come on!
-Dewd, I’m interviewing Joachim Hagiopan in a week, and he’s gonna show us how the whole kit and caboodle is a big fat pedophile and trafficking operation. I’m reading his book and it is heavy. Can I sprinkle in a little light and fluffy, for crying out loud?
-’kay. Sorry.
I think the joke about the randoseru (sp?) is that mommy and her friends are wearing actual kids school back packs.
Dan, nice touch on the Shanksville plane crash. Never forget.