Army Mascots?!

If you dont know, Japanese people love mascots. They love cute little characters. Everything here has a dumb little chacter similar to Pokemon. They are really annoying. This country does not appear to be too mature.

Today i read that the Japanese Self Defense Force has their own cartoon mascot. This mascot is aimed to improve their image in Iraq.

In the title of this blog, there is a link to their national news article about it. In it appears the following quote from a critic of the mascot. "This could only happen in a country that is so open to immaturity," said Rika Kayama, a psychiatrist and author. "Authorities here feel it's easier and less threatening to use characters to get the public to accept them, rather than explain the facts."

The WORST quote / statement was as follows; ""Everybody loved it," said Aki Tsuda of the Foreign Ministry's aid department.
Some have even suggested that Captain Majed was the reason the Japanese trucks weren't attacked during the2 1/2-year mission there."

WHAT! Iraqis didnt shoot the Japanese trucks because they thought they were cute?! I cant imagine some guy with a gun and a turban getting angry at the West, then seeing a stupid mascot and putting down his weapon to rush out and buy a plush stuffed animal mascot becuase he was so moved by the cuteness of the drawing. Give me a break! I think a military is there to fight, and at the end of the day....kill. Not have cute mascots plastered on their trucks.

Beer + Red + Black = Not Good

The other day i went to a bar and ordered a beer. When i go to a new bar, i like to try different beers. I ordered something called a "Red Eye". Now i think i know a thing or two about beers, but i didnt know what a "Red Eye" was. If you reading this does, then you are really smart.

What it turns out it was, to my surprise....was beer mixed with Tomatoe juice and if that wasnt bad enough, the real kicker was that they sprinkled Black Pepper on top. At first it looked cool, but it was actually horrible!

So stay away from "Red Eye's".

Comedy for Companies

Last week I was pretty bored. So I went online and found there are 190 U.S. Companies with offices in Osaka. I searched and found 40 of those companies had a number of foreign employees living in Osaka. Companies like Proctor and Gamble, Motorolla and Sharp. I wrote them all letters proposing that my comedy group do a private show for them.

I don't expect many companies to actually hire us, but i'm hoping they will look at the website and maybe talk about my group to other people. We do have one private show next week in Kobe but this was not a result from my mass letter mailing.

Also, i'm going to write to some of the 90 U.S. Military bases here and try to do a 4th of July comedy show for the troops here. I figure if Frank Sinatra or Robin Williams can perform for the troops, why can't I?

Signs

So my apartment has had signs about pets for a long time. The signs always had a picture with a dog and a big red X through it. When i got my cat i never thought i was breaking the rules. The apartment next to me has 2 cats and the room below me has one. I have seen these cats from my balcony. So when i decided to get a cat, i thought i was in the clear.

However, recently there is a new sign. Again with a dog and an X through it. But when Yuning came over and saw it and translated it, she gave me a warning. The sign says; "We know someone in the apartment has a dog or a cat. You cannot have any pets, not even babysit one for a short time. If we find out who has a pet, that person will have to move out." Wow. Well, i know there are lots of pets here and i think they are just getting more serious, but im not worried about getting kicked out. I told Amy to meow quietly!