Yes, it's time to dip into the old mailbag.
Scott writes:
Hi Kevin,
Thanks for pointing out the PoMo article, it was pretty good. It reinforced my notion of PoMo: it's a convenient label for folks to use when they don't want to commit to/for something. It's for folks who never grew out of defying their parents/The Man, and want an 'adult' label for not taking a stand. Forgive my cynicism, I'm from Portland, Oregon, and too many stinkin' hippies do that.
Re: "war of the mind", the predictable pattern of "Islam is peaceful and we'll kill you to prove it" almost gets to be too much. If it wasn't so serious it would be Mel Brooks laughable (circa "Blazing Saddles"). But in this case, the hardcore Islamic folks are copying an unsuccessful page from the hardcore Christians - when confronted with 'art' you don't like (say, "Last Temptation of Christ") the LAST thing to do is draw attention to it. And whining about outspoken women has never gotten anyone anywhere they want to go.
Oh well. I hope your vacation is/went well.
You asked if Japan has an autumn festival. It does and here's a quick anecdote from last year...
As for autumn festivals in Japan, yes, they have them. Last year I was suffering under the humidity & heat of summertime. With Monday's autumn festival for my small town approaching, I asked the locals, "When does the summer heat actually go away?" "Summer ends on Monday," they replied. "No...the ''End Of Summer" festival is on Monday, but it's still freaking hot - when will the heat begin to decrease?" The locals looked at me, puzzled.
The Monday festival came, with the heat and humidity being the same as it had been for the previous 4 weeks. I woke up Tuesday morning and the temperature had dropped 8-degrees-Celcius. Seriously. Summer ended when the local calendar said it would.
After that weather experience, I began to realize that even in the ultra-urban country of Japan, the locals were in touch with the environment in a serious, heartfelt way.
Have a good one.
_Scott
HK writes (in part):
a couple quick notes...
* im very sure shabushabu is a japanese thing.
* if i (a gyopo) gave receptionists roses and didnt give any to my boss, and my boss pouted (jokingly or not), i would not break down and give any to my boss. im definitely with you on that.
:)
take care and see youse around.
Frank writes:
Kevin,
The shabu-shabu I’ve eaten was more mushroom centered than what both you and the ML wrote about, so there must be different variations, depending on restaurant or location. I’ve had it both up in Seoul and here locally, and each time the main ingredients were different types of mushrooms and beef, with the noodles and veggies added almost as an afterthought. The broth had a sweetish taste and reminded me of the way some folks prepare bulgogi at home. Alas, my resource on all things Korean is off to Seoul for Chusok and won’t return till Tuesday. If I remember, I’ll ask her.
Frank
And that's all, folks. Beautiful day today. Had myself a nice stroll. More strolling tomorrow-- and maybe some brush art, which I haven't done in a while. If I produce anything decent, I'll be sure to scan it and blog it once I'm hooked back up to the world from my residence.
DAMMIT, THE UPDATE: I couldn't leave without linking to Conrad's recent post about the most shameless pussy-eating strategy I've ever heard of.
_
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