Album Art

Releasing a very low-fi collection of original songs for download soon. Here are some samples of the album art. I drew all but "Madame Marteau" and "Battle for Kasugai", and I edited all the pictures myself.

そろそろオリジナル曲のアルバムを販売するつもり。アルバム・アートの編集。"Madame Marteau"と「春日井戦記」意外の絵は全て自分で描いた。

Cover

The Great Northwoods

A Yergin Family Lullaby

Life, the Universe, & an Old Towel

Pon Farr

Sígueme

Dear Helen （ヘレンちゃんへの手紙）

Madame Marteau

春日井戦記 (Battle for Kasugai)

Liarman

(Mystery Bonus Track)

The Great Northwoods (Giant Spider Invasion)

Apparently, very close to my birthplace this happened once:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bksvon-hSDM

生まれた所の近くに巨大クモのＳＦホラー映画が作られたそうです。（上のリンクを見て下さい)

https://www.facebook.com/ZacharyEversonMusic

復活祭 (Easter)

今日は復活祭。

キリスト教の最も大切な祝日。

３日前に殺されたイエス・キリスト様はこの日に復活したという伝説あるから「復活祭」という。

キリストがいないとキリスト教はないから、大切な祝日だ。

復活祭に教会に行く家族が多い。

(自分は前の列の一番左の男の子）

欧米には無宗教の人でもこの日に普通何かをする。

まず、チョコレートのウサギなど復活祭の特別なお菓子を食べる。

そして、子供がいれば卵に絵を描く。

まあ、別に子供がいなくても、楽しい。

ウサギ、卵などは昔の時代から春の象徴だから春にある復活祭の象徴になった。

親戚が集まって、家族で一緒に特別な食事を食べる。

別にどんな食事でもいいけど、ただ家族と一緒にいるのは大事。

今日海外に一人暮らししてる僕は何の食事しただろう。

ふぐ！

新しい伝統が始まるかな。。。

I just talked about Easter a bit in Japanese for those here who may not know about it. The top picture is an old family picture from Easter (I'm on the bottom left), and the bottom picture is today's special Easter breakfast: fugu (blowfish). Not exactly traditional fare, but I had to make do.

Snow Dragon

一月にだれか駅前に雪で竜を作った。
Back in January, someone made a dragon out of snow in front of the station.



格好いいと思ってたけど、ちょっと雨が降ったら変な形になちゃった。
I thought it was pretty cool until rainfall changed the shape into something a little strange.

Christmas Cookies

親のクリスマスツリー。下にプレゼントが置いてある。

クリスマスの昼食。

感謝祭の食事と変わらないけど、

僕は感謝祭の日にいなかったからこんな料理にした。

七面鳥、じゃが芋（マッシュポテト）、小パン、クランベリー等。

母親の知り合いが作ってくれたクリスマス・クッキー

クリスマスに「ジンジャーブレッドマン」と言うクッキーは大人気だ。

今年妹は「ジンジャー（生姜）・ブレッド（パン）・マン（男）」じゃなくて、

「ジンジャーブレッドオタク」を作った。

This year my sister made a "Ginger Bread Urkel"

シカゴ風ピザ

クリスマスの食事じゃないけどアメリカに帰ったら、すぐこれを食べた。シカゴ風のピザは普通のピザよりとてもデカイ。中にチーズ等いっぱい入っている。"Deep　Dish"(深い皿)で呼ばれる。

小京都革命: Revolution in Little Kyoto

サイクリングは趣味で、たまに福井市の近くの「小京都」で呼ばれる大野市へ行く。日本にいくつかの「小京都」はあると思うけど、大野市は自分の気に入りの田舎のお出掛けだ。自転車で山や田んぼを眺めながら落ち着く。

One of my hobbies is cycling, and I sometimes like to go to a town near Fukui City called Ono, which is also sometimes called "Little Kyoto" (Its temples and traditions are reminiscent of Kyoto according to some people). I think there are any number of "Little Kyoto" towns in Japan, but Ono is a personal favorite countryside getaway for me. Admiring the mountains and fields from a bicycle is very calming.

長年大野に住んでいる外国から来た友達は普通あまり町を出ないけど今年のお盆休みに仲間が一人も大野にいなかった。ということは、小京都は無防備になった。戦争戦略ゲームが好きな俺様はこんな機会を絶対に逃さないから、すぐ旅の準備をして大野を征服しに行った。

国、町等を征服するには旗が必要だからそれを準備した。下の写真は俺様の栄光の勝利の証拠だ。

Friends of mine from overseas who have lived in Ono for a long time usually don't leave town much, but this year during vacation time in August not one person remained there. This means that Little Kyoto was left defenseless. As a fan of war strategy games, I simply could not pass up this opportunity. I quickly prepared for my journey and set out to conquer Ono.

When conquering a country or a town, flags are necessary, so I prepared one. The pictures below are evidence of my glorious victory.

小京都は俺様のものじゃ！

これから大野に行く時ここで泊まる。

From now on when I visit Ono, I'm staying here.

俺様のお清水

My pure spring water

俺様の国際的に有名な半熟味付け煮玉子（越前大野駅の近くのラーメン屋さん）

My internationally renowned seasoned soft-boiled eggs (from a ramen place near the Ono JR station)

この寺町の写真をよく見たら、征服の道具が見える。

If you look closely at this picture of the temple district, you can see the instrument of my conquest.

俺様の里芋。

My satoimo fields.

俺様の山。俺様のお米。

My mountains. My rice.

俺様の不思議な橋。

My mysterious bridge.

俺様の置き忘れられた建設機器。

My misplaced construction equipment.

忙しい一日を終えて、この山葡萄で出来たワインを飲んでリラックスした。

After a hard day, I relaxed with wine made from these mountain grapes.

新しい帝王を祝う花火。

Fireworks to celebrate the new sovereign.

My New Job

最近転職した。今の職場は昔お城だったけど、今ただのビルだ。

僕の机は最上階にある。普段の仕事は下の絵の通りだよ。

”Ｓｏｍｅ　ｐｌｕｍｂｅｒ”　＝　「配管工」っていう意味。

This is my new job. The location used to be a castle, but now it's just a building.

My desk is on the top floor.

Red Monster

Last night around midnight I heard a strange noise out the back window.
Wondering what could be going on I leaned out and listened carefully.

My neighbor has a Tickle-Me-Elmo.

It may be rainin', but there's a rainbow above you

Hello, family.
Hello, friends.

I'm still alive, and, no, don't worry, I'm not glowing in the dark.

I'd like to thank my parents for being very calm and encouraging over the past month.
Other ALTs were not put at ease by family screaming for them to come home.
I'm glad to say that I have sensible support and trust at home.
That actually makes me want to go back and visit a lot more than incessant, harried phone calls ever could.

This weekend some friends and acquaintances of mine are running in a 5k marathon to raise money for the red cross and orphans in the disaster area. Actually, ALTs around the country will all be running at the same time. The neat thing about it is that the portions for the orphans will be managed by Smile Kids Japan, a charity group founded here in Fukui by people I know.

If you'd like to help you can donate with a credit card or paypal account directly.
Each runner has a set goal to raise, but I only know the website for one of them: http://www.justgiving.com/ohannasaurus/
She's really close to her goal, but even if she reaches it, don't hesitate to toss some change into her account for the relief effort.

As for me, I'll be in front of Fukui Station with a group of local musicians singing Johnny Cash and other various old tunes that keep me popular with the over-50 crowd. Our donation box will be for the relief effort, of course, but you can't give to that online.

Go Team!

2 AM This Morning

It snowed a lot last night. This is the view from my flat at 2 AM.

This is what things looked like in the morning.

This is what I was looking at a little more than a week ago. I'll post more about that later.

「嵐からの隠れ場所」： Real Men Don't Wear Skinny Jeans

（今回ハイパーリンクをたくさん入れた。楽しんでね）


中学校で働く。
中学生の時代は人生の中のとても面白いところだ。
一年生は元気いっぱいで、授業は大体楽しい。
二年生は自分の役割を探していて、まじめな勉強と幼い遊びの間にいる。
三年生は少しまじめ過ぎるけど、毎年三年生の中に知性か好奇心の輝きがある生徒を見つける。

面白いことは面白いんだが、ちょっと困るところもある。
I HATE ARASHI.
言っちゃった。
僕は高校時代から音楽に興味を持っている。
その「興味」に普通の女性より化粧するガリガリに痩せた男子のグループは一つも含まれてない。
ロック、ジャズ、クラシック、オペラでも聴くけど、中学生の憧れの歌手はなかなか～何といえばいいかな～中学生しか聴くことを楽しめない見たい。

確かに僕も音楽に興味を持つようになる前に。。。まあ、忘れた方が良いね。

「嵐からの隠れ場所」は自分の大好きなボブ・ディランの曲名なんだ。

今日の授業で普通の女性より化粧するガリガリに痩せた男子のグループからの隠れ場所を建て始めた。

学校に着いたら、生徒や先生はほとんどいないことに気がついた。遠足、職場体験で色々な所に行っちゃった（日本語をかなり分かるけど、仕事の朝礼の内容を全て聞き取るわけではない）。残りの生徒と一つの授業だけあった。残りの一人の英語の先生は「テスト終わったところで、復習のゲームなどでいい」と言っていた。
「任せて！」
中学校の授業はほとんど教科書通りにするけど、何ヶ月か前に音楽歴史のレッスンを準備した。１９５０年代と１９６０年代の有名な歌手の写真と歌を仕事のパソコンに保存した。今朝、「やっと、僕の番だ！」という気持ちで、生徒に本当紹介したいことを紹介出来た。

チャック・ベリーと、ボブ・ディランと、ザ・ビートルズを生徒に聴かせた。
ボブ・ディランの「風に吹かれて」は簡単なコードと簡単な英語を使って、深い意味を伝えているから、授業の中心にした。そのような曲のおかげで彼は「１９６０年代の若者の声」と呼ばれるようになった。嵐はいつか「日本の若者の声」となったら、僕はすぐ日本語の勉強をあきらめて、帰国するだろう。

生徒は昔の音楽はどう思うかよく分からないけど、一応ちょっとでも聴く機会があった。

今度ローリングストーンズにしおうか？



I wrote this blog in Japanese.
I probably made many mistakes.
It's about using music in the classroom and trying to introduce my students to something that isn't performed by prancing, girly men. There are some links to youtube videos throughout.

Hamburger Land

There is a new restaurant in Fukui.



Using the "4 Secrets of Delicious", as they call it, Hamburger Land boasts a seemingly bottomless list of options of sandwiches and burger varieties as well as shakes, nachos, fried onion peels and more. Also, they play Buddy Holly.

So, basically, someone made a list of things people from the States miss about greasy, roadside diner food and made it into the kind of restaurant you'd expect to see on the set of Back to the Future, complete with appropriate attire.

I went today for the first time.


I think it's going to be a good year for me.

Merica Day

When I arrived at work this morning I received a pile of student writing to mark. In the pile was some poetry. They were free to choose their own subjects. "Life", "music", "soccer", "the moon" and several other topics made the list. One student decided to match her or his theme to the festivities simultaneously taking place thousands of kilometres to the West (remember, kids, there's a full day's time difference):

America.

Delicious food

and people are very fat.

Hamburgers, sweets, big food.

I don't want to be like them.

Round.

Harsh, but sometimes you need tough love to improve yourself.
Especially where weight loss is concerned.

Well, I want to end this post on a happy note, so here's a song to cheer you up from Hugh Laurie.

One Bad Habit Describes Another: Haiku Round 4

puffs of fleeting smoke
cigarettes tossed to the wind
such is woman's love

Cycling Scenery: Winery Visit

A few weeks ago I spent a day cycling trying to find a winery I saw advertised while on a previous ride. The picture below illustrates what most of the countryside looks like out in the hills where I was wandering.
I did eventually find the place: Hakusan Winery. Wine really has no tradition in Japan, and this particular location has only been in operation for less than 10 years. Basically, they grow a few grapes in the hillside. Not much to look at, but still I had a nice afternoon ride, nonetheless.
Not much else to report. If weather allows, I'll be going back to this same area this weekend to do some hiking with an elderly couple that are friends with my Japanese instructor. I've never met them before. Should be interesting.

One last thing, a friend of mine wasn't updating her blog, so I did it for her. You probably don't know her unless if you live in Fukui, but, anyway, if you're curious, here's a link: friendblog

七夕: Of Stars and Separation

七夕

Tanabata
(The Seventh Evening)

July 7th is is "Tanabata", a day in which we recall the star-crossed fate of a heavenly princess and her beloved cowherd and celebrate that most Japanese perspective on romance, "love means never actually having to see each other".

Orihime (the star Vega), daughter of the King of the Heavens (the Universe), used to weave beautiful clothing next to the Heavenly River (the Milky Way). She was so busy with her work, however, that she was unable to meet a good man and fall in love. Concerned, her father decided to arrange for her to meet Hikoboshi, the cowherder (the star Altair). The two hit it off instantly and fell so much in love that they no longer performed their duties. Orihime no longer weaved her beautiful clothes and Hikoboshi allowed his cattle to roam freely across the sky. This upset the King of the Heavens, so he separated the two across the Heavenly River and forbid them to see each other. Orihime became despondent, however, and her father, not wanting to see her so sad, told her that if she did her work dutifully she and Hikoboshi could meet once a year on the seventh day of the seventh month.

It is said that the first time they tried to meet, the Heavenly River prevented them from being able to draw close to each other. Orihime cried so fervently that a flock of magpies overheard and came to build a bridge with their wings for the lovers to cross. This is why people say that if it should rain on Tanabata, the magpies cannot come and Orihime and Hikoboshi will have to wait another year to see each other.


Various places in Japan hold Tanabata festivals, but the most common way to celebrate is simply to write a wish on a piece of paper and hang it on bamboo. I get this impression that this custom is most popular with children in primary schools, but that doesn't mean that you won't see older people making wishes too (The 2008 Hokkaido G8 Summit, for example).



Somehow, it seems very appropriate to me that a festival about separated lovers should fall in July. Our contracts with the Fukui Board of Education expire this month, and most of those who have chosen not to continue working here will leave before August. Summers are always strange in Fukui. At the same time that we bid farewell to our old friends we welcome in a new crew of people - most of whom we will probably have to say goodbye to this time next year, anyway.
Sunrise, sunset, ebb, flow, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Black or White?

More than 98% of the Japanese population is ethnically Japanese. A large portion of the remaining population is of other East Asian descent.

Needless to say, people notice differences in appearance.
Hair color, eye color, facial structure, facial hair, arm hair, noses, eyelashes and more can all be a source of curiosity when a Japanese person encounters a foreigner. Some of the most interesting conversations I've had about appearance, though, revolve around skin color.


Last weekend I was outside almost all of Saturday and Sunday cycling and practicing for an Ultimate Frisbee tournament. Both days were very sunny, and my skin naturally became darker as a result. Then, when I returned to school on Monday I had an amusing conversation with some of my more entertaining first year middle school students.

"Sensei," one boy asked (in Japanese), "are you Black or White?"
"White, of course."
"But you have Black people in your family, right?"
To which another boy chimed in, "only White people can have White kids!"
"Yes, but if a Black and White person marry they could have mixed kids."

The silly thing is, this isn't the first time people have asked questions like that. Here in Japan I have been Black, Brazilian, Spanish, Indian, Scottish (someone once even said that I had a "very Scottish face") and more. Such are the joys of internationalization!

Love Grows Under my Umbrella

相合傘

I learned a fun Japanese expression the other day. When two people share an umbrella it's called, "ai ai gasa" (see above). The characters basically mean something like, "coming together under an umbrella". We get a lot of rain here. In fact, the entire month of June usually falls under the category of "rainy season".
"Ai ai gasa" isn't limited to shared efforts to stay dry. As one of the teachers at my school informed me, "little girls like to think that when a boy and a girl share the same umbrella it means romance". He told me this after half of our classroom rushed to the window to see a single female teacher sharing an umbrella outside with a man.

In the romantic instance of "ai ai gasa", it's possible to employ a common Japanese word play method and use different characters than normal. Instead of 相合傘 (coming together under an umbrella), we can write 愛合傘 (love meets under an umbrella) . Both are read as, "ai ai gasa".


For the record, the teacher and the man were fixing a fence in front of the school.