Mister Cyan says

Ang Mo's family crest

2006-01-08T20:28:00.002-08:00

The Knights of the Maru-ni-tachibana. My Japanese family crest. Translated, it means,
"With in a circle, the Standing flower, ".
Check it out!
-Juju-

Temple Boy Chapter 4

2005-12-23T00:01:00.002-08:00

It's early morning and eerily calm. The clouds have parted and the orange rays have burst through. The rising sun catches the ice particles in the air creating faint lines that extend from the cloud to the snow covered plains.

Manabu awakes. His pale skin and blue lips show signs of the night he has endured. He has difficulties opening his eyes in the bright morning light. Eventually Manabu squints and looks around with painul dry eyes. Still in a dreamy state, he cannot recognise the transformed scenery. The soft branches of the cypress pines that sheltered him from the blistering winds are drooping low from the burden of the dense snow that now rests on it.

Still wedged into the corner of the small shrine Manabu begins to recollect the events of the previous night. His memory is disjointed but the overall pain and the patch of dried blood on his pants slowly draws him back to reality. Manabu hears signs of life with the distinct chirping of a "hiyodori" resonating in the distant forest. Another replies. Then another, until eventually the forest becomes a choir of echoing music.

Unable to move, Manabu continues to sit under the shelter of the humble shrine to enjoy the warmth of the rays and natures music until a faint ringing is heard from under his jacket. Manabu forms a slight smile.
"Ohayou"

-Juju-

Apostrophe Gang

2005-12-11T23:13:00.000-08:00

The Vigilante motley crew of apostrophe. "Check it Out".
I love photoshop.
-Juju-

If...

2005-11-14T02:02:00.001-08:00

Even if we could,
would we?
And should we if we could?

Hmmm, food for thought.

-Juju-

Lost In Translation.

2005-11-08T23:48:00.000-08:00

A beautifully tragic song, "Sukiyaki" by Sakamoto Kyu, is an timeless classic. To the japanese this song is a folk favorite. The lyrics encapsulates the Japanese pride and the Japanese man.

Unfortunately, this song was lost in traslation to the western audience. To begin with it has nothing to do with Sukiyaki, a Japanese dish. In Japanese, the title is Ue wo muite arukou, meaning walk with your head held high.

I took the liberty of translating the lyrics so people who read this can appreciate Sakamoto Kyu's simple message.

Ue Wo Muite Arukou.

Walking with my head held high,
So the tears don’t run.
Memories of that day in Spring.
It’s a lonely night.

Walking with my head held high,
Counting the stars
Memories of that day in Summer.
It’s a lonely night.

Happiness is above the clouds,
Happiness is above the sky.

Walking with my head held high,
So the tears don’t run.
As I cry, I walk on.
It’s a lonely night.

Memories of that day in Autumn,
It’s a lonely night.

Sadness in the shadows of the stars,
Sadness in the shadows of the moon.

Walking with my head held high,
So the tears don’t run.
As I cry, I walk on.
It’s a lonely night

It’s a lonely night.

Beautiful song, but very sad also. This song made it to #1 on the US Pop charts i 1963. But the irony is that no one new what he was singing about.

In 1985, he was among the 520 people killed in the crash of JAL Flight 123 , the most deadly single-plane accident in aviation history. But the words he voiced in his song "Ue wo muite arukou" will live on forever.

-Juju-

Temple Boy, Chapter 3

2005-11-01T22:36:00.000-08:00

Light seeps through the cracks of the black timber boards of the old shack, providing Manabu with just enough light to load his bicycle basket with the local news papers. The bicycle is an old one gear bicycle. The rust on the chain and spokes shows signs of age but functionable. The light slowly dims as the sun hides behing dark cloud blocking the warm rays. Manabu shivers;

Samu. (cold)

Manabu rides out of the shack through deep snow, and waves to Tousan still on the roof;

Ittekimasu.

He rides out on to the icy roads and down the mountain pass.

Looking up to the cloud, Tousan mumbles;

Kiwo tsukeroyo. (be careful)

Manabu rides competantly down the windy road, maneauvering around the black ice and the heaps of sleat. The ear muffs dangling off his snow hat flap violently.

Slowly clouds rumbles across the sky, envolping the open white plains into darkness.

Manabu rides in to the village where he is greeted by the locals. The township of Iizuna Kogen has a strong western influence with predominantly Swiss architecture, a world very different from his mountain peak temple where the traditions and ways of life resemble a family of 1900 Japan. Ski and snow board enthusiasts frequent Iizuna for the steep downhills and challenging moguels.

Manabu ignores the city folk and promptly carries on with his rounds, delivering the news papers to restaurants, eateries and cafes for the tourists to read.

Attempting to speak over the howling winds a restauranteaur yells to Manabu;

You better hurry on home Manabu, the storms are setting in.

Manabu replies

Ice particles form on his nose tips, cheaks and eyebrows as Manabu rides home against blistering winds. Snow fall gets heavier hindering Manabu's sight of the road. Riding faster than usual, exhaustion starts to kick in and lactic acid builds up dulling his thighs and calves. Without warning the tires lose tracksion of the road Manabu slips on the black ice skiding off the road. Struggling to get up from the exhaution, he lays unmoved on the road side. He breathes heavily from the gruelling ride. Eventually he stand and move to a near by shelter, a small shrine on the side of a road. The shrine is a small shack with a stone statue of a monk like figure and next to it are several unlit candles. Manabu drags his battered bicycle and squats next to the statue to rest out of the freezing winds.

Manabu reaches in to his saddle bag, pulling out a match box. From inside the match box sounds the ringing of a cricket.

Yea, i think we have to rest here for awhile.

Manabu closes the match box and places it carefully in to his jacket to keep it warm. The blizzard continues. Manabu looks around hopelessly.

Samu (cold).

-Juju-

Temple Boy, chapter 2

2005-10-24T00:56:00.000-07:00

Sunlight bursts into the prayer hall as Touson opens the sliding shoji doors. The light fills the room, exposing the dust particles dancing in the rays. He sees Manabu outside swinging the axe with ease, splitting logs to feed the fires for the irori and the furo (bath). Tousan watches on for a brief while with sadness in his eyes, then carries on with his daily chores. The sounds of splitting wood continues.
Manabu in mid swing is interupted by the sounds of a cricket in the near by bushes.

Manabu presses his finger to his mouth,
Ssshhh!
and whispers,
be quiet.
He carries on with his chores.

Tousan squints from the glare as he shovels the snow off the roof of the temple. A slight breeze has picked up blowing the loose snow off the canopies of the cypress pine in to piles around the base of the trunks. Tousan rests awhile. Clothes flapping in the breeze, he looks up as if thanking god for this day.

The sun hides behind a passing cloud, providing Manabu with some relief from the afternoon heat. He wipes the perspiration from across his forehead and breathes a sigh of relief. He hears the cricket singing out to him.
Sigh. What? i'm busy.

Manabu rests his axe by the chopping block, and walks over to the sourse of the ringing. Squatting under the shade of a tree, he mumbles words. Unrecognisable words.

Tousan yells out from the roof;
Oi, who you talking to? haven't you got your rounds to do?

Manabu replies unethusiastically;
Hai.

Tousan shakes his head and carries on.

-Juju-

Temple Boy, chapter 1

2005-10-20T21:27:00.000-07:00

Inspired by a personal experience.

In the early days of January, heavy snow fall covers Iizuna a luminescent white. The leaves have fallen, and the wildlife has retired in to hibernation. The moonlight adds a tinge of blue creating a cold, but eeriely peaceful feeling.

The vast expance of the mountain plains stands, Manabu. A 16 years old boy. He is dwarfed by the massive landscapes of the Nagano Alps. The faint chatting of insects can be heard in the distance. The silence of the landscape amplifies the songs of the crickets. Manabu is Squatting under the braches of a leafless tree, where he smiles and mutters unrecognizable words to his right hand, where an insect rests.

He squats alone, in the deep snow, and talks. He smiles.

He loses track of time, and eventually the moon sets waking the sun from its slumber which rims the snow capped peaks with an intense light. He says his farewells and continues on home.

By now, his mother, kaasan (mum), has started the cooking of the breakfast. The usual miso shiru, rice, sanma fish and a few pickles. She is hard at work cooking over the naked falmes of the irori (fire pit). His father, tousan (dad) is busy in the prayer hall, fullfilling his morning ritual. He sits in the sei-za (kneeling) position on the hard timber floors and mutters his prayers. the beads hanging from his wrists rattle as he continues to pray.

Tousans intense concentration is broken from the sound of Manabu entering through the sliding door.

Manabu: Tadaima

Tousan nods and continues....

-juju-

Searching for Murphy

2005-10-20T03:45:00.000-07:00

Paging Mr. Murphy.

Mr. Murphy.

Will Mr. Murphy please stand up.

It seems that the ever elusive Mr. Murphy Law has gotten away yet again. Who is this man? Where did he come from? How can one man cause so much havoc all over the world, and get away scott free?

I am on a mission. A mission to find the man who on accasion, has caused much stress and made my life a living hell. I am on a mission to find the man calling himself Murphy Law.

Damn you Mr. Murphy Law. I will find you!

Could it be...

Richard Murphy: Friend from secondary school. Highly unlikely. Good Guy.

Brittany Murphy: Hmmm??

Eddie Murphy: Possibility

Murphy Brown: Watch the show. It is a comedy of errors. coincidence, i think not.

Robocop: He admitted it in the last line of the Movie.

"My name is Murphy". I think it was a confession. hmmm.

food for thought.

I will find you Murphy Law!

-Juju-

Ang Mo, Phone Home

2005-10-18T05:25:00.000-07:00

Born in the islands of the northern Archipalego, raised on the island of the southern seas and dwelling on an island of the central tropics. This is me; "ang mo". It seems like i have thing for the islands.

Sitting at cafe Cosmo, i think back in yearning of the old times. Times when 'time' was free, and being free was a God given right. They were the days.

The days where i spent my early springs hiking the peaks of Gunma, wading the streams of the wintermelts in Karasugawa and roasting sweet potatoes in an open bon fire with a pickishly tinged Asamasun on the Horizon.

They were the days.

The days when I spent summer afternoons on beaches as vast as the eyes can see, swimming in the salty waters of the pacific until the late afternoon and feeding on fish and chips from Morgans watching the sun sneak off to sleep behind the horizon.

They were the days.

Am I living in the past?

Don't i have new memories?

Am I getting old thinking of the past?

I love thinking back to the good old days.

because thats what makes me, ME.

The Island boy; "Ang Mo".

-Juju-

Ang Mo's top 10...

2005-10-17T22:47:00.000-07:00

Ang Mo's Top 10 beer list:

10. Hoegaarden (with wedge of orange)

09. Tiger (good cheap beer, gets you higher faster)

08. VB (a nostalgic beer. A drink for broke students)

07. Coopers Ale (highly recommended)

06. Kirin (i grew up near the brewery, hence cant help it)

05. Heineken (Jennifer Aniston drinks it. Thats good enough for me)

04. Asahi (what can i say, the beer of the morning light)

03. James Boags (ummm. beer with class)

02. Erdinger (Dark and sexy)

01. James Squire (Australia first Brewed beer. The best decision the Aussies have ever made)

Words of Wisdom...
"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."
-Benjamin Franklin-

"Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza."

-Dave Barry-

History

"The oldest proven records of brewing are about 6,000 years old and refer to the Sumerians. Sumeria lay between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers including Southern Mesopotamia and the ancient cities of Babylon and Ur. "

"A seal around 4,000 years old is a Sumerian "Hymn to Ninkasi", the goddess of brewing. This "hymn" is also a recipe for making beer. It is unknown how this beer making process came about, but there must have been some divine intervention."

"A description of the making of beer on this ancient engraving in the Sumerian language is the earliest account of what is easily recognized as barley, followed by a pictograph of bread being baked, crumbled into water to form a mash, and then made into a drink that is recorded as having made people feel "exhilarated, wonderful and blissful."

" The Sumerians were able to repeat this process and are assumed to be he first civilized culture to brew beer. They had discovered a "divine drink" which certainly was a gift from the gods."

There you have it. A gift from the gods. What else can i say.

-juju-

Ang Mo's loves fruit

2005-10-17T21:36:00.000-07:00

Last night after a couple of heineken at my favorite Cafe Cosmo, i started drowning in my reverie. It was a quiet night, i was chatting with Ray, and for some strange reason i started thinking about fruit. Colourful, sweet, luscious fruit.

Its a beautiful thing, the fruit Salad. The best invention since sliced bread, ice cubes, bottled water and the little clippy thing that ties the bread packet. I love fruit. I love apples, bannanas, pineapple, star fruite, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, melon, watermelon, rockmelon, pademelon, all kinds of fruit. But Durians? I hate you DURIAN! You smell!

Imagine been able to have all the fruits that you love just waiting to be eaten. you dont have to choose. its all there right in front of you saying "eat me", "devour me", "love me".

But have you ever thought, maybe the apple doesn't like the bannana, or the blackberry doesn't like the watermelon. They have feelings too. Its not easy to mix and match. Sometimes it's just not compatible. So its just sometimes easier to eat the one fruit and try to enjoy it. I know, it sucks, but thats the way it goes.

But I love fruit salad. What to do?

-juju-