It’s been ages since my last post, but strangely enough, I’ve had 3 comments in the past week on various topics – even heard from an old friend that I haven’t talked to since high school.  Like usual the post about squid ink pasta remains popular, and according to Google Web Tools, I’m ranked around number 7 when you type in that key phrase.  Guess not many other people have written about it.  Anyway, I thought it might be nice to write again and keep everyone up to date on what is going on.

Tonight I sat back to enjoy the third presidential debate.  The first two were pretty boring, but this last one had a sense of urgency that made for good viewing.  Both candidates seemed to be surrounded in a cloud of pressure forcing them to get their message out much more forcefully, and I can only ask why this didn’t happen before.  I felt that this third one was pretty evenly matched, but unfortunately McCain came across as being a little whiny.  I used to be a huge McCain fan so it’s pretty disappointing to see how far he’s fallen in this campaign.  I’m sure a lot of it is the work of his campaign team, even his brother told the press to let him be him, but you’d think he’d have more control over what is going on.  Obama’s policies just make more sense to me this time around – especially in areas such as health care, which I was without while living in the US.  I will say this though: even if Obama wins, I’m still disappointed in his Yes vote for telecom immunity.

As for other going ons, there’s more after the jump:
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Sorry for the delay since my last blog post.  I have been in Germany for the last few days on business and I just got home last night.  To be honest, I have no idea where to actually start this post.  I feel like I have a lot of ground to cover and rather than make you read a 4-page summary of my last 3 days, I figure I’ll just try to sum up everything.

First of all, Germany (or a related story).  It was kind of a strange feeling heading to Germany.  I’ve always wanted to visit the country, but after 3 trips to Korea and a trip to the Maldives (roughly 13,000 miles) in the past two months, you can’t really blame me for being sick of flying.  The trip to Germany is only around 11 or 12 hours from here, but once you pass the 10-hour mark, life on an airplane becomes a challenge.  It was a first for me to fly on Lufthansa and I actually really enjoyed the airline company.  After riding on Asiana and then on Lufthansa you really start to see how pathetic most of the American airlines are in areas of service and meals.  Lufthansa had actual silverware (no sporks here, I’m afraid) and in addition to two choices you were given food that was actually edible.  American companies have reduced passengers to cardboard selection A or B and no matter what you choose it tastes basically the same.  I will say that in terms of personal luxury, Americans have the advantage.  Most of the international flights that I’ve been on out of the States have the built-in TVs.  Neither Asiana nor Lufthansa had these – a very sad thing indeed.  I have to also say that I probably wouldn’t be complaining so much if I hadn’t read on the exact same flight that airlines are operating at their highest profit margin in quite some time. Perhaps they could use that money to improve the overall flying experience.

As for Germany (getting back to it), it exceeded all of my expectations.  The country is beautiful, the people are extremely friendly, the food is amazing, and the architecture is extremely impressive.  I was only there for three days but I would easily move there if given the chance.  I’ve finally started feeling at home in Japan (after six years of living here) and I felt a million times more comfortable in just my first day of being in Germany.  I realize that there a million factors at play here, but I truly could not get enough of how personable everyone (including store owners, passengers, drivers, etc.) was.  There’s really so much to say about why I enjoyed the trip that it’s actually hard to write about it.  I will say that one of the highlights of the trip was drinking German beer.  I’m not sure what it is about their brews, but they’re good…really good.  They are a bit tastier than normal, and especially the ales and dark beers were great.  More than anything, if you make it to Germany, you HAVE to try the beer.  I might get into more about this trip in future posts, but if anyone has questions let me know!  Make sure to check out more info about the church you’re seeing in the attached photo.

Next up, I would like to welcome some new visitors to my site. I can’t really say how many there are (I don’t know), but it’s always nice to have some new faces around. I hope you can put up with my constant ranting to find something you enjoy reading. I promise that I’m only complaining 90% of the time. However! Like I promised on my friend Matt’s blog, I’m actually going to open myself to some critique and post my first of two short stories. I’d love it to hear what everyone thinks – even if you hate it – scratch that, especially if you hate it. My writing is prone to some pretty heinous grammar mistakes, but if you can get over that just let me have it. I’m one of those types that learn more from criticism. Oh, and just so you can prepare yourself, the story is a mix of sci-fi and horror.  It’s called On the Edge.

Next up, I found an interesting site that everyone should check out. It supposedly determines your political leanings – although I can’t really vouch for its accuracy. I took the test as honestly as I could and I’m apprently as Liberatarian as Ghandi was (although unless you’re counting Ghandi 2 we’re not quite the same personality wise). Give it a try and see how it turns out. Maybe you’re the next W. – or in anime terms WX.

Oh and last, I just wanted to give everyone the heads up of a great short story I found. It’s called Northwest Passage by Barbara Roden and it’s a short little ditty that will screw with your preconceptions about a lot of things.

Recently I’ve been swept up in following the presidential debates. Living in Japan I have very little access to the normal stuff that people in the US see on a daily basis but luckily with more and more progress being made with the internet framework, I’m finally getting a taste of the good stuff.

I mentioned in my last blog report about how much I liked the democratic debate that was shown on YouTube, and I think last week or so there was another Republican debate shown on ABC (which I also saw on YouTube). Unfortunately the Republicans won’t be having the same kind of YouTube style debate (I heard it was because they were afraid of the questions), but in this most recent one they did have a few poor attempts at trying to duplicate it. For the most part, I have to admit that the Republican debate was a hell of a lot more interesting than the Democratic one. To me it seems as if the Democrats are deathly afraid of saying what they really believe in order to avoid offending one group or another and on the other hand the Republicans are in damage control mode trying to portray an image of strength to the people. Surprisingly enough, the Republicans on display at the debate had a wide variety of opinions about the topics, and even more surprising, a few of the people seemed quite appealing.

Like I mentioned before, I think the time has really come for us to analyze the candidates based on what they say and do rather than by looking at their party affiliations. The Democrats are usually more in line with my way of thinking, but I’ve really started to believe that just voting for them because they’re Democrats is actually a waste of a vote AND a failure in my part as an American citizen. The reason politics are so bad right now is because some time in the 70s or 80s it became popular to vote along party lines. I’m sure it started in the 70s but it was probably solidified in an anti-Republican backlash during the Reagan administration.

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On a slightly lighter topic, I wanted to mention one more thing I forgot about my honeymoon to the Maldives. At the resort we stayed at, I finally got the chance to meet C-3PO. Can you believe it?! Seriously though, it was pretty strange seeing the embodiment of C-3PO asking me how my day was and what I wanted to drink with dinner. As for why I thought he was the reincarnation of a robot from a sci-fi movie – well, that’s an easy one. First of all, his posture was immaculate…humans were never meant to walk as if their spine was a metal bar. Second, he moved his head and arms very little (and independently from the normal flow of his body motions), and his arms were always held out to his sides with his arms slightly bent. It was just bizarre. That and when he spoke, he had absolutely zero emotion. I only wish I got a picture of him, but it’s kind of strange when you ask to pose with a waiter…I suppose.

Life sure has a strange way of surprising you when you least expect it.

First of all, you may be wondering why I haven’t updated my blog in so long (actually, I think I probably only have like 3 readers so maybe not). The reason is because suddenly I’m so busy I don’t know what to do with myself. Last week I went with my wife on our belated honeymoon to the Maldives. I don’t have any pictures right now to show you all, but needless to say it was a really fun trip. Lots of relaxing and doing nothing but hanging out in the sun and reading. It was sad leaving that place behind, but at the same time the service was so good (excessively so) that I was starting to get a tiny bit turned out from that aspect of things. How do all of you feel about stuff like that? Like for example, when you have a tiny little bag, do you prefer to carry it yourself or have someone do it for you? The people at resorts like this are paid to carry bags, etc. but for some reason I draw the line at tiny little things like this. I hope that everyone at some point or another gets the chance to head out to the Maldives – it’s well worth the cost and the weather is amazing.

Next up I would like to talk about the moon – a bit of a geek out or something. While I was in the Maldives (which is fairly close the equator) I just couldn’t get enough of the moon. We were really lucky to head there during a full moon, and it really changed the atmosphere of the trip. The moon moves across the sky much faster at the equator. I’m not exactly sure why (I’m assuming it’s because the moon has more distance to cover while following the equator) but it just made for some exciting viewing. Also, as the moon rises above the horizon, its color is orange. Then as it heads higher and higher it starts to get brighter and brighter and by the apex of the climb it’s a bright white color. In fact, the moon was so bright that you could see everything around you in the same way as if you had a pale colored flashlight. It really felt like being in a painting.

Another reason for my sudden lack of time is my work. Suddenly I’m doing business trips to foreign countries, making presentations for executives, etc. and I get home around 11pm every night now. It’s exciting do something like for the first time, but I’ve never been this busy ever before. I spent some time in Korea last week (my flight was the same day as my return flight from the honeymoon) and that was really fun. The people in Korea seem really nice, but it’s also interesting to see how men put on a scary-looking face to look more “manly.” Here I was smiling like a fool and everyone was looking at me. No big deal, but a really interesting experience.

I’m getting my PC tonight (hopefully) and so I’m looking forward to setting it up. It will be nice to try out some of my older games with a better video card. Hope everyone is doing well!