Song-Song

So I got my music thing working again. It occurred to me that it would still work on the blog even if I can't listen to it in Japan. Its a hurtful reminder of my sad state of music these days. My vast personal library has been rendered inaccessible by malfunctioning hardware. I have but a tiny fraction of my stash on my actual computer but it mainly serves as a reminder of my loss. I hardly ever listen to music at home anymore. How depressing. That's also due in large part to my relatively recent foray into podcasts which is not a negative per se, but listening to music used to just be such a huge part of my life that its new absence makes me sad.

I imagine this has more than a little to do with where I live, but it seems like there are lots of trucks on the road in Japan. Like big trucks I mean. Not 18 wheelers exactly, but their smaller siblings where the trailer is permanently attached to the cab. Anyway, Route 2, my local thoroughfare, is crawling with them. It's at least a 1 to 1 ratio to cars. So I was thinking maybe that has to do with trains. In America no one rides the train. Not in Texas anyway. We use our railways for freight and cargo. Not so in Japan. Trains are probably the most common form of transport. And with people taking up all the space on the rails, all the cargo is relegated to the highways and byways. Or thats my theory at least.

Let Down

Until I can figure out my music situation, or give up and scrap the whole thing, I'm relegated to just telling you about the tunes. The soundtrack for this post is the reggae cover of Radiohead's 'Let Down' by the Easy Star All Stars featuring Toots and the Maytals.

I have lived in three countries in my life. One notoriously clean, one notoriously dirty, and one we'll call in the middle. In one of these countries there's a trash can every 20 yards. In public areas there are trash cans everywhere. I really liked that about this place. I never had to carry around trash for more than 5 minutes before finding a trash can to dispose of my refuse. In my current nation of residence, I can't find a trash can to save my life. Even disposing of my household garbage is a hassle. They have all manner of regulations regarding when you are allowed to dispose of certain types of garbage and even which trash cans you can put said garbage into. I have come to hate going out here because I can never find a trashcan in which I'm allowed to drop in a gum wrapper or tissue. I'm invariably stuck carrying a pocketful of trash around for hours on end until I finally find a trash can, only to discover it's only for plastic bottles or aluminum cans. And here's the kicker, this is the famously clean country. All these trash rules and regulations have in fact made me a worse litterbug. Not that I throw my trash willy nilly all over the ground, but I have been know to toss whatever I have into whatever trash can I can find.

2011

Against my better judgement I have made some New Year's resolutions. One of them is to give this blog another go. Scaled down of course. That is to say with lowered expectations. Not that I expect anything from this blog, but as a general rule I hold myself to impossibly high standards. Impossibly high. So we'll reconnoiter and reboot. I think I've been inactive for long enough that I shouldn't have any readers left. Regardless of truthfulness, believing it should help alleviate the (completely self imposed) pressure to be "on." SO... more to come. Sadly though, without musical accompaniment. It seems the music thingy on the side doesn't work from Japan. Or, more accurately "Due to licensing restrictions, some tracks may be unavailable in your country."