Cue the dreaded Disney ride music...

So I had to go to 7 11 this morning for some much needed supplies. There's one on every corner and they have international atms!

Well, the lady started talking to me in Japanese but randomly switched to English and asked if I was from Austrailia. (Do I speak Japanese with an Austrailian accent? Who knew?) Well, after talking to her for a bit I told her that her English was so good, it sounded like she was from Hawaii... Turns out, she is!

All the way around the world, and someone from my home state is just around the corner...

It's a small world after all.

Book Review -Christopher Buckley

I'm so far behind on posting the books I've read... I've read four since my last review, but I'll do the most recent one.


No Way to Treat a First Lady by Christopher Buckley (author of "Thank you for Smoking") was really good. When I started reading it, I was afraid it was going to be a John Grisham-esque courtroom drama book, but it is oh so much more than that. It is hard to make a book so ridiculous and at the same time getting your readers to think that they've seen all of those characters in real life. People were staring at me strangely when at times I would laugh out loud. It's almost the "Waiting for Gufman" of courtroom drama.

Definitely more books by Buckley are going on my wishlist.

Synopsis

The lurid sexual excesses that dominated presidential politics in the late '90s provide plenty of comic fodder for Buckley's latest satire, which doubles as a legal thriller that begins when President Ken MacMann is found dead in bed next to his wife after a vigorous night in a White House guest room with his latest mistress, film star Babette Van Anka. First lady Elizabeth MacMann whose tabloid nickname is Lady Bethmac is first on the suspect list, largely because she bopped Ken with an antique spittoon after his latest infidelity, leaving a bruise that spelled out Paul Revere's name on the late presidential forehead. Beth quickly hires an expensive, successful legal gun named Boyce "Shameless" Baylor, who also happens to be an old flame, and Baylor wades into the sordid mess, using the well-established tactics of tabloid trials to steer his client toward reasonable doubt. But Beth gets cocky after his initial success and insists on taking the stand to clear her reputation, a tactic that backfires so badly that Baylor is forced to resort to jury tampering to try to force a mistrial. Buckley has to use some obvious narrative cliches to get Baylor and MacMann out of the mess after they rekindle their romance, but the good news is that this book is more plot driven than Buckley's earlier satires, making it more coherent and effective over the long haul.

Not the whole story...

One of the problems with living in a country where you are still learning the language is that at times you don't always get the whole story. We were expecting a very large group of Chinese people, so they asked me to stay late since everyone's sets would be shorter because none of us spoke Chinese. They were set to arrive at 9:30, but they were late.

I heard the manager say that they were going to be one to two hours late, and that he was very sorry. So I got ready to hunker down with my book as it seemed like it was going to be awhile. Well, the lighting guy asked me why I wasn't eating my dinner since I was finished...

The whole story was that since they were going to be late they only needed one magician. Poor Taka had to stay... I understand more each day, but sometimes the key points escape me.


In other news:

Also had a curtain snafu with the aforementioned Taka. He was the lucky soul who was supposed to open the curtain, but he got in a conversation and missed it (he's only 19). Well, since it's not a union house, I just opened it myself figuring I'd come one a bit late but no harm no foul.

Taka runs up in mid-curtain-open and says, "Sorry, I've got it" (that time I did understand the whole thing BTW)

Unfortunately, he grabs the wrong line and closes the curtain just as I reach center stage. You can't actually see the stage from the curtain pull thingy, so he had no idea. I then had to go off stage to re-open the curtain, but the manager got there first and opened it for me.

Meanwhile, the music is playing and I missed about a quarter of the Billiard Ball Routine... I caught up, and finished the show...

Japan Pictures!

I just posted a bunch of pictures I've taken (well, not really a bunch but slightly more than a few) on Facebook. Rather than post and then reposting, I thought I'd just provide you guys the link for those of you that want to see them.

Click here for the Facebook Photo Album of Fukuoka, Japan!

Book Review: The Big Question

Since I've been here, I've finished 3 books and haven't posted any of them...oops...so the next couple posts will be about what I read.



The Big Question by Chuck Barris (yes, the one from the gong show) was just awesome. I love how he gives you such a background on each of the characters that you feel that you know them. Some you are rooting to win, some you are glad when they lose, and in the end...well, you'll have to read it to see.

I have already put a few of his books on my wishlist. Who knew he was so talented?

Synopsis

A retired game-show producer is accosted by a grubby old man, who offers to sell him an idea for a new show. In Barris' near-future world, assisted suicide is legal, and in the proposed new show, contestants either win $100 million or are executed on live television. The novel follows the lives of several potential contestants, including a teenage prostitute, an elderly woman, and an ex-con, but what makes the tale so fascinating--some might say warped--is that the grubby old man is none other than a down-and-out Barris himself. As usual, the author of Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (1982) blurs the line between reality and fantasy, making us wonder just what the heck we're supposed to believe. And, while we're pretty sure Barris never produced a pilot for this particular game show, is it so hard to believe, what with the current state of reality TV, that someone might someday put something like this on the air? A darkly satirical, witty, and uncomfortably plausible novel.

Japan Update

Sorry I haven't had a chance to update since I got here. It's been pretty hectic.

It's funny, when I log in here, it is all in Japanese, and I have to switch my google over to English every time.

A lot has changed in Japan since I lived here 9 years ago. Plus, before I always lived in the country, at resort hotels that cater to the city folks on vacation. Now I'm in the big city, which takes some adjustments.

The shows have been going well. The Japanese love magic, which makes my job much easier.

I didn't have room in my bag for all the knitting I had planned to do here. Though I found some yarn and needles in the 100 yen store (similar to the dollar store in the states), it was very uninspiring. I'm sure there's a yarn shop somewhere in the city, but I haven't located it yet.

I'm also in desparate need of asperin. They don't sell it in convenience stores here like they do at home, and I haven't located a pharmacy yet. On my map there's one way across town, but nowhere near the subway and the bus system is very confusing. One of the other performers, who has a car, said she'll pick some up for me soon.

Hope everyone's crafting is going well!

Leaving for Japan

I'll be leaving to do my magic show in Japan on Thursday, and I'll be gone for 3 months. The boyfriend and the ferocious chihuahua will be watching the house.

If there is anything you have wanted to buy from AllThingsTangled, you have until Wednesday to do it. After that, my shop will be on vacation until August. I'll still be knitting in my spare time over there to help stock the store a little more for when I get back.

I'll try to blog occasionally to let everyone know how it is going in the land of the rising sun.