The California recall election is heating up. If you're fed up with Governor Davis, you have your choice from any number of qualified candidates, like:

Arnold Schwarzenegger. Movie actor. Pro: No one's better prepared for the imminent rise of the machines. Con: No one can spell his name either.

Larry Flynt. Porn publisher. (Actual quote: "I don't think anyone here will have a problem with a smut peddler as governor.") Pro: An outspoken proponent of...free speech. Proposed a national holiday to pray for the death of rabid Fox News host Bill O'Reilly. Con: Plans to balance the budget with more slot machines. Why? He coincidentally owns a bunch of casinos.

Mary Carey. Porn star. Pro: Might take votes away from Larry. Con: Campaign slogan? "We've had Brown, we've tried Gray, now it's time for some blonde."

And there are about 200 other candidates. Can you get 65 friends' signatures and $3500? You too could run for governor.

Once again I'm reminded of why I don't read American news here.

Sunday I went to see the 48 Waterfalls of Akame with my boss from work. You'd think that'd be really awkward, but he's a chill guy who, unlike most CS geeks, actually enjoys the outdoors. He's also an aspiring amateur photographer, so he brought his camera. He took so many pictures of me in front of waterfalls it was starting to creep me out. But a few of them, like this one, turned out really well, and he brought me prints and a little CD on Monday. As for the falls, they were beautiful, although swarming with tourists. As my boss said, "The only complaint people have about the 48 Falls of Akame is that there aren't really 48 waterfalls." I didn't count (okay, okay, I lost count), but I don't think I saw 48. Heck, this picture's probably #19, #20 and #21...

Wednesday night I went to a jazz club in Kyoto with Tim, Audrey, and (my language partner) Ritsuko. It was my first jazz club... and definitely my first one in Japan. The music was great: Hiro from Kyoto University and a frequent visitor at the Stanford Center was playing with his band, which was quite good. On the drums was this guy from California who came over and chatted with us about his 3-year stint in Japan.

Afterwards Ritsuko and I had to catch an early train so we could transfer to our little backwaters stops. As we were running along Sanjo I guess this cluster of Japanese girls caught on to the impending last train to anywhere-besides-Osaka because when they saw us they started running too. It was amusing: Japanese people seem to be quite used to running to trains. When I got off at Tambabashi, everyone else making the transfer ran to the other side of the station even though we had like seven minutes to transfer. It's very unnerving to be walking towards a train while everyone else around you is running. It makes you wonder if they know something you don't. Then again, I've also seen Japanese women running out of stations late at night, long after the last bus has left. Maybe it's ingrained habit, or maybe they're just afraid of the gaijin man.

On Saturday Jonathan and I got to taiko class early. So early in fact we were the only ones there. Yes, we kinda forgot that there was no class that weekend. So, after some wandering around and vegetating in his air-conditioned apartment, we set off for Kinkakuji (not to be confused with Ginkakuji, which sounds almost exactly the same) with Tim.

It really is striking: it's called the Golden Pavilion for good reason. Some shogun apparently had nothing better to do with his money than to build himself a gold-plated retirement house. Eventually it was turned into a temple. And in the sunlight, which we had plenty of that day, it's really nice.

Afterward, we decided to go see Pirates of Caribbean (its Japanese title lacks the word the for some reason) with Catherine, subtitled of course. The most violence in a Disney film since Bambi died. But we all enjoyed it. Orlando Bloom actually looked like a man this time, which is always good. (Catherine seemed prepared to defend him to the death, but she doesn't read this blog now does she?)

One more step towards the Matrix. And of course, it's being taken right here in Japan. Actually, not far from Kyoto:
Power from blood could lead to 'human batteries'

Theoretically, it could allow a person to pump out 100 watts - enough to illuminate a light bulb. But that would entail converting all the food eaten by the individual into electricity. In practice, less power would be generated since food is needed by the body.

Good to see we're still allowing for practical concerns, like, say, living...

So it turns out that a couple of photo clips I thought were posted vanished from Leland, maybe out of protest for me using up my quota. But they (Shibuya and Shinjuku, Tokyo) are back now, along with (very) amateur video from the PL Fireworks, for your viewing pleasure.

It's been a fun but exhausting weekend. Friday I headed out to this small town near Osaka for the largest fireworks show in the world, put on by the Church of Perfect Liberty. Exactly what kind of church can afford to shoot off 120,000 fireworks I don't know, but it was spectacular. ("Showering like Niagara Falls," according to one Website.) I was planning to meet up with Jonathan, Tim, and Other Mike, but about a quarter-million Japanese people had other plans. So when I arrived at this tiny station (after transferring thrice to increasingly crowded trains, finally having a conductor turn me away from one that was too packed with people), clearly not built to handle a crowd, I started trying to call people but found a quarter million people trying to use the same cell tower. The only time my keitai ever let me down. That, and the other mob event I went to, Gion Matsuri.

But the fireworks were freaking awesome, easily topping any measly national celebrations in America. These girls behind me seemed to think so too; after nearly each of the 120,000 bursts, they cooed, "Ahh! Kirei! (Beautiful!)". They weren't ready for the finale though--they started screeching as if the fireworks were raining down on them...

But imagine the odds, I ended up finding them all after the crowd began to disperse. Getting out of there was like waiting for a ride at Cedar Point (or Disneyland for anyone not from the Midwest).

There were too many people crowded around for me to get decent shots with my camera, so I resolved to take video instead. The results are up for your viewing pleasure, and although at times it looks more like CNN footage of Baghdad, it looks pretty impressive. And that's only from the first 15 minutes--before I ran out of space on my card...

Call me a gaijin (it wouldn't be the first time), but I never realized you were supposed to vacuum tatami. Hey, stop laughing...at least I found out before it got too late...