Stampeding in Calgary

I am in Calgary, Alberta, Canada for 3 days of on site training. By sheer luck, one of the largest rodeos in the world is taking place here, the Calgary Stampede. The entire town of 1.1 million people is totally engrossed in all things country. Pretty much every single storefront/office building downtown here where I am staying has some type of decorations: Faux wood fencing to imitate a barnyard; random hay bales sitting out everywhere; plus scary cartoon cowboys painted on the glass corporate office storefronts.

Last night I had the chance to go to the Stampede itself. While I was only there for a few hours, it had the air of a state/county fair times 100. The Fairgounds there are sprawling, it must take a heck of a computer system to organize it all; oh wait, that’s ours. I joined two gentlemen I worked with, one a cockney Londoner and one a native New Yorker. So the three of us in the midst of all this countryness was pretty humorous. We bought tickets to the Chuck Wagon Races which consist of a team of six horses pulling a cart followed by two other guys pulling up the rear. With a few beers and some friendly wagering, we got into it pretty nicely.

It is rather unfortunate that I busted out my camera the first night to shoot some aforementioned cartoon cowboys only to find the battery completely drained. I would love to provide evidence that 75% of people on the street here are wearing cowboy hats. Or that in various public spots in the city every morning, you can get a nice pancake and sausage breakfast for absolutely free. Or that even at 10:30 at night, you can see the sun ducking over the mountains in the west from my 20th floor hotel room. To be able to get out of the regular 95 degree high humidity heat of the Midwest is very nice as well.

Back to reality tomorrow, for a little while at least.

Myanmar Ceremony Video

I shot this footage on an excursion to Mt. Popa while visiting Bagan, Myanmar. It was an amazing display of musical extravagance, colorful outfits and a plethora of food and drink offerings. I do not know the reason for this ceremony but imagine it was some kind of funeral/memorial or an offering to some diety in this devoutly Buddhist country.

A Bay Area Visit

I recently spent 2 days in Larkspur, CA, just outside San Francisco. I didn't get a chance to do a lot, although I did take a nice drive out to Pt. Reyes National Seashore and also saw the Giants play the Astros at beautiful AT&T Ballpark.

Minute Maid Park, Houston, TX

I went to the Astros game last Tuesday night and saw former Cardinals Woody Williams and Matt Morris face off against eachother. The Astros won it in the 10th on a walk off home run by Carlos Lee. Unfortunately, I left in the 8th innning so I could get back and watch the Jazz/Golden State game. Click here to check out some photos from the game.

A View from the Stands

Since childhood, I’ve had the great opportunity to visit many baseball stadiums throughout the world. I owe most of it to my father who trucked his four kids to destinations near and far, being sure to stop for a game at the local stadium in whatever city we were in. I’m sure I am missing some, most likely a few Minor League parks. This list is sure to grow with my current travel opportunities. The newest entry on this list: Minute Maid Park that I experienced tonight. Pictures to come.

Major Leagues
AT&T Ballpark, San Francisco, CA
The Ballpark at Arlington, Dallas, TX
(Old) Busch Stadium, St. Louis, MO
Busch Stadium, St. Louis, MO
(Old) Comiskey Park, Chicago, IL
Comiskey Park, Chicago, IL
Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO
(Old) Memorial Stadium, Baltimore, MD
Metrodome, Minneapolis, MN
Miller Park, Milwaukee, WI
(Old) Milwaukee County Stadium, Milwaukee, WI
Minute Maid Park, Houston, TX
(Old) Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati, OH
(Old) Tiger Stadium, Detroit, MI
Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL
Yankees Stadium, New York, NY

Minor Leagues/Spring Training/Other
AutoZone Park, Memphis, TN
Cracker Jack Stadium, Lake Buena Vista, FL
Drillers Stadium, Tulsa, OK
GCS Ballpark, Sauget, IL
Harrisburg Senators, Harrisburg, PA
Field of Dreams, Dyersville, IA
Fifth Third Ballpark, Grand Rapids, MI
(Old) Louisville Redbirds, Louisville, KY
Mudhens Stadium, Toledo, OH
Roger Dean Stadium, Jupiter, FL

Japan
Fukuoka Dome, Fukuoka
Kumamoto Yakyujo, Kumamoto

The Kentucky Derby

I had the pleasure of attending the Kentucky Derby this year on Cinco De Mayo. Kristina and I drove 4 hours throught downpours to Louisville, KY. We stayed at the parents house of one of her friends.

We paid 40 bucks apiece to get access to the infield of Churchill Downs. With well over 150,000 expected to be in attendance, it was sure to be a wild day. As we entered, our bags were checked thoroughly for any liquid at all. We were also patted down to uncover any stashed flasks. (Luckily, some of the resourceful ladies I was with had poured various libations into ziploc bags and stuffed them in their bras). Anyone attending the derby is encouraged to purchase alcohol there for 8-10 bucks a drink.

I brought along my horse mask acquired in Japan and also sported my So Taguchi shirt, which proved to be a hit with Cardnials fans all day.


The spot we chose was not very close to the track, but during a few of the early races, we walked up to the edge to check out the race.


We walked around the infield a bit to check things out. A huge mass of people, some dressed nice, some dressed like wrestlers, a sight to behold indeed.




Kristina and I pose for a photo as we take in the action.


As the crowd started to clear out late in the day, the mass of garbage remained.


The cops were present all day, keeping an eye on things and taking the guys out who had too much to drink.


The military also made an appearance and managed to avoid tripping over the garbage when they marched.


This girl made the mistake of challenging me to a handstand contest just before we left the Downs. She was humiliated.


It was a pretty fun day. I learned a bit about betting on horses and only managed to lose about 15 bucks on the day. The Derby is quite a spectacle and it is interesting ot see such a huge event taking place only a few hours drive from where I grew up without the faintest idea that something like this existed. Maybe I'll go back next year.

Notes on Calgary

Calgary is a booming oil town. I am taking part in the boom by training the staff who sell booths to these oil companies at huge exhibitions held here. Here is what I have discoverd in this small foothill hamlet:

Canadians love hockey.

Every night I watch SportscenTRE.

Sportscentre features mainly hockey highlights and gentlemen with mullets talking about hockey.

On Sportcentre, there is not a top 10. There is an HonOUR Roll.

I have not seen this much new building construction since Shanghai.

Graffiti artists in Calgary have excellent skills.

If you go to Canada and you have been to Thailand in the past two years, the customs officer will assume you are a sex tourist.

I am fine with that.

Brits can distinguish an American and Canadian accent like I can distinguish a Brit and Scottish accent.

If you wear heels and are concerned about getting stuck in sidewalk grills in Calgary, fear not; there are metal foot plates you can step on.

You can find almost any ethnicity of food in Calgary.

It is still light out at 9:45pm.

People actually live downtown in Calgary.

Drivers stop at red lights in Canada.

Canadians do not like Vince Carter.

Canadians dress like it is the middle of summer when the temperature is approaching 55 degrees.

Canadian beer is drinkable.

99% of Canadians prefer to wear headphones when walking to work.

Steaks available in Calgary: Bison, Elk, Caribou, Big Freakin Cows.

I have not seen a gas station since I have been in Canada.

A TV News reporter is a popular profession for Candians of Indian descent.

One can fly from Calgary to London direct; travel time: 9 hours. I must fly from Calgary to Phoenix to St. Louis; travel time: 7.5 hours.

I will be back here again soon, so no pictures this time.

New World Series Video

LMF was lucky enough to attend the final game of the '06 series. I just recently got around to helping her transfer some of the video and decided to post a short clip from what she shot.

The Secret Life of Salarymen

While working in Japan as an English teacher, my fellow teachers and I were treated to receptions and parties several time of year. The occasions were the arrival of new teachers or the departure of others. The dynamic of a Japanese style enkai is very unique and with a little preparation, can be an amazing experience.

The party goers arrive in the early evening and are coming straight from work, a long day of paper pushing and office calisthenics behind them. No alcohol is immediately served and the office workers wait patiently for the gaijin to arrive, usually tardy.
The party begins formally on time with a word from the Superintendent and a rough translation from Yuji. A formal toast is offered, not before the beer is brought out and everyone takes turns filling someones glass, never your own. After the kanpai, the atmosphere is noticeably different.

We all grab a pair of chopsticks and dig in to the beautifully presented plates of food. There is no sitting, simply nibbling on the appetizers between sips of beer and a chance for the gradually reddening salarymen to practice their limited knowledge of English. (Others choose to converse with some of us other teachers who've been in Japan a few years and are comfortable with limited Japanese).

As everyone moves closer to sauciness, the games begin. On this occasion, I am acting as the MC and purveyor of the games. The game chosen to be played on an occasion like this has to involve everyone, it has to be lively, not necessarily intellectually stimulating, but perhaps a bit more risque than your average junior high English class game. The previous winter break, I had headed to Western Australia and was introduced to a game by our crazy Aussie guide. Have a look:



It is very simple, just what it looks like. A participant ties and tennis ball-laden pantyhose around his waist and proceeds to use repetitive pelvic thrusts and nothing else to push a tennis ball across a given distance. As you can see, this gentleman is enjoying himself, (although the placement of his hands in his nether region technically constitutes a rules infraction). Of course the gaijin participate as well, and this guy has chosen to sport some classic Air Jordan shoes to this semi-formal party:



This game turns out to be pretty successful. I know this by seeing office workers doubled over as they see their drunk superiors gyrating and thrusting their way across the room with an over sized floppy phallus.

Finally it is time for a Kumamoto City Board of Education Original Performance, as the staff performs their patented Feats of Strength. These are various figures, monuments and shapes built only by human ingenuity and Japanese eccentricity. They warm up with a few easy ones. It is time for the London Bridge:



The final shape is the traditional pyramid:



We all appreciate this gesture, it's sort of a gift from our co-workers. The two hours worth of laughter we experienced this night will no doubt bookmark this party into the volumes of our memories.

2007 Cardinals

Roger Dean Staduim, spring training home of the Cardinals and the Florida Marlins is conveniently located just 10 minutes north of where I was working in Palm Beach Gardens. So Friday morning, Kristina and I made the journey from our hotel to the game. We arrived about an hour early and checked out the Bud Light truck where they were excellently showing Game 7 of the NLCS last year. Quite appropriate as we were playing the Mets this day.

We got into the staduim and secured a good place to stand, standing room only on Friday. We were in the aisle about 20 rows up from the Cards dugout. I managed to get Albert Pujols warming up and didn't even realize what was on the scoreboard until I looked at the picture:



In about the third inning, a guy walking up from lower seats stopped and asked us if we wanted his seats up front. Hmmm, uhh yeah. We grabbed his stubs and settled into 3rd row seats within spitting distance of Tony LaRussa. Mr. Taguchi stood still and allowed me to shoot his good side:



We were also close enough to the action to get some pretty good shots of the players at bat:





The game was pretty good until the 9th inning, when Cards' reliever Josh Kinney gave up 3 runs and we ended up losing. One amazing aspect of the game: batting back to back to back in the Mets lineup that day were Julio Franco, Ruben Sierra and Sandy Alomar, Jr., aged 48, 41 and 40, respectively.

The next day we made it back to the park for the 1:05 game vs. the Marlins. Kip Wells was the starter that day, Dave Duncan watches him warm up:



That day, we sat in the bleachers in foul territory for most of the game. I met a guy there with his three kids who were from D.C. He decided he was going to raise his kids as Cardinals fans even though they had no direct ties to the St. Louis area. That's pretty cool.

I had hoped to get So Taguchi's autograph and perhaps chat with him, as accessability to players is much easier that you can ever consider during the regular season. But here, access was unfortunately limited. There was a section near the field that all the players inevitably stop at to sign autographs when they exit the game and make their way back to the clubhouse. To get into this section, however, you need a wristband. Taguchi left the game in about the 5th inning both days, so I was unable to get near him. Saturday, I did manage to get near enough to yell a few Japanese phrases to him, but he didn't respond. I did manage to get one of the Cards' top prospects to sign a baseball--Colby Rasmus. This 20 year old kid will likely spend the year in double A, possibly make it to triple A and is slated to replace Jim Edmonds in center field in 2 years. I think I'll hold on to that ball. I could have probably also gotten Tony's autograph, but settled for a picture instead:



We did end up spanking the Marlins on Saturday. It was a nice relaxing weekend with a little baseball thrown in for good measure. To see a couple more photos, click on any of the above to get to my Flickr photo stream.

Yuengling and Spring Training

Today was the final day of working out of town for four straight weeks. Well, sort of. I was back in the STL for every weekend, but on the road during the week doing various training at sites in Pasadena, Detroit, Charlotte and today, Palm Beach Gardens, FL. I am rewarding myself by taking tomorrow off and taking in a Cards spring training game over at Roger Dean Stadium with Kristina.

Rest assured I will arrive early and try to practice my Nihonkaiwa with Taguchi-san. Hopefully he'll appreciate my well-worn jersey sporting his name and number. I owe an autograph to a co-worker who has gone out of his way to help me out a ton the past few weeks. No problem, all I crave is an encounter with the man complete with Japanese and a chance to drop some Kumamoto-ben on this Kansai hometown hero.

Being on the East Coast, I also get the chance to drink one of my favorite beers, Yuengling. All about the fringe benefits. Sort of a theme for this weekend...

More to come, hopefully some Spring Training pics, beaches, South Beach clubs, me getting arrested by Deputy Shaq...???

Mao History

When I was at the airport yesterday on my way to Charlotte, I picked up a book that I had seen before and was eager to get my hands on. Mao: The Unknown Story by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday.



I had read Jung Chang's other famous book, Wild Swans, while I was in Japan. That was about the time, or shortly after I made a journey to China with my sibblings. While naturally I would have loved to have spent more time in China, I became intrigued by several aspects of the Chinese culture. I had known little about Mao at the time, the standard facts from high school history books. This figure supposedly responsible for the deaths of millions, and yet the line to view his cryonically frozen body in Tiananmen Square by admirers was too long to consider making the visit even though I wanted to. Perhaps my motivation was different from theirs.

Wild Swans was banned in China as is this new critical book. Does the average Chinese person know their country's history from the Western perspective? I would guess not. Is this book a fair representation of what took place and exactly how accurate does it depict Mao's role in the millions of deaths caused by famine? The debate continues, but with a decade of research of Jung and her husband/co-author, it will make for an interesting read.

New Yorkin

I'm in New York for three days working at Hunter College on 68th in Manhattan. Stayin at a place on 45th, 2 blocks from Times Square. Last night I walked down to the Garden and managed to scrounge up a ticket for the Knicks vs. Suns, one of the most exciting teams to watch in the last 15 years in the NBA. A bit of a slow start by the Suns, but they didn't dispappoint as they scored 62 in the second half. Nash was spectacular as usual and Stoudemire was unstoppable. The won their 15th straight for the 2nd time this season! Best comment of the the night, Eddie Curry left the game after he tweaked his ankle and the comment from a couple of New Yorkers behind me: "At least it's not his heart..."

Taking it a bit easier tonight, I walked down the street in the bitter cold to an izakaya called Riki. I was pretty much the only non-Japanese person there. So needless to say, the food was amazing. Squid, Yaki Tori and some Kimuchi Chahan, all while Japanese tv played in the background. I heard not a word of English spoken for a good hour and a half.

I've felt like a real New Yorker the last few days, commuting on the subway, passing through Grand Central every morning and evening, eating at a cart on the street outside Hunter. Granted, this is a better than average part of the city, not a place where many can afford to live, but I am quickly getting used the the pace here. Would be interesting to be here for more than a few days.

I'm meeting up with Miyazaki/Jersey Derrick tomorrow evening for a drink and perhaps a night on the town. I will be ready for that after dealing with *interesting* clients the last few days.

Holiday Hijinks

The holidays in St. Louis bring a great amount of parties and all kinds of crazy fun.

First, we opened presents. Joey got some ridiculous wedding DJ vest and Michiyo had to pick her nose.


Then Robby Hodai opened his Christmas present and was excited.


Then Lynny and Mom received some traditional Japanese tube tops direct from Kumamoto.


Next, me and Ryan had a Pimps and Ho Ho Ho's party and some girls came too.


Biscan came too and we looked pretty hard.


Then we had to clean up a huge mess.


Finally, it was New Year's and Katie and Mike partied like it was 2005.

Hey Wurld, Happy New Year

Two and a half hours into 2007, happy to be relaxing in St. Louis. What a fantastic year it was. I found decent employment, saw two Fingerhuts become homowners, saw Joe and Michiyo travel the globe and return for the holidays. I contemplated joining the ranks of the aforementioned homowners, but settled on cheap rent and a fat whip instead.

I am not one to spend a lot of time thinking about the past in general, but now that I have a few minutes, I may as well. A brief history of my New Year's:

2003 - Spent the New Year's with my brother as we attempted to enjoy ourselves at a rave on a mountain top somewhere outside Nelson, New Zealand. If I haven't told that forgettable story before, remind me to do it sometime before I do.

2004 - New Year's visiting my girlfriend in Perth, Western Australia. The night itself was not so memorable, but 85 degrees outside at midnight on New Year's is pretty cool.

2005 - Solo snowboarding in Nagano, Japan allowed me to meet many random Gajinas. I arrived the day after the very first snow of the season, so scraping across the rocks on my board the first few hours was not so pleasant. A healthy dumping of fresh powder certainly did help over the next few days. Spent New Year's in an Alpine bar, celebrating the New Year earlier than I ever had before.

2006 - The homecoming celebration. After two triumphant months spent travelling SE Asia, I came home to an amazing group of friends and sibblings and a hell of a night at Cusamano's on Manchester. Mike inquired about dating my sister and with a few in me, I utilized one of the greatest words in Japanese, 'Dozo.'

2007 - A massive scandalous party last night set the foundation for a generally laid back night tonight. The superfriends gathered for a massive pot luck dinner with an amazing amount of delicious food. Stopped by Lynn's house for her party, then adjourned to another South City establishment. No cover, cheap drinks, accomodating environment. We were able to basically take over the bar, avoid excessive tabacco inhalation and enjoy eachother's company as we brought in the new year. The name of the bar? Friendly's.

I've been very lucky to enjoy the occasion of turning over the calendar in some amazing places. What's even better is the company I've kept on those nights. Family, Friends and Strangers. Had some great times and looking forward to o7.