台風明け晴れ

Typhoon 18 roared across Japan on Wednesday. I hope there were no problems at your house.

I realized after living here for seven years, that always after a typhoon passes, we are left with beautiful sunny weather (sometimes it's still a little windy, but nevertheless sunny). It seems that if you endure something bad or nasty, things will get better afterward. So I like the Japanese phrase 台風明け晴れ to describe any situation like this - It's always fine after a typhoon.

With the nice weather, I could get in some great riding. Today I went to the team ride in Owariashi via Jokoji.

It was 11 degrees at Jokoji park at 7:00 am. After lunch, my son and I rode along the Utsutsu River cycling track to the

Sakashita natto factory. So a total distance of about 80km today for me, and 12km for my five-year old son.

Before it gets too cold, I hope you can get out and enjoy the nice weather.

Reminder about classes next week Oct. 13/14/15

For students in the Thursday 6:30pm class (if you read this) I didn't realize that next week there is no class, so I forgot to tell you. The next Thursday class will be on Oct. 22nd.

Tuesday students, please remember the class will be at Renak in front of Kachigawa Station and Plaza Hotel. I hope you can find a car park.

See you then.

Survived Suzuka

Wednesday was the Big Day - the Suzuka 8hour Enduro.

It was my first attempt at the race and I was really looking forward to it. Being part of the D-team made it even more special and fun.

The day started by meeting in Owariashi at 2:30am. That meant I had to ride my bike from Kasugai from 2:00am. We left after loading the bikes into 3 vans and headed for Suzuka. Once there we had to line up to race for a good pit site and put down our big blue sheets.

I then went for a 3-lap practice run as it was my first time to physically get on the track after hours of driving on it on the Playstation. At this stage I still didn't know if I actually had a team or if I would have to ride the whole day by myself. One teammate cancelled, but luckily Mr. W arrived ten minutes before the start of the race, so we had a 30 second strategy meeting - I have to go first.

So we took it in turns to complete the race. One full lap is almost 6km, so we switched after doing 3-4 laps. By the end of the 8 hours my knee was hurting, but together we had done 41 laps - I did 21 and Mr. W did 20. Pretty good for two of us, but well behind the top riders, including the Ono Yoko team who were impressive in finishing 25th out of 330 teams. Well done!

After the drive back home, I then had to ride back to Kasugai which is not so far, but pretty hard to go over that Moriyama hill with a sore knee.

By the end of the day, I had ridden over 150km - that's twice the distance I have ever ridden in one day in my life. It was a hard day, but well worth it and I look forward to doing it again. If you are keen, why not join us next time.

P.S. Hopefully I can post some nicer photos soon - maybe one with me or Mr. N in it.

Kiwi Music

Great to get the comments about music. There are so many styles and varieties, and different songs seem more listen-able at different times. Kenny-G isn't so cool when driving fast, while Blink-182 probably doesn't really go down well when eating dinner with the Japanese Emperor.

As for other good NZ music, I've been a Kasu Guy for the past seven years, so you might want to check out this site for the latest sounds.

http://www.amplifier.co.nz/

Some musicians/bands from the past couple of decades:

Shihad http://www.shihad.com/

The Datsuns http://www.thedatsuns.com/

Steriogram http://www.steriogram.com/

Salmonella Dub http://www.salmonelladub.com/

Supergroove http://www.amplifier.co.nz/artist/2140/supergroove.html?full=1

The Exponents http://www.amplifier.co.nz/artist/14365/the-dance-exponents-.html

Bic Runga http://www.bicrunga.com/

Hayley Westenra http://www.hayleywestenra.com/

There are loads more......

Check out one of the radio stations in the link from the last posting for others and Kiwi-speak.

Take your music wherever you go.

What music are you in to?

At the Wednesday and Thursday classes last week, we talked about different genres of music. There are many different styles and each of us has our own tastes. Although I like most kinds of music, here are some artists that I like and recommend if you don't already know them.

Queen http://www.queenonline.com/home (rock) **My all-time favorite band

Ladyhawke http://www.ladyhawkemusic.com/ (synthpop, indie rock) fresh music from New Zealand with an 80's pop flavor

Sting http://www.sting.com/ (pop, rock, adult contemporary) great voice from the UK

The Killers http://www.thekillersmusic.com/ (alternative rock) UK sound from Las Vegas

Concrete Blond http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concrete_blond (alternative rock) nostalgia from the 80s and 90s

Joe Satriani http://www.satriani.com (guitar rock) one of the best guitarists ever. One of his recent tracks is used as the theme for カンブリヤ宮殿 on Monday nights, 10pm on TV Aichi

Split Enz http://www.frenz.com/splitenz/index.html (pop, new wave) New Zealand's best band ever - and the Finn brothers came from my hometown!

Crowded House http://www.crowdedhouse.com/s_home/index.php (pop rock) Formed by Splitz Enz leading members after the band split in 1984. Probably New Zealand's most well-known band overseas

I could go on, but there are too many.

http://www.nzradioguide.co.nz/

Here is a link to a list of radio stations in New Zealand. The listing under Format/Comments tells you what kind of station it is. You should be able to find one that's cool. Good chance to practise listening to some 'real' English, too.

http://www12.ocn.ne.jp/~usedcd69/

If you are looking for a great selection of music, visit my favorite CD store in Nagoya.

Keep on rockin'!!!!!

In Search of Kiwis

Thanks for the comments.

Yes, Evel's stunts were really dangerous. I'm sure he couldn't get any life insurance. But he did what he loved doing and he always tried to improve on his last performance, although not always successful.

Kiwis.

Kiwis can't fly and are only found in New Zealand (although I did read that there are some at a zoo in Osaka). They are about the same size as a chicken, but have a long beak which they use to search for worms and insects in the ground.

Because they can't fly, they are any easy target for cats and dogs which are not native to NZ, so they are active at night time and sleep during the day. For this reason, unless you go to a zoo or bird park, it would be very difficult to see one in the wild. You can hear them, but you probably need night-scope goggles to see them. Also these days the number of kiwis is falling, so it is getting even more difficult to see them in the wild.

If you visit my hometown in NZ, I recommend taking a short drive to the Otorohanga Kiwi House. http://www.kiwihouse.org.nz/

But if you can't get to see a real live kiwi bird, why not visit Te Puke - the world's kiwifruit capital. http://www.tepuke.co.nz/

Was Evel Knievel Evil?

Tuesday night students might remember I talked about Evel Knievel.

Was Evel Knievel evil? Well, not really.

Rather he was probably the most famous motorcycle daredevil from the late 1960s through to the early 1980s. He made many successful jumps, but he also had plenty of crashes - at times the number of broken bones got his name into the Guiness Book of World Records.

If you have time, go to You Tube and do a search to watch some of his succesful and not-so-successful jumps.

Unfortunately, Evel died two years ago, aged 69. But considering the number of injuries he had, he was probably luck to last that long.

So, evil? No. Crazy? Probably, but sometimes when you want to achieve something you have to be crazy to pull it off.

And for anything you do, remember that it's not important that you land safely, but rather that you have the courage to take off.

Go for it!