Greglog

Cool Music Shopping and Listening

2005-06-01T15:42:00.000-07:00

Do you love music? I want to tell you about a couple of excellent websites for finding, listening to, and buying music. The first one is towerrecords.com. Tower Records' slogan is "No Music No Life". I agree. When I don't have music to listen to, I become depressed!
At towerrecords.com, you can listen to samples of most songs on most cd's before you buy! This way, you don't have to worry that you won't like the cd after buying it.

Hint: try the "Bestselling Music" section on the right side of the home page. Also, you can watch new music videos and VOTE on which is the best. (That's at the top: "Next Big Thing".)

Please also listen to my recommended bands: Pinback (trance rock), Weezer (indy rock), Mos Def (indy rap), Reeve Oliver (indy rock), and Elefant (rock). Reeve Oliver and Pinback are San Diego bands, by the way! To find albums by these bands, just type the name into the search window at the top of the page. You can also search by album or song title!

Have fun!
PS, use your headphones!

Busy

2005-05-22T20:47:00.000-07:00

Wow, it was a busy week last week. I went to see a wadaiko drum performance in the town of Shuzenji. The group performing was one of the best in Japan. I really like taiko drumming, so I am joining a local group in Mishima! I will practice with them twice a week (I hope).
Seems like I am always rushing around to take care of business. Buying things for my apartment, sending money by mail, preparing my classes ;-), cooking, cleaning... then there is no time to study kanji!

2005-05-15T23:04:00.000-07:00

Hey, finally a picture of me at school! Thanks to Oguri-san for her camera-phone. This shows that you can publish your pictures using your cell phone. Everybody, let's try.
In the office

James Brown

2005-05-11T22:14:00.000-07:00

Why do I like James Brown? I will tell you. His music is the best for making your feet move! His band was one of the best ever. The bass playing of Bootsy Collins and the guitar of his brother Phelps was an incredible combination. They created the groove that makes millions of booties grind. You can't listen and not want to move. If you don't feel anything, you must be dead!

!! Earthquake?

2005-05-10T18:57:00.000-07:00

**News flash: It's Wednesday morning, about 11 am. I just felt an earthquake! Did you feel it, too? I would like to find out where it happened.
In California, of course, earthquakes happen pretty frequently. But it's still a little scary anyway.
Check this out: there is a webpage where you can get recent earthquake information AND post your own report if you feel an earthquake!
http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/bulletin/neic_xrav.html

Great first blogs!

2005-05-10T18:51:00.000-07:00

Well done, everybody: you did it! My students made their first weblogs yesterday. They look great!
I hope you will continue to write your thoughts, opinions, and news about your life on those blogs.
I'm going to do my best to do that, too. Come back here to find out what's going on in MY life.

busy

2005-05-08T20:28:00.000-07:00

I spent my weekend mostly indoors, recovering from some nasty intestinal bug. I had wanted to go to Tokyo, but it was good to chill out, watch the videos I got from Tom. Tom is a video rental shop, not a person! Well, I do have a neighbor named Tom, actually. He doesn't have videos, though. The two movies were "Orange County" and "Finding Forrester". I didn't know before I got them, but both movies are about young, aspiring writers. Totally different kinds of movies, though. I recommend both for my students. (Check out my favorite movies in my Profile for other recommended flicks!)
On Sunday, I actually got up enough energy to go for a bike ride. While riding past some gardens, I met an interesting group of people. They are members of an international garden group called GROUNDWORK. They try to make cities better and friendlier places by planting community gardens. I'm hoping to get out and help them with the garden near my house.
Check out these sites:
http://www.gwmishima.org/english/eindex.htm
http://www.groundwork.org.uk/

Japan

2005-05-03T19:33:00.000-07:00

For my students, for anyone:
Pix of my area.
What do you think? :-)

Japan

2005-05-03T19:30:00.002-07:00

For my students, for anyone:
Pix of my area.
What do you think?

2005-05-03T19:30:00.001-07:00

Fuji san from my balcony

2005-05-03T19:30:00.000-07:00

Plum blossoms

2005-05-03T19:29:00.003-07:00

Sakura on campus

2005-05-03T19:29:00.002-07:00

sakura petals

2005-05-03T19:29:00.001-07:00

Hen na

2005-05-03T19:29:00.000-07:00

Near my house

2005-05-03T19:28:00.004-07:00

Fuji zoomed

2005-05-03T19:28:00.003-07:00

Me on the mountain

2005-05-03T19:28:00.002-07:00

Bamboo forest

2005-05-03T19:28:00.001-07:00

Swan

2005-05-03T19:28:00.000-07:00

A guy under a large gate in Tokyo

2005-05-03T19:27:00.003-07:00

Kono hito dare

2005-05-03T19:27:00.002-07:00

Atami arcade

2005-05-03T19:27:00.001-07:00

Atami street corner

2005-05-03T19:27:00.000-07:00

California

2005-05-03T19:19:00.000-07:00

For my students.
Some pictures of San Diego.
Check 'em out. Send me some comments and questions!

2005-05-03T19:18:00.002-07:00

Pelican

2005-05-03T19:18:00.001-07:00

My brother and bouncing ball

2005-05-03T19:18:00.000-07:00

Stetson

2005-05-03T19:17:00.005-07:00

Governor Hell

2005-05-03T19:17:00.004-07:00

California livin'

2005-05-03T19:17:00.003-07:00

2005-05-03T19:17:00.002-07:00

freedom of choice

2005-05-03T19:17:00.001-07:00

sailboat in SD harbor

2005-05-03T19:17:00.000-07:00

dad and birds

2005-05-03T19:16:00.000-07:00

Tres hombres malos

2005-05-03T19:15:00.001-07:00

San Diego shoreline

2005-05-03T19:15:00.000-07:00

close up

2005-05-03T19:14:00.001-07:00

fleurs d'avril

2005-05-03T19:14:00.000-07:00

end of the day

Some random impressions

2005-05-03T18:11:00.000-07:00

Every night, I spend time in front of the computer. Maybe I listen to music. Cook my own food, talk to my friends on the phone.

By the next day, I have sort of forgotten I'm a "foreigner" in a foreign land.
Then I go outside and realize: Hey, people are looking at me! Or: Hey, I don't know what that person said.

So it's a bit of a jolt to go outside. Then I get used to it. Until the next morning!

This is my second time in Japan, and I feel a lot better this time. I really appreciate what a peaceful, organized, and basically clean place this is. Sure, Japan isn't perfect. It's got problems. But try putting half the population of the United States in a space the size of California! It would fall apart!

I feel that people in this area are noticeably kind. More so than other areas of Japan, perhaps. I'm also lucky to be in an area with a lot of natural beauty. Check the pictures!

What do my students think?

2005-04-17T20:42:00.000-07:00

I am hoping that everybody likes the class so far. We are learning new things about how to use the net to practice English. But I am worried that some students may feel the class does not have a clear structure. Maybe they don't know enough about what we are going to do. Like, "What is the point of the class?" or "What are we going to do next?"
I hope I can explain that today. And I hope that my students will be honest and tell me what they think.

2005-04-13T18:36:00.000-07:00

To my students: I hope this page gives you some ideas about how you can use the internet to introduce yourself and interact with other people. Please tell me what you think.
I want this class to be useful for you.

To others viewing my blog: this blog is an experimental one, as I am new to blogging. I hope to show my English students in Japan the various possibilities of the net for practicing a language while communicating online.

2005-04-10T20:52:00.000-07:00

Me and Molly

Introduction

2005-04-10T20:19:00.000-07:00

Hello!
This is my second time in Japan. I was in Japan from 1993 to 2000. I lived in Hiroshima and Kobe. No, I was not in Kobe at the time of the Hanshin earthquake! (Luckily) For seven years, I taught English to both children and adults at various schools.

The things I like most about Japan are: sumo, teaching, temples, gardens, looking at Mt. Fuji, and meeting new people. My favorite Japanese foods are: tempura, miso soup, tempura, and okonomiyaki!

More later!

Hello everybody

2005-04-07T15:50:00.000-07:00

This is my first blog entry.
I hope this works.