Today is a bit of a smorgasborg of topics.
I watched the movie The Majestic starring Jim Carrey on DVD. Ok ok ok... so for those of you back home who are like, "The what? Oh that movie from way back when..." you gotta understand that Lord of the Ring 2 just came out a couple of weeks ago in the theaters here in Japan. And by the way, no... I haven't seen the Two Towers yet, so get all your giggles out now.
Thought the movie was good. Had the whole emotional rollercoaster effect... the ups, the downs, and everything in between. Even had the exclamation point of a monologue toward the end... I mean every good movie has to have the dramatic monologue that rights every wrong! A real go-getter, all-American kind of movie.
Along with The Majestic, I rented Run Lola Run. (Guys... guys... I just watched twoooo movies.) After hearing from so many people back home about how Run Lola Run is a good movie... I decided to try it out. For those of you who are familiar with the movie, you all know that it's a German movie. Well, let's just say that that was an unexpected surprise when I popped it in. No biggie right? I mean, I rented it on DVD... I should be able to get the English dub over or the English subtitles right? Well... NO! This is Japan. In Japan, people speak Japanese. Some people try to speak English. And some are pretty good at it. Most people however, well, they try. And so, on the Japanese DVD of Run Lola Run there is no English dub over or subtitles. Just the option for Japanese dub overs and subtitles.
So what does an American (who doesn't quite look like a foreigner in Japan) do with a German movie with Japanese language options? Can't just give up... I mean, I spent money on em. Think of all the starving kids in Africa... actually, I dunno what the connection is between giving up and starving kids in Africa. Somehow, being wasteful always brings up images of starving kids in Africa.
Anyway, I decided to get the Japanese language dub over because I'm Japanese illiterate and can't read the subtitles fast enough. Actually, I should say that I can't read the subtitles without bringing out my electronic dictionary 90% of the time (stupid Chinese characters). But if it's between listening to Japanese and German... I'll take Japanese any day. And I'm happy to say that the rental wasn't a waste of money at all. I understood! I may be an ignorant illiterate foo but at least I understand what people are saying!
On a completely different subject, I just finished the book If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get out of the Boat by John Ortberg. Yes, that is indeed a very long title for a book. As the title suggests, the basis of the book mainly comes from a passage from the Bible, in Matthew 14 where the disciples see Jesus walking on water, Peter (one of the disciples) decides he wants to be where Jesus is on the water, and Peter too walks on water. A great book basically about real faith, what it is, and what it can do. The book itself isn't terribly long (just over 200 pages), it's a pretty quick read because of John Ortberg's great writing style and humor, and has some great lessons to learn from. I'd heartily recommend this book to just about anyone.
And as for the scallops... today, I decided to try em out. I've since learned that scallops as most of us know em... you know the fat, circular things, are really only 1/2 of a scallop. After you peel the shells away (which was an adventure in itself) you'll find that you don't see the medallions just sittin there. There's a whole bunch of other stuff. Other stuff that ain't too appealing to the tastebuds or the eyes for that matter.
And yeah, you can't just peel the shells away (or maybe it's just me). Apparently, the scallops don't like that to much so they kinda resist. After a few minutes of trying to pry em open with my hands I remembered how the local sushi chefs prepared their scallops... by removing the scallop from the shell using a butter knife. Those sushi chefs are smart men.