Worth noting:

In February, was consistently colder in my apartment than outside. My refrigerator was often warmer than my bathroom. Now that it's August, it is consistently hotter in my apartment than it is outside. Given that it is around 33 C here (that's like 91 Fahrenheit) with consistent 75% humidity, I'm none too comfortable wearing a suit and tie every day.

Even though Japan is years ahead of the rest of the world in personal technology (the cell phones here are just incredible), there is a strange reluctance to adopt something as radical as a central heating or cooling system in most buildings and homes. Perhaps it's a plot by the companies that sell fans, small air conditioners and space heaters.

What's the point?

I realize that whole schools of philosophy are devoted to this question, and that one hastily written post isn't going to add anything substantial to the pursuit of an answer, but I would like an answer. To be more specific, I would like an answer that seems to have some logic that I can agree with and understand. There ought to be some valid reason for doing things, right? I mean, why the hell should I go to work? Or take a shower? Or eat? What purpose is served by my continued existence? For that matter, what purpose is served by anyone's existence?

Do I add something valuable to the condition of life on Earth? And is what I add worth more than my existence costs in terms of energy, other people's time, or raw materials? Am I a waste of oxygen? Could the food I eat be put to better use?

Starvation is bad, right? Starvation leads to death. Which is bad, right? Maybe the other side of the question is more important. Is it good to feed people? Is it good to keep people alive? What's the value in living? Of course, we don't really have a choice about being born, so there's not much we can do about the whole arrival here. But why is staying alive so important?

Are people supposed to do something? Anything? Making babies, however much fun the conceptive act may be, doesn't strike me as being a good enough reason by itself. If all people are good for is reproduction, then dogs and bees and ants are much better at it than we are.

Hmm. It looks like I really need two questions answered here:

1. To what degree is human life valuable?

2. How was that answer arrived at?

Any thoughtful or amusing answers should be sent to the author. Any replies concerning "God's plan," "The Lord's Will," or "Jesus Loves"-anything will be mirthlessly laughed at, then deleted.

This weekend I went to Kyoto for a couple of days. As usual, it was a surprising and enjoyable taste of Japanese life. I saw some old temples, some old shrines, and a beautiful old garden, way out in the hills. (I'm not going to name it, since this column would, no doubt, influence everyone who reads it to go there en masse and soon it would be just another overvisited tourist spot. Just like the Temple of the Golden Pavilion.) Kyoto is famous in Japan for being the place that all us round-eyes are supposed to go crazy for 'cause if you have some stereotyped idea of classical Japan, you can probably find something to fulfill it or support it here.

Women dressed like geishas walking the streets?
Check.

Old people wearing kimonos and those wooden sandals?
Check.

Quaint little shrines to gods and sprits you never bothered to learn about even though you claimed to be really interested in Japanese culture?
Check.

But there was one thing that was really surprising: The sheer number of amateur photographers taking pictures of foreigners. Specifically, the foreigner I was sightseeing with. Oh, sure, she's a relatively tall (5'8") blonde. But Kyoto is famous in Japan for being the place that all us round-eyes are supposed to go crazy for. At any given time there were at least a dozen girls who fit the general description of "relatively tall blonde" in almost every public area. And perhaps they were all being photographed constantly.

It's interesting what some people find worth preserving in a photograph.

Three thoughts

1. Is loyalty reasonable? More specifically, is it reasonable to be loyal to any individual or organization that has repeatedly and consistently shown a flagrant disregard for the well-being of others each time its own ability to profit was at stake? I suppose what I really want to know is why anyone would claim we have a duty to work hard for people, companies, churches or nations that have repeatedly made choices that only benefit a few people at the top.

Maybe the question should be whether or not we should even bother offering such a personal service as loyalty to an institution. A person can be held responsible for their own decisions. At least, in theory, anyway. But each day brings another example of how individuals, acting in the name of an institution (Enron, Merryll Lynch, Snow Brand Foods, Mizuho Bank, The Catholic Church, The United States Government...), found a way to line their own pockets while leaving their trusted employees twisting in the wind.

For some reason people are raising a stink about whether or not we should include the words "Under God" in the pledge of Allegiance. Why isn't anyone asking what and who we're being asked to pledge allegiance to? Forget whether or not you want to say God gave America its power as a nation, who is going to use those powers? And who are they going to fuck when they use them? Because these days if Bush is making a decision, someone is going to get fucked. Do you think its going to be "the heads of businesses that keep the American economy running" who take it in the ass, or do you think it's going to be someone who can't make a six-digit contribution to a campaign fund?

In all fairness, it's not just Bush and Company who have continued to ask for loyalty while preparing to use and discard the people below them. In almost every industrialized nation, there is some case of a person in power using their position to further their own ends, regardless of what it does to anyone else. Maybe we've finally reached a point where there's enough people on the planet that their individual value was fallen due to increased supply. Does it really matter if ten people in Japan get liver damage from imported fen-phen diet pills, even though the companies that make those specific chemicals have been aware of the toxicity of their products for years? Or does it matter that American grain tariffs on African nations will cripple their abilities to compete in that "free and fair" global marketplace, delaying any possibility of an improvement in the standard of living?

Honestly, who gives a damn if products kill people, ruin our ability to breathe, or wipe out entire communities with regards to working, saving money, or being able to buy food? Who gives a damn? I'll bet it's not anyone who's asking you to pull together, remember "family values," or to focus on a large-scale anything.

2. It is really humid in Fukui right now. I can literally watch paper curl up on my desk.

3. Does it matter to you what I look like? Do you care?

Well, I finally saw Star Wars: Episode 2.

Sheesh, "Attack of the Clones."

I gotta say, each successive movie makes me like Star Wars less and less.

After Phantom Menace I didn't think I could dislike Anakin any more. Then I saw what a whiny, petulant teenager he turned out to be. Maybe the only thing more irritating than his whining was his inability to use contractions. Say what you will about Luke's whining ("I was gonna go into Mos Eisley for some power converters"), at least his delivery didn't sound like a prep school drama student.

Of course, it is entirely possible that Lucas wanted him to sound like a background character from Cruel Intentions.

As long as I'm griping, did anyone else find it odd that Amidala, who was apparently elected queen (what? Queens are elected?) at the tender age of late-puberty only seemed to have aged one or two years to Anakin's 10? And that even if she was only 15 when she was elected queen, she had no problem dating a boy who would have just been finishing high school when she was finishing her second term in the senate? And what the hell kind of government elects a queen but gives its legislative voice in the republic to a senator who would leave her affairs in the hands of Jar-Jar? I have to say that people of Naboo don't just have a stupid name for their planet, they have a stupid way of life to go with it.

And perhaps that is my biggest gripe with the last two movies: Great pains were taken to create an entire universe with its own history, mythology, politics and society; but the whole universe is reasonable only as long as you don't think about anything for more than fifteen seconds.

C'mon, why the hell would the trade federation's new battle droids have neck sockets compatible with whatever model C-3PO was kit-bashed from 10 years earlier? Apart from making possible the unnecessary and seemingly interminable Head-switching scene, I mean. Whoever thought that was clever enough to justify returning to it more than twice should be dragged out behind Skywalker ranch and beaten with a rubber hose full of bird shot.

Oh yeah, the special effects were continually impressive. The sheer number of new characters and vehicles will undoubtedly infuriate anyone who has to pay for a Star Wars Toy collection. I counted at least three different types of walker vehicles in the final clone battle alone.

And if you were one of those people who were holding your breath waiting to see Yoda fight, you should get out of the house more.

What's the first thing I see when I open the USA/World page of the Japan Times today? President Bush being questioned about the legality of stock sales he made in the past, and whether or not he made use of priviledged information to turn a profit.

Happy fucking birthday, America.

Sure, it was before he was president. He was only the Governor of Texas at the time. And this was well before he publicly decried the questionable ethics of people at companies like Enron, WorldCom, Merryll Lynch and Arthur Andersen.

At least it wasn't another story about Bush's colon causing a temporary change in policy. It's good that his colon has been polyp-free for two years now. I'm not ready to wish colon cancer on him, or anyone else just yet.


But I don't want to hear any more about Bush's ass for quite some time.

Another week has gone by and the World Cup is over. Even though I'm not much of a soccer fan, it was really interesting to be in Japan while they were co-hosting the Cup. Whole cities turned into mini-festivals for the teams they were hosting. School kids who might not have been able to locate Cameroon on a map got to meet and spend time with their team. Hell, even Fukui found a passion for Mexico, of all places. For over a month you could get Corona, Tacos and $400 sombreros at the department stores.

(Before you ask, the Mexican food was less spicy than I remember it should have been, but it was still a damn sight better than Taco Bell)

International interactions aside, it was surprising to see people cheering wholeheartedly for the Japanese team. I know it was only a passing fancy, but for over a month, everyone had at least that one thing in common. I was sorry to see the Japanese team lose.

But even after Japan was eliminated people still had a lot of interest in the games, especially with Korea's great performance. It's sort of a shame that feeling is gone.

But I'm not gonna miss that Beckham-style haircut. It's not like there weren't enough people running around looking like Astroboy without adding the molded hair-fin.