Woot -- almost 8 minutes of Yukari holding forth on HD-DVD versus Blu-ray:
Attention Yukari fans:
She will be on CBC's morning news show, The Current, talking about the victory of Blu-ray over HD-DVD.
You can listen here:
Today's piece of euphemistic jargon is "luxury-sized guests". Use it in a sentence? Sure thing:
The vehicles on Expedition Everest are the biggest ever used on a Disney ride. We had to make them larger to accommodate our luxury-sized guests.
We were discussing strange restaurant practices with friends the other day when Yukari trotted out a story that I hadn't heard before.
When you made a reservation at a nice place in Japan, many places used to give you a 10 yen refund (about 9 cents) on your check.
The reason? Credit for the telephone call you placed to make the reservation.
Apparently this is still done in some places and Yukari says I've been the unknowing beneficiary of it. Better not tell them that I've got flat rate phone service...
I went to this little neighborhood restaurant for dinner last night.
I sat down at the counter, and the owner wished me a happy new year, since he hadn't seen me yet in 2008.
The conversation then proceeded as follows:
owner: Hey! I heard one of your countrymen is running for President!
me (wondering if I misunderstood his Japanese): Err, ya, I think they are all my countrymen.
owner: No, no, I mean, he's from Chicago! You know, Osama!
A traditional-ish Japanese orchestra plays (and sings!) Deep Purple's Smoke on the Water. Worth listening to just for the noise the audience makes when they recognize the opening:
(thanks, jde!)