This Week in Freebies

We are definitely rolling into November. The nights are cooling down quite nicely... and so is the house. Last night we slept in a balmy 10C/50F house. We needed an extra blanket for that one! .... speaking of which.. I need to go and pull out the futon kansoki for Mayu so that she can heat her side of the bed up as the sheets do get quite chilly. I'll be right back...

This week was a great week for "freebies", let me tell you!

After the gym yesterday, I was at Y Plaza shopping for groceries (exhorbitantly expensive, thankyouverymuch). I ran across our neighbour across the street from our old house in Sanno. She works in the food preparation section of the supermarket. She waved and smiled. I waved and smiled.

A little later on she came up to me and told me that a lot of their autumn vegetables were ready and asked if I would like some. Well, never to turn down food of any kind I whole-heartedly accepted her kind offer of vegetables. We agreed that I would pop by their house in the early evening, around 6pm or so.

Thanks to her kind offer I was able to return the broccoli and daikon to the produce department save a few hundred yen on an otherwise ridiculous grocery bill (nothing was on sale, nothing near expiry).

I made it home in good time and was doing a few things around the house when the doorbell rang about 5pm. It was Mr. Ito and he was delivering the vegetables that his wife had talked to me about earlier that day! How nice of him to do so! For the entire time we have been living here in Kamishii-mura they have been giving us vegetables all summer (eggplant, cucumbers, tomatoes), and in the autumn and winter (daikon, broccoli, etc.)

This summer, because I suffered from the shingles and really haven't yet fully recovered, I never got around to visiting them, or receiving any vegetables from them in exchange for wonderful conversation. It is a shame because they grow so many that they really do appreciate it when we come and help them decrease their vegetable load. On this day Mr. Ito dropped off a beautiful healthy head of cabbage, along with three perfectly formed daikon radishes, two ears of broccoli, and several carrots.

Those fresh, organic vegetables were a very nice treat to receive.

For Free!!!!!

In addition to that nice surprise, all day Monday, and all day Tuesday I had the Japanese Tax Agency inspecting me! They grilled me, and dug up absolutely everything one might imagine from the kimono sales for Cam2PR, to my Paypal account. They even asked me to print out my Etsy online Store for proof that I am conducting an online business.

The went all the way back to when I started working for myself, namely 2003, and asked me a great deal of questions while pouring over every little detail of my invoices, and my bank books, as well as my investment statements from both Japan, and those received as inheritence from my grandparents. It was probably one of the most stressful days of my life, as anyone who has been inspected by the "IRS" will know. My entire body has been on ultra-high alert this entire month because I was informed at the very beginning of the month, that this inspection would take place at the very end.

What a long month!

In the end, they found some things that they said I really cannot deduct as expenses, like my MBA degree... which does seem strange to me because in order to be a consultant to management teams, one needs to understand management business, therefore taking an MBA for this purpose would make perfect sense. Of course were I an English teacher and took an MBA, I could very well understand that it would most likely not be business-related in a direct sense.

They also gave me a good indication of the actual amount of deduction I can use from my rent, utilities, gasoline, etc. based on the ratio of business:private use of space in our home, and non-work life.

They found where I had missed (accidentally... of course, I'm innocent!) a zero on recording one of my invoices for my revenue.

They found a few other things that they told me are not recognized as tax-deductable. Then they also pointed out that I accidentally overstated my earnings by about $15,000 in 2006.

So, in the end, they said that my overstatement, and my understatement kind of balanced out (not really, but...) and that they would leave it at that. The tax gestapo then packed away their stuff, took their bazillion photocopies of my documents, told my accountant they would call him for a formal final assessment ... and left.

And that was it!

The stress over the few days before and those couple of days was so intense that I had an extremely difficult time BEing. Thank goodness I was able to breathe, and be somewhat the observer of my thoughts, because had I not been practicing this since January, and without the absolutely wonderful support from friends, keeping me calm and cool, I swear the nervousness would have sent me over the edge! As it is, I lost a few pounds because my stomach simply did not want food for a few days (as often happens when my stress levels skyrocket). Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

But... what I want to say, is that since it ended (with a nice big triple shot of the best bourbon in the world after the second day of grilling), I was able to have a shift.

Instead of the tax gestapo coming and inspecting my ass off... what I got was three tax specialists for an entire full two days to inspect every single record of my business over the past five years and tell me exactly what I can and cannot do must and must not do in order to meet the tax laws of this country.

For Free!!!!!!

Talk about a week of freebies!

I love you.

Cam

Autumn's here, so let's enjoy the leaves!

Today was another clean the yard day. Yesterday's rain stopped, and it is an overcast, cooler day (18C). It feels really nice to be outside working in the yard. Mayu started it with some sweeping up and cleaning of leaves because we have someone coming over today to practice AHR (Aroma Hand Relaxation).

This woman, Taniguchi-san, works with Mayu but she does "Body Balance" or a dry massage that is deeper than aroma massage which is designed to relax, not to work the muscles. I got to be the model for her practice. Yaay! I sure can't complain... I get to have two women's hands sliding all over my body... up and down my legs, my back, arms.... (no no no no happy ending gang, this is not Thai Massage). The only sad thing is that I usually never make it past about 10 minutes before I start snoring! That means I'll miss all the fun! Drat!!

I thought I would fall asleep, but I had my mp3 player with me and was listening to some wonderful stuff that kept me wide awake, elated, and totally at peace. I didn't fall asleep once, enjoyed both of their hands all over my back and legs and just was in the zone... and I must admit that Taniguchi-san's touch is a lot deeper than Mayu's, who is trained in relaxation. It is a different feeling all together.

We cleaned up as many leaves and weeds and stuff as we could in the yard and around the street. Mayu went in for lunch at the 11.30 bell and I stayed out and did some more because I had a later, larger breakfast than she did. I took a stump in our yard (one that I had peeld, burned, and buffed many years ago) , one that isn't rotten and used it to stand on so that I could finish trimming the tree out by my car. It is the tree I showcased last year about this time to show how bald everything got after the Silver Center Gardeners came and prepared our yard for winter. Now that tree is ready for winter, by me. Last year i thought I had cut it back too extremely, but this year it grew like never before! So I did it again, and cut it waaay back, and I think it looks just fine the way it is. I like it like this! Wait until you see (maybe) the yard after the Silvers come and prune it all waaaay back.

The Silver Center gardeners will come by in November (we booked but they are filled up until that time) to do the entire yard. It will cost us more this year with the extra costs we have to pay to have the clippings carried away (trucking fee) and burned (new bylaw). Such is life, I guess. We have paid for this every year and just haven't bothered to ask our owner to help. I consider it a part of the fees to enjoy this place as long as we have been able and as long as we can. If any of you ever come for a visit while we are still here, I think you will agree that it really is worth the cost, and the effort to have the greenery that we are graced with in this home.

I cut away a few of the hostas that are finally starting to turn yellow; I'll cut the rest in the coming months as they turn, little by little until the entire yard is clean of them until next spring when they grow like crazy of their own volition. I also cut the rose "bush/tree beeste" back down to about chest height. The branches on it are as thick as a mechanich's index finger and this year the thing kept growing and sprouting and blooming so that finally in the rain yesterday, to prevent my umbrella from always getting caught in the thorns as I walk Mayu out to her car in the mornings, I cut it back. It was seriously about 12ft high! It just kept growing! AND it kept blooming, so there were roses waaay above the tree that it was standing next to. I found that rather humourous.

I needed to label our trash bags, and take a few out to Mayu. We have to label them with the area we live in, and our names. Why? Because those damn Japanese don't follow the rules! They throw non burnables out on burnable day, and so on. And then they refuse to come and collect it when the garbage collector won't take it away! So it sits there until the next day comes around and they just pretend that it wasn't theirs. It really bugs me, this aspect of the Japanese culture. They don't want to take responsibility for anything, don't like "inconvenience", avoid any sort of admission until caught, and then bow, say "I'm sorry" and expect to just be forgiven. It is like that in the traditional businesses as well.

Today one of the old guys across the street came by to say that we should ask the owner of our house to have the big zelkova tree cut down because in autumn time the leaves fall and make garbage everywhere! Yes, he isn't the only one to believe this shocking thought. When we left the previous place we lived in, one of the big reasons was because our neighbour (and a nice guy, too) complained about the same thing about the big old beautufiul trees there, so many times, that our landlords came and cut all the trees down, killing any green that was once there, and driving up the temperature in the house. If it falls... it's garbage and an eyesore and should be cut down.

This is shocking and probably hard to believe coming from a culture that seems to love gardens, and bonsai, flower arranging, tea ceremonies, and all that stuff. But it's true. Very very sad... very sad indeed because they won't realize the true impact of what they say until it is too late.

As Mayu said, it is really sad that they forget the beauty of the falling leaves, how poets for thousands of years have been writing about it, as a beautiful part of the life cycle. We get to enjoy watching the trees grow, expand, fill out. They give us shade, moisture, and a comfortable soul. In the autumn they change colour and give us more pleasure, and then we watch them fall. But for so many people here, even the old ones who grew up with so much more greenery around, to them it is "garbage" and the entire tree should be cut down. It's a very very sad statement of this entire society.

The people in Tokyo, the concrete jungle, appreciate it so much more because they don't have it nearly as much as here! They try to recreate nature, and greenery because they know the stresses of living in a heat island, a concrete jungle where it is very hard to find a quiet place to enjoy some peaceful nature (this was the hardest thing for me when I first moved to Yokohama in 1989). And they do a really good job at it, too!They know, so they try to recreate what over here, they want to just cut down, toss away, and forget. How sad.

We live in a relatively new community of 50 homes surrounded by older communities. The greenery here is surprisingly lush for the rest of the area. When Max first came here for a visit when we moved, he was shocked because it looks so completely different from the rest of the village. Well, if this mentality of "falling leaves are but an eyesore, and garbage" continues, then the beautiful large trees in Japan, even out here in the country don't stand much of a chance to continue growing, and giving us such beauty, and peace in the soul.

I love my Shangri-la so very much. I hope that you will come and visit me before either I am gone from here, or here is gone from me! Seriously, this is an open invitation to anyone who wants to visit. I have always offered this since I started writing blogs as I do so want to share with you what I have experienced here for the past 20 years. Who knows how much longer we will be here? Seriously! Take me up on my offer if you can; because I will take care of you with all my soul and once your time here is done, send you lovingly on your way back to family and friends so that you too can share the wonders with those dear to you, and perhaps instill in them the dream to visit Japan some day. This chair is here, and waiting for YOU!

I love YOU!

Cam

ThoseSneakyJapanese: Virtual Rage

Just when you thought you had seen enough with "road rage", "blog rage", and all the other whatever-induced "rages" out there where seemingly ordinary people momentarily lose their mind and go on a rampage "killing" spree, comes a brand new "rage" out of Japan: "Virtual Rage"!

Read on to learn how one woman in Japan, who's online avatar was "married" to another gamer's avatar, murdered her "virtual husband"('s avatar) when she found out that he had virtually divorced her!

Talk about an addictive personality! Talk about STOOOPID!

I love you!

Cam

*******************

Online divorcee jailed after killing virtual hubby
By MARI YAMAGUCHI, Associated Press

TOKYO: A 43-year-old Japanese woman whose sudden divorce in a virtual game world made her so angry that she killed her online husband's digital persona has been arrested on suspicion of hacking, police said Thursday.

The woman, who is jailed on suspicion of illegally accessing a computer and manipulating electronic data, used his identification and password to log onto popular interactive game "Maple Story" to carry out the virtual murder in mid-May, a police official in northern Sapporo said on condition of anonymity, citing department policy.

"I was suddenly divorced, without a word of warning. That made me so angry," the official quoted her as telling investigators and admitting the allegations.

The woman had not plotted any revenge in the real world, the official said.

She has not yet been formally charged, but if convicted could face a prison term of up to five years or a fine up to $5,000.

Players in "Maple Story" raise and manipulate digital images called "avatars" that represent themselves, while engaging in relationships, social activities and fighting against monsters and other obstacles.

The woman used login information she got from the 33-year-old office worker when their characters were happily married, and killed the character. The man complained to police when he discovered that his beloved online avatar was dead.

Guns 'n Roses 'n Dr. Pepper Team Up to Make Fat America Fatter!

Wow... who would have ever thought that good old Guns 'n Roses would make a bet with Dr. Pepper and win!

So now, Dr. Pepper has to offer a free drink to EVERY SINGLE AMERICAN in existence (except the two band members who were not involved in the album).

Get this! And then go get your Dr. Pepper, today!

And while you are at it, watch your blood sugars and your insulin soar!

Oh, and if they use aspartame in the DIET... keep an eye on your carcinogen levels.

I love you!

Cam

P.S. Talk about an amazing marketing tactic! You gotta wonder if the boys and girls at Dr. Pepper are laughing, or crying. It could swing both ways.

****************************

Dr Pepper flowing as new Guns album arrives
By Jonathan Cohen Jonathan Cohen – Thu Oct 23, 8:02 pm ET Reuters – … NEW YORK

(Billboard) – Guns N' Roses fans thirsting for the band's first album of new material in 17 years will have a sweet, fizzy treat to savor as they listen.

Dr Pepper is making good on a promise to provide every person in America a can of the soft drink if "Chinese Democracy" were to arrive in 2008, and has revealed details of the plan.

"We never thought this day would come," Dr Pepper vp marketing Tony Jacobs said Wednesday. "But now that it's here all we can say is: The Dr Pepper's on us."

Interested fans are being asked to visit DrPepper.com (http://www.drpepper.com) on November 23, the day "Chinese Democracy" is released in the U.S. exclusively via Best Buy. After registering online, fans will receive a coupon redeemable for a 20-ounce Dr Pepper wherever the drink is sold.

The twist: The coupon is available for only 24 hours and will expire on February 28.

Kamishii Disaster Relief Snapshots

To continue along the same disastrous lines as I have since yesterday's "Disaster Relief" Double Whammy, I thought that I really should post the few photos that I took with my keitai here on Flickr so that you can get a different "eye's view" other than just of my breakfast (on video), and the actual event (on video). Not everyone has video-compatible internet.

This is the first time ever to conduct this large of a disaster-relief event in Fukui. And it was even more enjoyable to note that our village was the first of the first to get it! They plan on doing it around the prefecture from now on and rotate through different districts so that other communities can also get a chance to ... participate. You can see the entire three point five hour event all smushed down into about seven minutes of video called Kamishii Disaster Relief Exercises.

I arrived at the relief center (the little community center behind our house... in front of our house behind the houses in front of us) at 8.15 in the morning. There was a brief talk and we all marched to the elementaryschool where other areas of Kamishii had also been gathering. It turned out that there were approximately 600 people who showed up in total, from little babies, to the elderly. I got to wear a helmet that was too small for one of the exercises in which they wanted me to participate; the "save someone from a burning house" exercise you saw me videotaping. That was my particiaption. But I get ahead of myself (needed a way to explain that photo of ME!)

At first, we all lined up according to the districts we were from. Not everyone in the village came to the event, but rather just a small fraction. We stood there as the people responsible for the districts reported on how many people were in each household and if they had visited each house, and took note of who was home, who was not (this actually happened about 8:05 after the 8am alarm went off).

While some were participating, most of the people just hung around watching. It did seem that rather than us practicing for disaster, we were just kind of witnessing some sort of ceremony. Oh well, that's life. At least we got to do another community thing.

Various events occurred during this time and you can see them on my Kamishii Disaster Relief Exercises video.

Near the end, I have to say, that the highlight was when a helicopter flew in, lowered two rescuers down, and rescued two girls from the top of the school roof. They musth have had the time of their lives flying around in the helicopter after that air lift! I bet it is a memory that will stick with them forever!

When all of the drills were done, there was the firefighter's marching band. They came out to the school ground and stood (didn't march) and played several brass band songs while the women that you can see in front, stood twirling baton flags. I would have liked to have seen more movement among the dance-twirlers because they didn't move around that much.

Finally, when all was said an done, we all lined up for the closing ceremony, the fire chief gave a closing speech, and we walked home.

I love you!

Cam

Ascending Into Your Higher Cosmic Self

This is the continuation of my previous introduction to Cameron Day's meditation to help clean the soul, reclaim your energy, and take control again of your ego. You can read the introduction at: Some Pretty Serious NewAge Wackhead Shit

Well... I just listened to all six of the 10 minute sessions... I liked them!

The deep breathing is very relaxing, very energizing, very nice. Cameron also explains things in a very modern way, talking about GPS, Office Assistants, minimizing the ego like we minimize a web page by clicking the little button in the top right corner of the window, and other things we are comfortable with in our current level of technological awareness. (He goes a bit overboard delving into the Douglas Adams Galactic stuff, but to each their own...)

Although not particularly fond of his voice (I prefer Haydn's voice on the meditation Processes I have been doing all year to Cameron's.... this Cameron's.. not my Cameron's), I can get by that and not let it bother me. Because that is my ego trying to find ways not to relinquish its control, and I am aware of that, and at the same time would like to gain control back of my mind and minimize the ego to the original role of assistant and basic guidance system, I am interested in working on reclaiming control.

I like this little series of audio meditation. I like that they are broken down into 10 minute segments. I guess it is great to do 10 minutes here and there, but again, in order to be able to work well on the next phase, you need to do the previous phases as well (you can do them in your own mind without the help of these tapes once you get used to doing so) so it's not like you can have EVERYTHING done in 10 minutes by skipping to the last process. Just like cooking, there is a process and you really do need to start at the beginning, take one step at a time, and finish with the food prepared and ready to enjoy (unless you pull a box of precooked bacon out of the fridge, open it up and munch on it that way - which, by the way is apparently delicious, believe it or not... right Stefnee and Scooter?). Always breathing deeply... always breathing deeply...

in....................................

out...................................

I think I will add these processes to my meditational package and work on them in addition to what I am already doing.

In fact, I'm going to put them all up on my site here for ease of access; Cameron gives us permission do that as long as we link back to his page at www.ascensionhelp.com (mission accomplished). Please feel free to download the attached files to this blog and you can listen to them on your mp3 player at your own discretion. Or, you can go to his pages, follow the processes by clicking the videos there (he has you close your eyes anyway so the images are really just so that the audio can be put on YouTube), downloading a written page for those of you "aurally challenged", or download them yourself at the bottom of each page.

Addendum to my attempts: It seems that I can only put a maximum of five attachments on one post, and since there are more, I tried to add a zipped file. But then I was limited by the maximum file size of 20MB. That means, that rather than upload the files for you, I will put the links to Cameron Day's downloads so that you can get them from my page by right clicking the following links, and saving them to your own computer / mp3 player.

The order you see below, is the order that Cameron discusses the process. I like that name, and I like to write it too! Cameron Cameron Cameron Cameron Cameron!

1. higher-self-meditation-didg.mp3
2. cosmic-flush-with-didgeridoo.mp3
3. energy-refund.mp3
4. egominimizerdidg.mp3
5. reclaimingenergypart1withdidg.mp3
6. reclaimingenergypart2withdidg.mp3
7. peeling-layers-with-didg.mp3

And that should do it! Anything to make YOUR life a little bit better, I LOVE to do, with all my heart and soul.

I ADORE you!!!

Cam

P.S. Cameron does get a little bit bizarre talking about the galaxy being and stuff like that. I started to wonder if Tom Cruise was going to show up as a guest breather or something... but eventually Cameron comes back on track. And when you realize that he is just using jargon that is comfortable to himself, it really makes it much easier to work with. Just describe it to yourself, as you see fit.

P.P.S. It seems that I can only add a maximum of five attachments. So.... I am going to put the last three parts in a zip file and attack it that way. Sneakysneaky me.

Some Pretty Serious NewAge Wackhead Shit

“I accept that this is how things are at the moment”.

Jenny recently wrote about some spiritual studies she is doing that take this concept into account. Abby talks about it all the time. I mention it whenever I put on my "NewAge Wackhead" manteau.

I guess this statement could mean different things for different people. To me, I see it as being in the NOW, being in the moment, but not necessarily "accepting" that life HAS to be hell now. You know what I mean? When you look at a now moment, "this" moment in time, it isn't really as bad as it seems (unless of course you are skewered and being roasted over a fire by a tribe of carnivorous hogs).

The author says that this statement is meant to remind the person that whatever is happening at the moment, no matter how terrible it may seem, is really only temporary and will change in the future. That is comforting, especially if you are being roasted over a fire by a tribe of carnivorous hogs (maybe in the future they will stuff an apple in your mouth...)

The Bleeping Herald posts many interesting metaphysical thoughts by various scientists in this movement.

The one that arrived in my inbox today has this article, entitled "Multi-dimensional Energy Biology" by Cameron Day (not Diaz). It is interesting. Pretty far out there, but interesting nonetheless the way the author links our thoughts to physical energy that is really no different than the computer I am writing this on, or the desk on which my computer rests. He then takes it a fair bit further, linking it to ego, and higher energy, and then some stuff on energy peptides, emotional states of being and all that jazz.

Here is the lead in. If you are interested, then by all means follow the link and read on! But be prepared to have your brain waves bent. It feels rather neat when they start doing funny things inside that thing we call our head.

I love you!

Cam

P.S. Just in case you were wondering... I believe this shit.

**********************

Q uantum physics and ancient spiritual teachings agree that our experience of reality is determined by our beliefs and thought patterns. Neuro-plasticity continually reinforces the patterns of thought that we are comfortable with, causing information that runs counter to one’s beliefs to be ignored, while information that supports those beliefs is embraced.

In order to understand more deeply how our belief systems affect our experience of reality, we need to understand the basic mechanics by which we attract “higher dimensional” energy that matches our frequency of thought. Using that understanding while anchoring our awareness in the present moment, we can radically shift our thoughts to a higher frequency level on a moment by moment basis.

Read the rest here (it really is pretty interesting, in a mind-bending sort of way).

Live House Session in Kanazawa

As many of you know (because I have talked about this on a few occasions in the past), there are a group of extremely talented composer musicians who have their own companies, and do work as session musicians for the big names over here, little sessions at live houses in tours around the country and so forth, that Mayu "follows". These are all connected to Mitsuda Kenichi (piano/composer), that Mayu loves. There are guitarists, violinists, bass, percussion, piano, etc. The kind of musicians that would make up a quartet, or some such "jazz" kind of group.

Yesterday I went with Mayu to Kanazawa because Naoto (an amazing violinist) and three of his six member group, Naota, are on tour. Two days ago they had a live session in Tokyo, and yesterday it was here in Ishikawa (prefecture next to where I live, an hour from here on the expressway). Mayu goes when she can, but she doesn't follow Naoto devoutly. Yukiyo, Mayu's girlfriend, however, does. He is extremely talented. (Only three of the six members of this session group are on tour right now because the other three are too busy with other work).

Naoto plays the violin, and play it amazingly well he does! Tetsuro is an amazing guitarist (and he is gorgeous! He wears shorts all the time and his calves melted me, along with his smile - Can you tell where MY attention was the entire night? heeee). He has a great voice, too. We heard a little bit of it when they were getting him to sing the "jazzy-like" "hey ho tadum dedumm dumm" that is not really singing, but more of an instrument in and of itself. And then Teiho is the composer. He plays apparently over 80% of the instruments you find in a full orchestra. Yes, one of those guys. He was playing the piano and the accordion (the small boxy one, not the big "ukrainian" one I grew up with hearing).

The live session went from 7pm to 9.30. There was full capacity (50 people) in the live house bar. There were ... three men in the audience, and I was one of them. I will let you do the math to figure out which sex follows these kinds of musicians (it's pretty much the same for Mayu's Kenichi Mitsuda, also).

Mayu asked me to bring my IC recorder and pirate the concert so she could send the talking parts, etc. (i.e. the music) to her girlfriend Miyuki, from Osaka, who couldn't make it to this concert. So we did. The quality was pretty good considering we were sitting in the back half of the bar.

Here are two of the nine songs they played. Please click the file attachment at the bottom of this blog. You may like it if you are into "session" stuff, or you may not, depending upon your style of music. You won't find any screaming guitar riffs (Alan), nor any gravelly, marlboro voices (Jen), but if you like Jazz / easy-listening and especially are a fan of apparently very technically complicated music (I can't tell.. I can barely sing "Happy Birthday"), this may speak out to you.

The first song was written by Tetsuro, the guitarist (Song #5). The second song is the "call & response" style of music where they humm, then get the audience to respond in the same way (song #8). Mayu's Ken-chan does this in all of his live sessions.

I love you!

Cam

P.S. If anyone is currently using a teeny little app for playing music directly in a blog (like we insert YouTube coding for videos), please let me know. I'd rather put that directly in the blog than attach the files. Some people can't seem to get these mp3 files to work when I do it this way (and it doesn't use the latest blogging technology this way, either).

The Fabric Goddess Site on Etsy, Continued

For those of you not really aware of what Our Fabric Goddess has been up to outside of her day job, her family job, her taxi job, her night job, and her blog job.... well, I am here to tell you that she is also expanding her online business on Etsy, called "The Fabric Goddess".

Stefnee is creating and producing at a frenzied pace, a plethora of artwork, and craftwork that can suit all budgets and many different walks of life. What she comes up with is impressive, and the descriptions are endearing and a joy to read at the very least! I highly recommend you visit her Online Store to take a look at what she has done, can do and will do (she does custom work as well).

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade camswitzer.etsy.com

I love you!

Cam

P.S. I too am working on developing my "Vintage Kimono Haven" site on Etsy and am playing with the settings to see how things work. Eventually I will get some product up there! One of the options is to create a "Mini Etsy Mall" that you can share on blogs, personal websites and more. So, since I don't have my own yet, I thought I would try it out with The Fabric Goddess'!

Introducing Brian Peskin's "Professor Nutrition YouTube Channel"

As you all know by now, Brian Peskin is my mentor, and the scientist who has FINALLY put together all the pieces of the puzzle with respect to why our health guidelines are making us all more ill, to have higher rates of obesity (60% in 2001 in the USA), higher levels of heart disease (one in two in 2001), skyrocketing levels of diabetes and more!

You can visit his site at www.brianpeskin.com at your leisure.

Khanada, my very good friend and the woman who runs Y.E.S. Supplements (the business that manufactures and sells the PEOs Cam, Jen, Stefnee, Paula, and more always talk about), has taken Brian's global lectures and put them up on YouTube for the world to see so finally I can share this link to Brian Peskin's YouTube site on Science NOT Opinion Health.

I hope that some of you will visit Brian's Professor Nutrition YouTube Channel , watch his videos and hopefully learn from what he has to say. I especially hope that my American friends will do this. Why?

Well, the healthcare system in the USA is pretty much fucked; it is very difficult for people to get affordable healthcare and will be so for a long time, even if radical changes take place.

But... what do you think about this as a way of preventing personal (financial) tragedy through health issues: aside from accident or tragedy, what if you hardly every got sick anymore, had boundless amounts of energy, lightning quick thought processes, and never had to worry about dreaded illnesses such as CANCER ever again?

And what if it only cost you a paltry $35 a month by taking Y.E.S. Supplements parent essential oils (PEOs), the essential oils that were developed by Brian, through years of collecting and studying research over the past century... information that is all available for anyone who wishes to do their own due diligence, as Brian did?

Imagine.... even if the upcoming elections lean toward a more liberal government... it will take years to revamp the healthcare system in the USA.

Just imagine how easier your life would be if you no longer had to have the thought of "personal bankruptcy" looming over your the back of your mind whenever thoughts of cancer, diabetes, obesity heart disease and other major illnesses arose? Imagine if you can dramatically cut your copays down by hardly ever having to take you or your family to the doctor anymore?

With all of the major illnesses a thing of the past (including most flu viruses, colds and other minor illnesses), THAT stress is completely gone! And that is a wonderful feeling, let me tell you!!

Can you afford to wait years until an affordable "repair-ative healthcare system" is implemented?

Why not prevent heart disease?

Why not prevent obesity?

Why not prevent diabetes BEFORE they strike?

Because if you continue to follow the same guidelines that the majority of North Americans are following you WILL get ill with a major illness just as the majority of North Americans are ill.

When I was young, I was taught by my parents, my schools, and the dentists and medical community that it was always better to have a preventative checkup at the dentist every six months than to have to suffer through major peridontal caries and other mouth diseases. We HAVE been taught to do with our teeth, so why not with our bodies?!?

PREVENTATIVE healthcare far outweighs repair-ative healthcare any day.

Check out the Professor Nutrition YouTube Channel today and save yourself a huge amount of money in medical bills, in lost sleep, in lost energy, in poor performance at work and play, and in overall health and happiness today. The Fountain of Youth really DOES exist!

I have posted a short five minute video of an Interview Brian had on Newsline, Thailand waaay back in 2001. Imagine that what he is talking about nearly 8 years ago has gotten EVEN WORSE because nobody wants to listen!

Here is Part 1 of Brian's hour long talk at the BoulderFest Conference for hundreds of medical practitioners. It is a 10minute talk, but should be worth your while. If you wish to continue, please visit the YouTube site and watch the rest.

You can get the rest of Brian's videos here: Professor Nutrition YouTube Channel.

I love you!

Cam

P.S. Oh! A bear's foot print has just been found in a garden one of the areas of my village near where I live and the giant PA system is announcing that right now! I LOVE MY NATURE!!!

Soothing the Ravaged Breast

On the TV yesterday morning, there was actually an interesting news article that caught my eye. Kind of like how the title of this post caught yours.

It seems that there is a brand new technology that has just been developed over here for performing mammography on women's breasts. The program started off stating that one in twenty women in Japan are diagnosed with breast cancer. I haven't bothered to look at the comparable stats in N.A. but to me 1/20 is a pretty high number, considering breasts are a pretty important thing.

I have no idea what it is like (although these days it seems that men need to consider having mammograms themselves), but I hear that some women have likened it to having all of the breast tissue explode through the nipples if their breasts are mashed any bit further. I hear it is quite painful and that it can ache for days after. I have to wonder if the pain is akin to falling forward, testicles first into your mountain bike stem, and mashing them between the steel stem and one's body moving forward at a certain velocity (momentum is a wonderful thing).

The technology they were showcasing was this compartment that fits inside the sliding table of those giant MRI machines they send you into to do brain, etc. scans.

This compartment is designed with two large ... openings (?) receptacles (?) cups (?) that a woman rests her breasts in while facing down on the table. What I saw from the brief shot of the machine was that it looked like there were a bunch of receptors, sensors, etc. in the cups, designed to do the MRI testing.

Unlike the standard "mashed between two steel plates" barbaric method, this puts absolutely no pressure at all on the breast tissue.

But that's not all....

The other great news is that they showed the difference between the current method (breast "x-ray" looks all milky, and cloudy until doctors determine "dangerous locations") and the new method. When they compared the crisp clear lines of the new method, showing absolutely no cloudiness at all, and instead very clearly the nodes, and other areas of the breast (including invasive clusters), it was like night and day between the old and the new.

I was very impressed.

So why am I writing about this? Well, I would like to know if any of you women out there who have undergone mammograms over the years have seen this kind of device, and or have had the opportunity to use it instead of the old instruments used? Any thoughts on this?

Of course questions arise: Do we want to undergo MRIs every year? Is it more or less safe than the traditional way? Is it new technology for "new technology" sake? Is it too expensive for countries that use private healthcare? Will it be rejected for coverage by insurance companies for reasons being "too costly, too new, too effective"?

If this new system is affordable for the mass middle class (that's most of us), and provides better results with less pain, and decreases chances of future "cancer" due to the testing, (regular mammograms can increase the chances of GETTING cancer because of the radiation the breasts are exposed to.. but you all know this already) then this might be interesting technology, and take a load off your weary breasts!

I love you!

Cam

P.S. Wish I had some pictures to show you of the machine... I couldn't find it on online news.

Carousing with Monkeys Again

The Japanese are often referred to by some (and even by themselves when they are drunk enough to joke about their body structure) as "little yellow monkeys". I am not so sure about the yellow part, but I must admit that when Japanese boys wear their rapperjeans hanging off their permanently erectile organs, and showing 75% of their boxer shorts, the already 50/50 proportions take on a rather simian look as their already long upper body (and large head... thus Paula is considered to have a "small head") look disturbingly longer as the "waist" approaches the ground, thus shortening their legs to simian lengths.... not a good thing to do, J-boys.... nope.

(image: Male Power metrosexual socks from Carolina Artisans, worn on Day 1 of the fair)

But this blog is not about little yellow Japanese monkeys. I thought to choose the title just to let you know that I have returned from the Big Rice Bowl to my beloved nature where I am able to pick up my duties as CEO and chief pollywog of the dis-organization I fondlingly know as My Shangri-la, or bumfuck Japan.

iOFT (International Optical Fair Tokyo - don't ask my why they de-capitalize the i...) is Japan's premier optical trade show that runs from Oct 1-3 every year. They call themselves "the most important optical trade show in Asia". This is very much like the USA calling their baseball's greatest series, "The World Series" when it involves no other teams than those in America. Please see Sheila's "Cheeky and Just for Fun" blog on how to correct this conceptual blunder...

(image: Me on Day 1 of the fair)

My customer, frag Optics consists of about five or so people from Australia. Frag is the designer, and 34 years of age. It is the first time for him to venture into the optical field. He is an industrial designer and has won many international awards over a variety of industries (eg. furniture, household, etc.) Anthony could not come. Jim, with a wonderful sense of humour and sarcasm, that only the Aussies (and Canucks) can do so well was a joy to spend time with. Edmund & Sandy, the owners of the factory and partners in frag Optics also attended (when they weren't out shopping which was about 2.5 of the 3 days).

The fair was interesting. I LOVED FINALLY getting out among people, schmooozing them, chatting them up, laughing them, teasing them, (convincing the gorgeous Japanese translator across the aisle to put her arm around me), meeting customers, visiting around, and going out to watch the Japanese get roaringly fall down pukingly shitfaced drunk in various parts of Tokyo (Kabuki-cho, Shimbashi, Shinjuku, et al).

(image: me on Day 1 of the fair)

We even saw one fellow tumble down about 30 flights of concrete stairs in one of the big stations, hit his face on several of the steps and come to a "Raggedy Taro" finish in a heap on the platform. I didn't personally see this as I was on the train looking the other way, but Frag watched him lurch, and sway, and stagger, and stumble the entire time as we were getting our tickets, descending to the platform, and getting on the train. He said that the thing that still haunted him until we parted ways last night was the image of the guy's teeth smashing and flying out of his mouth everywhere and people running over to him as he staggered and tried to stand up in his drunken (and probably numb) state. Such is life in a "state" that is so heavily regulated, and followed, that the people NEED to "release" their pent up energies through death-defying drinking.

My work was a smashing success. Everything I did was above and beyond the call of duty from arriving at the booth well before them, through "sales-interpreting" with gusto and verve, to guide-dogging them around Tokyo for delicious meals, wonderful and compelling conversations, and unstoppable humour (especially the self-deprecating kind). On the last evening I took my clients to a wonderful "fish" restaurant in Shimbashi and had them experience a culinary wonderland of delicious mouth-watering experiences. I ordered (on their bill of course) dish after dish of absolutely memorable, wonderful Japanese foods. I even slipped in whale bacon to get the Aussies to "relax" a little bit *wink*. The Hong Kong factory owner couple chuckled when I showed them the kanji of the food I was ordering, but knowingly kept mum with a grin - bad bad cammy... heeeee).

(image: me on Day 1 of the fair)

The one thing I really enjoyed about this fair was that I did not wear a suit. At all my other trade shows I wore an absolutely to die for suit that had all the italian women in italy passing by stopping, drooling and getting dehydrated over... but this time... I decided to go a little more casual, and "trendy" (as Jenny called it). After all, this trade show was all about eyeglasses, sunglasses and FASHION, so rather than do like all the Japanese dudes and be there in suit and tie, I let my inner fashion mogul loose (possibly for the first time in my entire life!) And it was fun! A lot of fun! Although, I kept having to pull my low rise jeans up as they seemed to want to go lower than they should have. Also, as I spend most of my time these days with no shoes on, it was difficult wearing shoes for 15hour stretches, especially my gorgeous italian leather Moschino shoes I purchased in italy back in 2001.

But I managed. And after the first day of having the typical "stand all day in heels sore back", things were OK. I did, however discover that although I am going to the gym regularly, my body is not used to the trade show standing and walking in thin soled leather shoes anymore. When I returned to my room around midnight for a shower, and then crawled into bed, for the first time in months I found myself instantly awakening at 6am, feeling disoriented, covered in "bed tracks" from the heavy, solid sleep, and wondering what time it was, and more importantly what I was supposed to be doing in a hotel! (this had nothing to do with alcohol as I only had two beer the first night, then one each subsequent night - one seems to be my limit these days without feeling "icky" the next morning). But I made, it out the next day to breakfast, then to the fair for a full day of S&S (Selling & Schmoozing) in my trendy duds and had a blast.

(image: Bright Boy metrosexual socks from Carolina Artisans, worn on Day 2 of the fair)

My customers were ecstatic with my efforts and they left in the cab on the last night very very happy. With my services.

The results of the fair, however, were a different matter. Jim is used to getting a lot of sales at trade shows, so the fact that we got NONE at this one was a shocker to him. It was also the very first time for him to experience "this kind of show" in Japan in spite of doing successful trade shows for over 30 years in his optical businesses.

The biggest takeaway for them was the knowledge they gained regarding the huge difference in Japanese business, and fashion from that of the rest of the world (Jim wasn't too fond of the Japanese women's fashion of short skirts and high boots (with higher "sockings"), though Frag and I were not complaining at all. I think that Frag fell in love with the women over 357 times during the three days we were together).

(image: me on Day 2 of the fair)

They learned that the colours, the shapes, the "numbers" (i.e. measurements), etc. were not what the Japanese distributors wanted. Frag learned that having a purely "art for expression" booth doesn't work, and that you MUST build it primarily for sales, marketing, and to catch the customer's eye, rather than being a work of art. Jim learned how hard it is to get the market here to show an interest (his ego was humbled).

I learned that the beautiful translator across the aisle is 5'4", divorced with one child, has a New Zealand boyfriend living in Hamilton Ontario, and planning to visit him in November, went to University in California, speaks English and Mandarin (studied in Taiwan for one year), was a makeup model, works in the fashion industry, has a quick wit and is very intelligent, and looks great in high heels and jeans! Oh, and she interpreted for the wildly popular French company across the aisle. Yep.

They will be taking their collection to Paris for the Silmo Optical Trade show, and I have asked them to tell me what kind of reception their designs, colours, etc. have over in Europe. Initially this collection was designed for the Euroface, but at the last minute they decided to do Japan which meant that most Japanese distributors would complain about the dimensions of the product.

(image: me on Day 2 of the fair)

What the J-guys don't understand is that you don't have to have an Asian-size when you are a foreign brand because the Japanese people don't really care. They want the foreignness, and the exciting colours and shapes as opposed to the typical muted colours and boring designs of Japan. Of course mainstream is not that way, but foreign brands don't need to be mainstream, and there is still a lot of business to be had (if only the J-guys would understand this and take a chance rather than being so damn typical Japanese "drink until you smash your teeth out" conservative).

The first night (9/30) I took Frag to Shimbashi in the rain. We wandered around had dinner, wandered some more, and parted ways. I just happened to get to the right platform but didn't realize that four unrelated trains share the same platform. I got on the wrong train that took me out to Shin Kawasaki, upon which I had to wait 45 minutes to catch a train coming back. This little detour got me home two and a half hours later than I normally would have done.

(image: me on Day 2 of the fair)

The second night (10/01) I went out with Jim and Frag into town. This is the night Frag saw the drunken guy with the exploding teeth. I think he has PTSD now as it haunts him in the night. On the way back I missed my stop because I was giving them above and beyond the call of duty fantastic entertaining service by talking to them and engaging them in exciting stories of Japan. That put me about 30 minutes later than planned to get back to my hotel.

On the third night (10/02), all four of us went to ODaiba and had a great dinner. We met Edmund's wife (Hong Kong Factory owner) there. I got the right train home but had to walk about 30 minutes to find my train station, which was no big deal considering I had switched out my italian shoes for my Skechers that I got in NYC with Jenny, last year. (I always bring my work leathers in my pack, but travel between the hotel and venue in comfortable shoes so that when the fair is done for the day I can slip back into them after airing and cooling out my feet at the end of the day - a secret I learned in Italy).

(image: Lord of the Manor metrosexual socks from Carolina Artisans, worn on Day 3 of the fair)

For the last night (10/03) we took the trains into Shimbashi again and enjoyed that dinner I explained above. I put them in a taxi and headed home. I did not get lost this time.

Now that's what I call REAL customer service!

This morning I took it very easy; actually I awoke much later than expected (about 7.30 or so) after a very heavy, and solid sleep. I took a shower, had breakfast slowly and then before I was finished, started chatting with a French eyewear designer. He walked by my table, and I caught his eye, smiled, mentioned the weather, asked him to sit down, introduced myself and ... did what I do naturally: entertained him. It was wonderful, but I didn't get seconds of meat because they closed the buffet at 10am. I also missed the great yogurt. I headed back to my room, relaxed a bit longer, then packed up and checked out.

(image: me on Day 3 of the fair)

On the way out, I bumped into the French gentleman and helped him decide where he wanted to go today as he was about to experience downtown Tokyo for the first time on an "ootnaboot" alone. I caught my trains with ease, and wound up at my destination, the airport.

While I was waiting at the gate I spent time engaging, and chatting with an Ecuadorian couple who were on their way to Akita prefecture from Ecuador - Holland - France - Tokyo... They were exhausted, as I could see, but after I left them, I think there was a bit of a sparkle in their eyes. We didn't speak much of the same language, but they did their best, I did mine, and a lot of smiles from the eyes went a long way. I hope I left them even a little more energetic than before we had met. I know that I enjoyed taking the time to chat with them.

(image: me on Day 3 of the fair)

After arriving at Komatsu, I drove the hour home, unpacked, had my lunch at 6pm, went to the sento at seven, and here I sit.

Tomorrow I think I'll go to the gym as my back needs some muscle workout. After catching up on my accounting, of course! Oh, and I guess I should have a meeting with the monkeys, the bears and the boars, oh my!

I love you!

Cam

(image: me on Day 3 of the fair)