Music & English

Those of you who like to study Eiken are probably aware of this information but I’ll give it to you anyway. I’ve recently learned of the wealth of Eiken study materials available free of charge on the internet. After my student had just finished the book we had using for his Eiken lessons he informed me of the site written in his book. After accessing it I found up to date tests, scripts audio files all kinds of stuff. For those of you who don’t know this the site is:
http://www.eiken.or.jp/listening/grade_1.html
This site is for the Grade 1 tests but if you search around you can find tests for every grad

夕べ新宿ぎょえんでSadao Watanabeのコンサートを見に行きました。Sadao は74歳ぐらいだけどまだalto saxのおとはますますパワフル。しんじられないです。バンドのメンバーはパーカッションいがいぜんいん日本人でした。ドラマーはもとSquareのメンバーNoritake と言う人。とても上手にたたいてました。もうDave Weckl のコピーじゃない。じぶんのたたき方があります。3きょくしかやらなかったのは残念なことでした。コンサートの後半は小学生から高校生までのこどもの歌でした。

I watched Ivan Lins on “Music Air” last night. You know what I mean by “Music Air” if you have digital broadcasting. I’ve also mentioned it here before. It’s channel 260. Ivan Lins is a popular Brazilian composer, piano player, singer. The program was hosted by Ramsey Lewis who is well known as a prolific pianist for the band under his own name; The Ramsey Lewis Trio. Ivan played one song in Portugese called “Comecar do Nova”. He called it “The Island” in English. As I am of Portugese descent and I know some Portugese, the title of the song literally translated is “starting from new” or like a “new beginning”. Anyways if you haven’t heard any real Brazilian music and you want to get started, Ivan Lins might be a good starting point to experience a “new beginning” in music.

皆さんこんにちは。夕べ私はイントロと言うライブハウスに行きました。前週の土曜日ジャムセションやてます。時間はｐｍ10時からam6時まで。私は12時に帰りました。2きょうくしかえんそうできなかった。なぜから、DenentoshiせんのYoga駅の近くにすんでいます。渋谷から 最後の電車は12時25分。
The players weren’t so bad. The last tune we played up tempo. Had we not done so I would have missed the last train.

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As the O Bon holidays have drawn to a close everyone, as have I, are back to their work routines. I closed my holidays with a Sunday nite barbecue on my roof balcony. Homemade hamburgers will put Mac, Lotteria, Morinaga Luv, Mos Burger and First, Second and Third Kitchen’s to shame. The event went from from 4:30 until about 11:00. The beers were pouring and it was a nite to remember

Today was my first time at Yasukuni Shrine. Yes that very controversial place that the stupid politicians and VIP’s make such a big fuss about. It’s a pretty big place. The main reason I went was to see the zero fighter (ゼロセン). It was impressive. I really wanted to go into the cockpit, but no one was allowed. There wee tourist busses arriving from all over Japan with scores of old people. Maybe they came to pay respects to lost relatives from World War II. I expected to see a tank but there was none.

I also went to another museum close by called Showa Kan. They had all kinds of artifacts and pictures of post war and pre war Japan. It was really interesting to see what the Japanese went through. Looking at scenes from the Hiroshima bombing and then thinking about the Japanese officers that were hung for war crimes after the war tribunals really pisses me off. Who really committed war crimes? Who was it that killed 266,000 civilians with one blast? I guess wars will continue to be fought in the world. Young and old lives lost for the sake of money and slimy politicians playing their games.

One of the most familiar sounds of summer in Japan is the sound of cicadas. It seems I didn’t them very much growing up in suburban Boston. Maybe now and then. But in Japan, especially this year, they’re deafening!!!!! On my street especially, I have a lot of very big trees as I have told you in previous entries. It’s like they’re practicing for some chorus. All together they sing. And as we near the end of summer we get the type that sing in a different rhythm that kinda goes like this: おしんつくつく、おしんつくつく、おしんつくつく、おしんつくつく、おしんつくつくひきひおきひおきじーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー。
You know the one I mean？ I think it’s called つくつくぼうしI have nothing against the little creatures but sometimes I wish they’d be a little quieter. Oh well, they’ll only be around for a few more weeks I guess.

My daughter noticed a stray cat, or should I say a kitten, on the street next to our house and brought it in to our house. It was in a sorry state; very skinny, it had fleas and it was very sick. It wouldn’t eat. Only sleep and sleep and sleep. So she brought it to the vet and got rid of the fleas. It has an allergy in it’s eyes a parasite in it’s stomach and is suffering from a cold. Today it starting eating and seems to be on the road to recovery. I named him “Butch” but nobody in my house seems to like that name. They prefer to name him “Tom Jones” which I think is pretty stupid. Anyway I think he’ll eventually overcome his sickness

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I just bought a diffuser. You know what a diffuser is? Well you put some essential oil in it and it gives off a fragrance in your room. I have it in my lesson space. Although I can get only a faint fragrance from it, my Japanese students can notice it right away. It seems to me the Japanese have a much more sensitive sense of smell than westerners, especially Americans do. But not only a sense of smell, they also have a keener sense of taste as well. I guess it’s because the food is not as rich as western food. Take tofu (ひややこう)　for instance, it doesn’t have much of a taste but put some onions on it and a little soy sauce and it makes a great summer treat. Sashimi or even sushi has a light taste. You have to have sensitive taste buds to really enjoy it. As far as a sense of smell goes I don’t understand why Japanese excel in that department. Anyways, my diffuser looks pretty cool. Don’t you think?
Iget lots of comments about it. And it’s got a stream of what looks like smoke coming out of the top. I like it.

Hello。. I been really lazy these days. There was a time when I was writing every day but now it seems like I’m writing every week. Oh well.
So today I’d like to tell you about yet another mistake that I hear often from my students. That is, how to use “suggest” or “recommend”. Often I hear, “I suggested to my friend to buy an iPod.” Or I might hear, “He recommended me to go to Izu for my vacation.” Although we don’t really need “that” with the use of these words, using “that” may help us remember how to use it correctly:
I recommended that my friend buy an iPod.
He recommended that I go to Izu for my vacation.

Suggest is used in exactly the same way.
I suggested that he buy an iPod.
He suggested that I go to Izu for my vacation.

So, remember to use “that” with these words and you shouldn’t have any more problems.