The Chronicle

In this moment, what are you doing? Why are you doing it? Do you know? Have you really examined your behavior? When is the last time you did? I find these questions worth asking. It is all too easy to get lost in either, work, stress, or pure laziness, and accept for ourselves a vaguely satisfying life. A life that at a glance seems fulfilling, but like an iceberg revealing only a fractionally small amount of the truth, if we look closer, we realize that the satisfaction we feel is nothing more than procrastination masquerading as achievement. Most insidious is it's ability to make us feel as though this is not the case. Granting us the sensation of forward momentum, but utterly lacking in true mobility.

The topics hit hard and heavy on this episode. After uploading a comedic vlog I was called out for using a swear-word of the barely abrasive kind. This kind of condemnation usually comes at the behest of greater inclusion. What is, and will forever remain, ironically funny to me, is that calls for censorship, contradict the very thing that they are trying to protect. Nuance, freedom of expression, inclusiveness, must not ever become the hostage of propriety. And we must never think that they are immune to becoming so. What is most vile of censorship and thought crime, is it's ability to masquerade as virtue.

What's it like to start a business in Japan, possibly during one of the worst times in history to do so? Well my brave friend has found out. It's really amazing what he's done and his whole approach of relentless determination during a time that would make many others throw their cards in and claim no responsibility to the outcome, is nothing less than pure grit. It has left me wondering what can I do about my output in a time that I consider fairly sedate considering how little travel is possible. Ultimately I conclude that I can do so much more and should stop sitting on my ass. A fantastic revelation albeit one that requires more energy than I would like to expend.

The studio is mostly setup minus my computer I forgot at work so I didn't have my mic, but, oh well. Thanks for joining the podcast. Hope to see you in the comments. We cover a lot of ground from Caesar to stand-up.

What is it like to have lived in Japan for 16 years, my guest today, a career licenced teacher shares his thoughts on the experience.

We all get them from time to time. This was my turn.

It's a strange time that we find ourselves living in - would be an accurate statement no matter when you lived. Perhaps stranger still is life's ability to repeat patterns yet in wholly different ways. The example I draw upon today is that of the experience of children, and the conditions in which they grow. How do we even define them, and what is shaping their experience?

With the way that things have gone around the world, a whole new way of working has taken root, and that way is mostly from home. People, for the most part, love it. And that is not the only thing that is changing. Attitudes towards dated technology and bureaucracy have taken a sharp hit as well. When the status quo was maintained it allowed these inefficient at best, maddeningly arbitrary at worst, old standards to exist. Now that is no longer the case. Nothing reveals flaws in a system like attacking it, and if you take the initiative following such an attack to improve. The host that survived will reap the benefits of its new equilibrium.

What is it that inspired you in your younger years? For me it was a variety of many things but Pink Floyd's the wall stands out as a major spark to my creative mind. I've found when considering that influence on me in a greater context I can't help but notice the creep of time and its effect. That All influences become to those not familiar with them, cartoonishly old and dated. Sad, considering that old inspiration does not necessarily lose the potency of its message when really all that fades is the medium through which its conveyed. For that reason I would like to have an eye for older things and look for lost messages in the past that I may discount as not having any value when really the message they carry is still in tact.

I binge watched a ton of 1950's videos recently and was struck by not only how melancholy they made me feel but also how similar in many ways Japan's social attitudes are still to these outmoded ways of thinking. Unspoken rules rule Japan and you'd do well to follow them if you want to fit in. Of course this is most strictly applied to those who are native but to observe them is fascinating. Without knowing the answer I speculate as to why this is still the case here. A fascinating subject absolutely.