K: So, lately I’ve been thinking about the Olympics and Japan versus the United States, but not in an athletic ability type of way, but in the preparations and the way that they talk to the athletes and…. Like, what happens at the Olympics and after and all of that.
C: So, I haven’t been to the Olympics. Have you been?
K: (laughs) No. But a cousin of mine went as an alternate on the track team back in the 90s.
C: Oh, I wasn’t asking as a competitor. I was just saying to watch.
(laughter)
C: But you’ve got skills.
K: Not in any of the Olympic sports. My skills are… you know, in other areas.
C: Golf is an Olympic sport.
K: I’ve never golfed in my life, except putt putt
C: So, how do you know you’re not the best?
K: Because I suck at putt putt.
C: (laughs)
K: So, my putt game sucks.
C: Okay. But you could work on that.
K: Yeah. So, I think you’re better at putt putt than me just because you can stand it. I’m miserable the whole time.
C: Yeah, I think so but
K: I absolutely hate it.
C: It’s been a long time. So, there is a putt putt course here next to the library at Tsurumai.
K: You would always win the extra, like… like a free round of golf. You’d always win that.
C: Yeah.
K: I’d be like, “why are you even doing this?”
C: (laughs)
K: “We do not want to do this again.”
C: I couldn’t make myself lose it on purpose.
K: (laughs)
C: But we didn’t always redeem it. That was like
K: Sometimes, we would pay because too much time had gone. So, I would go with y’all and be… at the end of our tenure of putt putt, I would go and just not play. And then you would… we would have something to eat, and then I would supervise Rasta at the video game station.
C: Yeah, so I feel like this is how the Olympics would go, too. That there’ll be a lot of people who come but don’t actually compete in the games.
K: (laughs) Yeah.
C: And the whole Olympic village… I think it’s interesting seeing Tokyo from afar. I think I’d have very different feelings if I were actually in Tokyo.
K: Because we’re like… L.A.-San Francisco, away New York-New Jersey – no, we’re farther than New York-New Jersey.
C: Yeah, we’re farther than that.
K: New York-Boston?
C: I’m not sure.
K: Yeah, I don’t know the East Coast at all. I don’t know why I’m fronting.
C: It takes about two hours by train from Nagoya to Tokyo.
K: Bullet train.
C: Yes. But when you’re traveling that far, what matters is the time rather than the distance.
K: Really?
C: That’s my opinion.
K: I don’t know.
C: I think it’s more like Bakersfield-LA distance. I don’t think it’s as huge as San Francisco-L.A.
K: Really?
C: Yeah. San Francisco-L.A. is 400 something miles.
K: Bakersfield always felt so far away when we go.
C: Bakersfield is very far away.
K: But then I don’t like the destination of Bakersfield. Sorry if you live in Bakersfield – don’t hate me.
C: Well, their Olympic games did not go off well.
K: (laughs) So, what got me thinking about this is… like… we’re like 50-70 days away?
C: Less than that because we’re recording this in advance.
K: Yeah.
C: So, we haven’t counted how much
K: Yeah. So, I watched a – I was watching the different interviews between Olympic athletes – like, what interviewers are asking Japanese athletes versus what interviewers are asking American athletes. And just for context: I’m doing a lot of stuff in Japanese, and I’m doing a lot of stuff that is culturally Japanese. So, I’m culture switching to be appropriate in the different things that I’m doing – the different medical stuff that I’m doing. And… because I don’t want to piss my doctor’s off.
So, I’m culture switching, and I come home in a very Japanese mindset. And I watched a… an interview with Simone Biles, and the interviewer asked her, “do you think you can be beat?” And Simone just had the most cockiest grin ever but didn’t want to say… that she couldn’t be beat.
C: Yeah.
K: But the whole interview, she was saying, “I’m competing against myself. I’m competing against myself.” And when that question was asked, I just wanted to crawl out of my skin. And I thought no Japanese… person would ask another Japanese person that. Like, when I compliment my medical team or say anything nice to them, they’re like, “iie.” You just say “no.” No thank you to compliments in Japan because… humility or performative humility is really important. But then on the national level, there is this sort of… superiority in that… “we handled Covid better than the rest of the world.”
C: Which is not true, but…
K: Right. “We Japanese are so polite. We Japanese” that kind of exceptionalism.
C: Yeah. The spirit of “Omote Nashi”
K: Yeah.
C: Which is the spirit of hospitality – it’s a big thing in Tokyo right now, and has been for several years, because the Olympics were delayed. They were supposed to happen last year, but they started doing Olympics stuff in 2016 after they won the bid.
K: Yeah.
C: Because the company that I worked at before was training pharmacists to speak better English. Was doing all kinds of things to, like, improve the support structure for visiting athletes and tourists.
K: And a lot of retailers were having their employees…
C: Right.
K: Paying for their employees to learn English.
C: Right. And a lot of that got put on hold, so I think now they’re just like
K: None of it got put on ahold.
C: No, I’m saying
K: Japan did not put anything on hold at any time. We were on lockdown for like one month.
C: Let me rephrase: a lot of the benefit of that got put on hold because there weren’t tens of thousands of tourists coming.
K: Yeah.
C: And so, companies spent all of this money but didn’t get the income they were expecting to from it.
K: Yeah. And so, I think that we’re going to be flooded with Americans and Europeans that have had the vaccine, but I don’t think we’re going to be flooded with Australians and New Zealanders because they won’t be able to return home if they come to Japan. Because Japan is having… a fourth wave.
C: Yes. And who knows, by the time that this is transcribed, it might be in a fifth wave.
(laughter)
K: So, for me, like – I get why Japan is doing the Olympics. I’m super happy I’m not in the Tokyo area. That we’re in Nagoya. Because we won’t be affected by the Olympics at all. No one’s like, going to stay here. I think Osaka will be affected because it’s like two hours away.
C: Yeah, I think the tourism. So, Osaka is two and a half hours, about, from… Osaka to Tokyo. I think it’s two and a half or three hours.
K: Yeah, but it’s like half the price of Tokyo.
C: Yeah. It’s a lot cheaper, and if you’re coming from overseas to do the tourist thing, and you buy the Japan rail passes – I’m thinking that the… rail – the bullet train that allows the rail passes is going to be packed the whole time the Olympics is on.
K: Absolutely. And I feel bad for anybody who doesn’t understand reserved and non-reserved seating. And doesn’t understand, in non-reserved seating, it’s like 6 – like two rows of three, and then people standing in the aisles. And standing in between cars.
C: Yeah. The people standing in the aisles is the difference between the… three-by-three is the standard for reserved seats as well unless you get the Green car.
K: Yeah. And I think, if you have it, you should pop for the Green car. If you’re listening to this and buying your rail pass, get the Green car.
C: (laughs)
K: Go Green car. Because then it’s just two people by two people, no one’s ever standing in the aisles. Everyone has a seat.
C: Yeah.
K: It’s first-class seating.
C: Yes.
K: You have – you have outlets that you can plug your stuff into.
C: Well, see, this is the thing: if you’re taking the Nozomi, which is not eligible for the rail pass
K: Uh-huh.
C: Then you have the outlets. But the older trains don’t have the outlets.
K: Really?
C: Yeah.
K: Huh. It’s been – just, it’s been 15 years – no, it’s been almost 20 years? No. 17 years since I bought a rail pass?
C: Yeah. It’s been… about that since you bought a rail pass.
K: Yeah. So, I don’t know nothing about no rail passes.
(laughter)
K: Something that I really like about Japan is I feel like the Olympics is – was so – at least, when I was living in the United States, was so episodic. Like, the buildup to the Olympics was a big deal. And then, like, two months afterwards, it was a big deal. But Japan has this wonderful tradition of every year, they celebrate Olympic athletes. And they celebrate those who medaled and those who didn’t medal. And I think that’s a completely different mindset than the United States because… like, a bronze medal, we’re like “mmm.” With a silver, we’re like, “oh, you almost got – you almost had a gold.” And then gold medal, we’re like “yay.”
And if we’re looking at something like gymnastics, “but did you get the all-around gold?” And so, that mindset is completely different. Like, they honor the athletes who were able to train and compete.
C: I think that’s… thinking about this, I think it’s related to the club system in Japan. And how, in the U.S., afterschool sports are treated like they’re completely separate from any other activity you could do afterschool.
K: Yeah.
C: Like, I did choir and theater. And… theater stuff was often afterschool, but – and some people did art – but afterschool sports was, oh it’s its own thing entirely. With its own budget, its own system, its own rules. And in Japan, everybody is kind of expected to participate in some club.
K: Yeah.
C: And some of those clubs are athletic and some of them are not. So, I feel like… in Japan… they make it true that it’s not about being the best. It’s about… the… experience – about developing a skill. About being on a team if you’re on a team thing. And that carries over to the Olympics, where the U.S. Olympics seems to me about celebrating being the absolute best in the world.
K: Yeah.
C: Which is not a bad thing to celebrate. But it’s a different mindset than celebrating the… structure and teamwork that allows Japan to field a good team when they do.
K: Yeah.
C: Like, to field a good Olympic pool.
K: Well, in Japan, they have Sports Day, which is huge – they have several Sports Days a year where the kids play sports the entire day.
C: Yeah.
K: I don’t remember having that in the U.S.
C: I don’t think so. And not in the same way. And some of the Japanese stuff is weird and problematic, and they have acknowledged that it’s weird and problematic.
K: Yeah.
C: Like the tower of children.
K: Yeah.
C: When I was editing, I edited a bunch of papers about the number of bones broken and all the injuries from the tower of children. Which is when the school, like, sees how tall a tower of kids they can make.
K: Yeah.
C: They’re not doing that anymore at most schools.
K: And if you’re in the U.S., a tower of children would be the pyramid.
C: Yeah. Like, the cheerleading pyramid but… higher. They would get like 6 or 7 kids tall.
K: Yeah.
C: And… suffer injuries – it was a mess. And… they’ve stopped doing that. But I feel like… the number of people I saw carrying around bows when I went to Nagoya University.
K: Carrying around what?
C: Bows. For archery.
K: Oh, yeah. Japanese archery is lit. I love Japanese archery. I think we’ve talked about it before on the show. I think it’s so cool. Where you, like, because you shoot the arrow straight up into the sky.
C: Okay, I don’t know that one. Because I didn’t ever see anybody use them. I just saw them carrying them.
K: So, when we came here as tourists, I wanted to go see the Japanese archers, and you were like “no.” And I did a whole presentation to you about why we should go, and you were still just like, “computer says no.”
C: I wanted to bow out.
K: Yeah, I’m not laughing.
C: I know you’re not laughing.
K: And you don’t laugh, either. If you’re at home, don’t laugh.
C: (laughs)
K: Or wherever you’re listening to us. Like, on your morning commute, don’t laugh. And then… tweet at us and say, “I didn’t laugh.” (laughs)
C: Wow.
(laughter)
K: I’m so bitter about – I totally want to go see the Shinto priests and their bow work, and I want to see the difference between Shinto archery and Buddhist archery. There are like several different schools of archery in Japan.
C: See, I remember there was one style in which they hold the bow over their head, but they still shoot forward because just shooting an arrow straight up in the air seems like a good way to put your eye out.
K: No, they shoot it at an angle.
C: Okay.
K: Where the angle is up rather than horizontal to the target.
C: Yeah.
K: And so, I found that – so, yeah, they have one where they shoot it about their head, but still the arrow’s facing towards the target, and they have one where they shoot it at an upward angle. Because that archery style is meant to go up and over the frontline that’s protecting people from archers.
C: Okay.
K: So, it’s a military shot.
C: Yeah, but the club system – at Nagoya University, I saw a lot of it. So, Rasta went to the go club, which had like video games and things a lot.
K: Yeah.
C: There was a small
K: They played go and mahjong and… shogu I think?
C: Shogi, yeah.
K: Yeah.
C: But there was also a small airfield that had a plane for the aviation club, and there was like an archery club, and there was all kinds of clubs. I didn’t participate in any except for math club. Which math club was we went and did our studies.
K: No, but you had that once a week… math hangout.
C: That’s what I’m saying: math club. Like
K: But it wasn’t go and study. You guys would go to the café, hang out, and talk about interesting math problems.
C: Yes.
K: So, why are you acting like it wasn’t a real club?
C: It was a real club, but it wasn’t independent.
K: And it was very prestigious because the dean of math would go.
C: Yes.
K: And the dean of the whole university showed up sometimes.
C: Yeah, so I think this is the… kind of
K: So, why are you hating on your own club?
C: No. I’m not. I think this is the environment that leads to the difference in attitude about Olympic athletes here. That there’s kind of a general pride in the system that has produced them rather than in the individual athletes.
K: Mm. Yeah.
C: And people do know their names for the popular sports and things, but it’s not… it feels less contentious. To me.
K: Yeah. I only know one summer athlete’s name. And that’s Simone Biles. But that’s because she’s everywhere on American news. And I – I’m trying to wean myself off of watching American news, but… the – I’ll be honest, man, the 2020 election just had me glued.
C: Mhm.
K: Glued to the T.V., it was so, so stressful. And so, I’m down now to, I think, about 15 minutes a day versus like the 8 hours and in between clients and
C: (laughs)
K: Every waking moment. There was some days that I was like – I couldn’t go to sleep because I had to see what the morning news cycle had to say.
C: Yes. I remember that.
K: It was really – I was stressed. I was stressed. And, yes, our side won.
C: Yup.
K: But not my first choice.
C: But I feel like the medal count, I’m not going to be as stressed. I’m not going to be like, “did America get another gold?”
K: I don’t think I’ll even know.
C: I don’t think so, either.
K: I thought about, “should I google Japanese gold medals?” and I thought, I’m not going to watch the Olympics. I’ve always found them to be incredibly boring. The last time I watched one. And – so, I’ve had a couple nervous breakdowns in my life, and I was in a support home facility after my hospitalization. And… destigmatize mental health issues. Yeah, I’m a therapist. And that’s one of the reasons I’m a good one. Pat my own back. But I was in the support house, and the person was obsessed with the Olympics. So, we all had to watch it because they’d have a meltdown if we didn’t watch the Olympics.
And, out of boredom, I watched it. But I did not find it interesting. But because I know how to talk about sports, they ended up wanting me to sit next to them and watch. And so, it was a horrible thing.
C: (laughs) You’re like, “dang why did I know how to talk about sports?”
K: Yeah. They asked me a question, and it was – they were obsessed with eh volleyball team. And I don’t know the volleyball team players – I don’t know their names, and I watched their whole Olympic run.
C: Mhm.
K: And… I was just like, “okay.” And I know a lot about volleyball, so we would talk about it. And I like basketball, and I know a lot about basketball, but when they allowed professional basketball players to start…
C: Playing. Yeah.
K: Playing. It kind of soured it for me. Because I felt like the Olympics were for people who didn’t do the sports professionally.
C: I feel like that’s everybody now, though.
K: Yeah, no, everybody – they let all the sports. Like, professional snowboarders and skiers and all of that. And I think it’s just an unfair advantage. It pushes people out who… have Olympic level skills but not other competitions. Because every competition’s different.
C: Yeah. And then there are weird ones like the… the biathlon with – like, in the winter games with the shooting and the skiing.
K: Yeah.
C: So, the only
K: Which I think is cool.
C: I think it’s cool, too.
K: And I think it’s cool that Japan has a curling team.
C: Yes. I like curling.
K: Yeah.
C: But the only
K: And Korea has a curling team, so – so, okay. I’m obsessed with this… YouTube channel that is “Your Korea” – I forget the name of it – but it has these really cool dance songs. And people in different costumes, and they were promoting the winter Olympics. I think it’s called like “Your Korea” or “Imagine Korea” or something like that. And… they would like, go in and dance around different Korean winter… Olympic sports teams.
C: Uh-huh.
K: And then I was like, “huh. Korea has a curling team. I wonder if Japan has a curling team?” And that’s why I found out about that. Because y’all know I’m a YouTube fanatic.
C: Yes, you are. The only Olympics that I remember specifically are Atlanta – which I remember because of the bombing.
K: Okay.
C: And
K: Our hearts and minds go out to everyone who survived or were impacted by that.
C: And… the… 84 Los Angeles Olympics.
K: I don’t remember either of those.
C: Because the 84 was when Mary Lou Retton was, like, on the scene.
K: Okay. I know who that is.
C: And I don’t know why I remember it because I was 9. No, I was 8 when it happened.
K: I remember all of the movies made about her.
C: Uh-huh.
K: More so than I do her Olympic career.
C: I didn’t know she had any movies made about her.
K: She had several movies made about her life. And her toxic relationship with her coach.
C: Yeah, I don’t remember any of that.
K: Yeah. And I watched all the movies.
C: But like I said, I was 8.
(laughter)
K: How old was I if you were 8? 20? (laughs)
C: Yes. Yes, you were 20.
(laughter)
K: No. I was a teenager.
C: You would’ve been 15.
K: Yeah. That’s right at the time to be obsessed with those kinds of movies.
C: Yeah.
K: Because that was during my afterschool special era, too.
C: Mhm.
K: From like… 12 to 15, I was obsessed with afterschool specials. Actually, from like age 9, I would rush home to watch the afterschool specials.
C: that’s why it’s afterschool. Give you enough time to get home
K: Yeah.
C: And set up and watch it.
K: Yeah.
C: And learn a very special lesson.
K: Yes. And a lot of the lessons were just untrue, I found out later.
C: You’re saying it was propaganda?
K: Yes. I absolutely did almost everything that, like the afterschool specia – except for steroids – but all the activities, all the risk-taking behaviors and such, I feel like they just gave me a guidebook to what my life was gonna be.
C: (laughs)
K: And I did everything that you weren’t supposed to do in those afterschool specials. (laughs) Like if there’s an afterschool special about it, yup, I did it. And no, nobody died. Spoiler alert.
C: But you didn’t become an extreme athlete, either.
K: No, I didn’t.
C: Whatever happened to the x-games? Do you know?
K: No, I don’t.
C: I don’t either. Because I remember, before we left the U.S., they were really big. They were like, “this person is gonna roll down San Francisco hill on a roller skate. Naked, blindfolded, lit on fire. Join the x-games.”
K: I don’t even know what the x-games are. What are you even on about?
C: They were pseudo-Olympic games for extreme sports.
K: Mhm.
C: Like street luge and skydiving and… different stuff where, like, doing it wrong can really badly hurt you.
K: Isn’t there skydiving in the Olympics now, like some different jumping out of planes activities?
C: No. There are no planes activities in the Olympics.
K: I wonder if this is boring for people who don’t care about the Olympics.
C: Well, I don’t know.
K: I wonder because I’m a little bored talking about the Olympics, now.
C: Okay.
K: Like, I’m over it. Like, the Olympics are boring. (laughs) The Olympics suck. So, I guess all I had to say about it was that the Japanese are way more faux-humble than the Americans. That was, I guess, my whole point.
C: But Tokyo is not faux-humble in its bid. And I feel like they are – they’re definitely paying for their bid. And that’s why I was saying at the beginning that they have been… advertising “Tokyo 2020” for five years now.
K: Yeah.
C: Because they have spent so much money… I don’t know how they’ll ever make it back. It’s just like…
K: Just from the Olympic Village alone, they’ll make it back.
C: I don’t know. It’s better managed than
K: The Olympic Village brings in tons of money. Just the athletes themselves because they don’t get to come to Japan for free. They don’t get to stay in the Olympic Village for free.
C: No. I guess not.
K: So, the teams have to pay for food, drinks, lodging… all of that. transportation.
C: I thought they were provided. I thought like McDonald’s provided all their meals for them.
K: Maybe McDonald’s does that for the American Olympic team. I don’t know.
C: (laughs)
K: But a lot of teams – so, even if, say McDonald’s sponsors them, McDonald’s still has to pay for the right to set up.
C: Yeah.
K: And rent and all of that. And pay for the stuff – so, Japan will make its money back easy.
C: Well, we saw what happened – you and I, we – saw what happened with the… World Expo that happened here in Aichi in 2005.
K: Yeah. And that was lovely.
C: And then the park has been used for various things. And now it’s gonna be turned into a Studio Ghibli theme park.
K: Yeah. And the Olympic Village, for when they did the winter Olympics here in Japan, is still up. And it’s a ski resort.
C: Mm. That makes sense.
K: Yeah. It’s a really pricey ski resort.
C: Yeah. I don’t ski.
K: Yeah. I don’t ski, either.
C: I’ve never skied. I grew up in Alaska, and I’ve never downhill skied.
K: Yeah. But you’ve skied cross-country.
C: But it’s different.
K: And you’ve snow-shoed.
C: Yes. I have. Snowshoeing is miserable. Don’t do it.
K: (laughs) We’ve already talked about your anti-sledding stance.
C: Yeah. I feel like… it’s dangerous.
K: Is snow-shoeing dangerous to you?
C: No. Snowshoeing is boring and exhausting.
K: Okay.
C: Because the perception is you’re like, just standing on top of the snow like, “oh my snowshoes make me float”, and it is not the case.
K: No. It’s like serious – it’s a serious physical workout.
C: Yes.
K: Because you have to stay moving. You can’t… be static when snowshoeing. You have to move at a pace. I watched a YouTube channel on snowshoeing.
C: I think if you’re good at it, you could be like Remo Williams running across the water. Do you remember that movie?
K: I’ve never heard of that movie in my life, so I don’t know why you’re asking if I remember it. As if we watched it together. I don’t know what you’re talking about.
C: It’s from the 1980s. It was a Sylvester Stallone movie. And it was like Remo Williams: The Legend Begins or something.
K: Really?
C: Yeah. And he trains so that he could run so fast that he could run across water, and – to be like a super fighter. I think it was – I don’t remember the details – but I’m guessing it was one of those anti-Communist propaganda films from the 80s.
K: I thought that… Sylvester Stallone was doing like mostly anti-Vietnam… war movies. I don’t think he was in the anti-Communism sect. Because I’m thinking like all the Rambo themed movies are Vietnam vet.
C: But you don’t think Rocky was anti-communism? Like with the Russian guy?
K: Okay. So, at that point in time, I had stopped watching the franchise. I know they recently had a Rocky movie out – I want to say like 5 years ago.
C: Yeah. A couple of them, yeah.
K: Yeah, and good on you Sylvester. Make your money.
C: (laughs)
K: Get your bag. I ain’t angry. But the anti – that was just way, way into the franchise.
C: Okay.
K: I think that was probably the last time Rocky was the actual fighter.
C: Mm.
K: And then it went into the weird space where he became a trainer.
C: Yeah. That’s what the most recent movies were.
K: Him taking the… his coach’s place that died or whatever, I don’t know.
C: Yeah. Training Apollo Creed’s son. It was a whole thing.
K: What?
C: Yeah. That was one of the recent movies was Creed – where he trains Apollo Creed’s son to be a fighter.
K: Why?
C: Because Mr. T was too old to play the role?
K: (laughs) Wait, did the narrative switch to he and Apollo Creed are good friends who go in business together or something?
C: No. No.
K: Okay.
C: It switched to his son tracked Rocky down because he wanted to – because his dad had always respected him as a fighter – I forget the details.
K: (laughs) It’s shocking to me that you know any of these details. This is what Chad does. See, he’s talking about it, but he’s never seen the movie.
C: I have seen the movie. It’s one of those movies
K: You have not seen Creed unless it was on an airplane.
C: It was not on an airplane. It was in Tokyo. Because, for my last job, I used to have to go to Tokyo a couple days a month.
K: Yeah.
C: So, I’d watch movies and cry myself to sleep because I was missing Kisstopher so much.
K: (laughs) We miss each other when we’re apart. It’s really painful. It’s like physically painful for me to be away from you.
C: But now the U.S. is talking about boycotting the winter Olympics because they’re in China.
K: What?
C: Yeah. They’re saying, “we’re going to boycott the” some people, not the government yet, are saying, “maybe we should boycott the winter Olympics” because the 2022 winter games are happening in China.
K: We need to stop Asian hate.
C: Well, they’re saying it’s the treatment of the Uighur Muslims.
K: Oh, okay. Yeah. If that’s why, then that’s valid. I thought it was – if it’s anything related to the virus, I’d be like stop Asian hate. That’s stupid, knock it off.
C: No. but I remember, vaguely, that we boycotted the 1980 Olympics because that was when I was
K: We as in you and I? We didn’t know each other in 1980.
C: Yeah. We boycotted them. Yeah, I was 4, you were like 10. You and I were just – no.
K: Yeah. I don’t even – like, I am so not into the Olympics. And it’s weird because I used to be a sports fanatic.
C: Yeah. That’s why it’s surprising to me because we’d go to a lot of… of football games. We had season passes for a couple of years.
K: Yeah.
C: You’d listen to basketball on the radio or watch it on T.V.
K: Yeah.
C: Which listening to it on the radio was always confusing to me.
K: Why?
C: Because baseball I get it: you can’t actually really see it, so you listen to the radio. It’s just like a random thing.
K: What do you mean “baseball, you can’t actually really see it”? They televise baseball games. What are you talking about?
C: I’m saying that if your eyes can see the baseball from up in the stands as it’s being thrown at 100 miles an hour, then
K: I don’t know what you’re talking – you’re like really confusing me. So, are you talking about because we didn’t have good seats the one time we went to see baseball together?
C: Exactly.
K: And that was because that was a reading challenge through Rasta’s elementary school. If I had known that we were gonna have such crappy seats, I wouldn’t have gone.
C: (laughs)
K: the seats were horrible. It was miserable.
C: Like, a class of kindergarteners who read a bunch of books. You’re going to give them bad seats? Shame on you, Oakland Athletics.
K: Right? Because there’s – I was very specific. We need seats in the shade.
C: Mhm.
K: I was very, very specific about. And they were like, “oh, it’ll be fine.” And we were up on the top
C: “It’ll gonna be fine.”
K: We were in the nosebleed seats.
C: Meanwhile, I still have a sunburn five years later.
K: Yeah. It was horrible. So, I think we should’ve asked more questions. And more pointedly. Like… we wouldn’t have gone. But they were making a big deal because Rasta had read the most books. So, it was like, “Rasta, you made this possible for us.” And I was like, “don’t blame him.”
C: (laughs)
K: Do not blame him. We did not know the specifics, and that’s just how much that boy reads. Don’t blame us. Because the books he was reading, they were counting as multiple books and such. Which I felt was a little bit shady, and I told him, “no. It does not count for multiple books. I don’t care where they put your plane.” Because there was a little chart with a magnet with a plane on it. I don’t know why a plane because we didn’t fly anywhere. But they would move his plane like three spots because he read Lord of the Rings. And I was like, “that is one book. Don’t even get him bigheaded about that.”
C: He did not read Lord of the Rings in kindergarten. That was 2nd grade.
K: We did not go to baseball when he was in kindergarten. That was 2nd grade.
C: No.
K: Yes. It was 2nd grade.
C: No because it was with the teacher we liked.
K: No. It was not with the teacher we liked.
C: Okay. Huh.
K: Because that was just another reason I hated her.
C: Okay.
K: Because she looked me in my face and lied. Because I asked, “are these – I know these are bleacher seats. I can tell from the tickets.”
C: Yeah.
K: “Are we in the top-tier bleachers or the second tier because these would be in the shade.” And she was like, “no, no. These are good seats. It’s okay.” She completely lied because I did not want to be exposed to the sun the whole time.
C: Yes.
K: And then we stayed the whole game because you wouldn’t let us leave. And I was like, “I just wanna go.”
C: Yeah. I’m stubborn like that.
K: Leave me alone, I’m going home, this party sucks. Which is one of my favorite songs. You should google it. It’s awesome.
C: So, do you think that
K: I’m so aggressive right now.
C: Do you think the people who go watch the Olympics have a better time than we did at that baseball game?
K: No. I don’t think so.
C: I don’t think so, either. And so, when they said
K: And they have to perform and stuff, too. Like, a lot of the… Nordic countries do a whole drum thing. Like, the European and Nordic countries have like a whole thing they do. I don’t know if the Americans do. I saw this really cool drum thing, but I thought – the Chinese audience also has a whole thing that they do. I’m like, “I don’t want to come here and learn a dance and perform and all of that.”
C: Mm. Yeah.
K: I’m here as a spectator.
C: But the Japanese audience is just expected to pick up their own trash. That’s what I’ve learned over the years.
K: (laughs)
C: They’re like
K: And if it’s like sumo seating, then heck no.
C: But they’re like, “watch the Japanese audience clean up their own trash when they leave the stadium.”
K: (laughs)
C: Like, that’s awesome. All I’ve gotta do is pick up my stuff?
K: Yeah. I don’t have to do a dance? I don’t have to remember an 8 count? Like, no. I’m just really anti-Olympics myself. I don’t believe in, like, the creator motto that it brings countries together. It doesn’t. It’s been a huge source of contention, at least in my lifetime. Countries arguing with other countries because of things that happened at the Olympics.
C: Yeah. Boycotting, the corruption around some of the Olympic venues. The pollution in others, like when it happened in Athens, and they were like, “we can’t actually let people run until later in the day because their lungs will get too… bad from the pollution.”
K: Yeah.
C: Which is also a concern for Tokyo. The whole thing of it.
K: But Tokyo’s not as bad as Beijing.
C: No. but
K: China had to do a whole campaign to clean up the air quality because the air quality was so bad.
C: Yeah. And I think Tokyo’s
K: And it was still not at the levels they had wanted it to be. But the athletes were like, “I don’t care. I have trained. I’m at my peak. Like, let’s go.”
C: Yeah. I guess I’m just not a big fan of high-stakes things.
K: You think what?
C: I’m not a big fan of high-stakes competitions in general.
K: Yeah.
C: And high stakes testing and all of that. I’m just not a fan. I think that… most things in life… are the result of a lot of little… victories or losses.
K: Mhm.
C: A lot of decisions and about the direction you’re going. And then there are these artificial things that are just… make or break.
K: And I think there’s always an element of luck.
C: Absolutely.
K: Yeah. So, it’s not purely – I think it’s a lot of skill. Not saying that, so don’t get your panties in a bunch. I feel like… – and just so you know, I think every gender wears panties.
C: (laughs)
K: Which has been an issue between Chad and I for years and years because he does not believe that he wears panties. And I believe that he wears panties. But now that he’s – since he switched to boxers, I’m like, “boxers are not panties.” But pre-boxers, you wore panties.
C: You did not know me pre-boxers. I was a teenager the last time I didn’t wear boxers.
K: You were not wearing boxers.
C: Yes, I was.
K: Un-un. The first time we
C: Yes, I was. You didn’t like them, so you took me out, and you were like, “okay. You’re going to get Joe Boxer. Because I don’t like your underwear.”
K: Okay. I remember not liking your underwear.
C: Yeah.
K: I remember your underwear was offensive not because it was dirty or anything. I just didn’t like the cut; I didn’t like the style – I didn’t like anything about your underwear.
C: Yeah. Don’t be saying I was in tighty-whities.
K: No. I think you did the multi-colored box.
C: Yeah, I’ve lost what you even mean by that.
K: Okay. So, there’s this box of three or four… panty-cut underwear. That are cut like the tighty-whities.
C: Okay, no. I haven’t done that in… decades.
K: But did you wear colored or white?
C: Colored.
K: Yeah, so then you know what I’m talking about.
C: I think just black. Black is a color.
K: Yeah. Black is a color. Like, don’t act like (laughs)
(laughter)
K: Don’t act like I said black isn’t a color.
C: Oh, you did.
K: No. I did not.
C: You said it to me in sign language.
K: No, I did not. Don’t be like, “you said it with your eyes.” I did not. So, now most days you don’t wear underwear because we’re living the pajamas lifestyle.
C: Yes.
K: And so… that’s awesome. Right now, I’m currently wearing the pajamas that – I bought you new pajamas so you wouldn’t wear anymore because they’re so broken down. But I love torn up, old pajamas. And every time I
C: They’re incredibly soft.
K: They are incredibly soft (laughs) They feel so good on the skin. And I feel bad because I’m wearing them, but I was like, “you need new jammies.” Because they were annoying you. Because I can wear the top and have it get full coverage, but you need to wear the tops and bottoms.
C: Yeah.
K: And the bottoms were just unmanageable and see-through and holey. Like, you had almost – they were almost chaps at the point that we got you new jammies.
(laughter)
K: There were so many holes in the back.
C: Yes.
K: So, they didn’t serve a purpose at all. Like… it was very alluring.
C: (laughs)
K: It was very bow chika bow bow.
C: So, there’s that purpose.
K: Yeah. But you prefer – you’re wearing the sexiest Christmas jammies. So, all the jammies we got you look like Christmas jammies to me, which I don’t know – maybe because
C: Most of them are. We ordered them just before Christmas.
K: Yeah.
C: So, they were all Christmas jammies.
K: So, for summer, do we need to get you some short-sleeved jammies?
C: No.
K: You’re gonna wear the long sleeve?
C: We temperature control our apartment.
K: But not like that. I don’t feel like we’re that successful at it. (laughs)
C: Okay. So, our listeners should watch carefully.
K: As you pull your sleeves up, but then that’s a bunch of fabrics at your elbow.
C: But they’re still short sleeve
K: But I guess that would be comfortable because – but I don’t know because my elbow creese sweats.
C: Yeah. I’m not a big fan of elbow crease sweat.
K: Do your elbow creases sweat?
C: No. They don’t.
K: I sweat from everywhere. I know your eyelids are really sweaty.
C: Yes. They are.
K: I remember someone came over, and they were like, “I can’t believe” for the first time in their life, their eyelids sweat. And they were freaking out about it.
C: (laughs)
K: It disturbed – it was so disturbing to them. They – like, their whole 4 years here, they were trying to figure out ways to wear makeup in the summer.
C: And summer sneaks up on you. Because, like, May… late May, it’s not so bad outside. You’re like, “oh, this is going to be a mild summer.”
K: Yeah.
C: And then Japan reminds you: summer doesn’t start until the end of June. You’re like, “dang. Why’d you do this to me?”
K: Mid-June is not too bad. So, I don’t feel tricked.
C: That’s why I say the end of June.
K: Yeah. I don’t feel tricked in May because I feel like May is solidly spring.
C: Yeah.
K: So, I feel like April and May – really gorgeous weather in Japan. Although this year, April was really over… really windy and rainy. And so, everybody’s sad that the blossoms didn’t last as long as they normally do. But… I don’t know. The – we’re very spoiled, and we say this all the time, but where we live, we’re just surrounded by blossoms. So, I got to see every kind of blossom. I got to see the peach, I got to see the – I got to see yellow… got to see peach, magnolia, and two types of cherry. I think we have around here.
C: Yup.
K: So, that was really nice. And I didn’t notice the wind and rain… impacting my cherry blossom viewing.
C: Mhm.
K: From a vehicle. As (laughs) I drove to doctor’s appointments. To be clear. So, yeah. There’s that. I lost track of what we were even talking about. What were we talking about?
C: We were talking about competition and how Japan is just gonna crush everybody in the Olympics.
K: (laughs) See, and that’s just it. I – like, Japan views itself as being really sporty and athletic.
C: Mhm.
K: And I do not. I view it as a country that runs.
C: Running is very popular. Yes.
K: Yeah. So, like long-distance running, not sprints.
C: Yeah. Or “joggingu.”
K: Yeah.
C: Is one of the popular
K: Marathons are huge here. There’s tons and tons of marathons every year. And I think they’re good at soccer.
C: Yeah. Japan is very competitive
K: European football. (laughs)
C: Wow, okay.
K: I said that. I don’t care. I’m American. What do you want from me?
C: Japan is very competitive in the World Cup most years.
K: Yeah. And they have like serious, hardcore training… for soccer.
C: Yeah. So, we have a local pro team – the Nagoya Grampus – and there are other pro teams around Japan.
K: Yeah.
C: So, yeah, we can go watch that if we want to.
K: And they have an awesome women’s basketball team.
C: Yes.
K: That I used to know about, but I don’t anymore. I don’t watch sports anymore, I think, because we don’t have a television. I think when we had a television, I did watch some Japanese – I did watch more Japanese t.v. than I do now.
C: Yeah, we used to watch sumo in particular.
K: Yeah. So, loved sumo, and I liked Japanese women’s basketball. I liked the style of play in Japanese basketball. It’s less aggressive than American basketball but still very quick-paced. And there’s more finesse. I just – I don’t know. It’s a different style of play. Different state of play. And so’s Japanese soccer. It’s a different state of play than American soccer. I feel like American and European soccer, they… push harder.
And I talked to a famous ba – pro basketball player here in Japan who… wanted to be a pro basketball in the United States but didn’t quite make it. So, they came here and played pro basketball, and we talked about the different state of play, and that it’s not – it’s more of a team effort. They don’t want any showboating. They don’t like drives to the basket. It’s just really different to watch.
C: Yeah. And I think that matches what we’re seeing here with the Olympics. That there’s just a general kind of pride in the system and in having so many good athletes.
K: Yeah.
C: But not a particular… feeling that it’s necessary to win all the gold, or anything, or we are failures. It’s more like, “let’s compete hard.” And I think the individuals may want to win very badly.
K: Yes.
C: But the public sentiment is not that you… it’s gold or bust. It’s, like… do your best.
K: Yeah because Simone, like – just looking and going back to what we started with, the Simone Biles interview – I have nothing against Simone Biles, I don’t know the woman. I’ve never even – I’m sorry girl – I’ve never, I doubt she’s ever listening to this, but in case she does, I don’t know. I’m sorry girl, I’ve never even seen you do a backflip.
C: I’ve watched her routines. They’re impressive.
K: I’ve never watched her routines. So, I know she’s done a couple of things that are now banned because she’s the only woman to have ever done them.
C: Yeah.
K: And they’re like, “this is too dangerous for women to try.” For me, I like the… uneven bars.
C: Mhm.
K: And so, I’ve never watched her on the uneven bars, but I used to love to watch the uneven bars. And I’m not really big on the floor routines. I don’t
C: Yeah. And that’s what she’s known for.
K: Yeah. And also her vaulting.
C: Yeah. Floor routine, balance beam and vaulting.
K: Yeah. So, I don’t – like, the balance beam, I don’t get it. Like, I get it takes a lot of skill, but I don’t understand the enjoyment of watching it. Like, the vault I get. But the balance beam is just so boring to me.
C: Mhm.
K: Like… I don’t… I don’t know why anybody would want to do that.
C: (laughs)
K: Let alone do that for 17 years. Like, why? Why are you doing this? Who thought this was a good idea? But then I guess every kid has, like, pretended they were on a balance beam.
C: Yes.
K: At some point in time.
C: Definitely.
K: So, basically, I just bashed almost every sport (laughs) in the summer Olympics.
C: We didn’t talk about speed walking, but…
K: (laughs) Speed walking is not part of the summer Olympics.
C: It is. Yes.
K: Is it?
C: Yes.
K: Really?
C: Yes.
K: I know speed walking’s a thing. I know speed walking’s a thing. I didn’t know it was part of the Olympics.
C: It is. Yes.
K: Wow. Made it into the Olympics. I think that one show – that one Ice Cube show that we had with the speed walker guy who wouldn’t run even though he was the doctor, and someone was having a baby.
C: Mhm.
K: That was hilarious. I can’t remember the name of the movie.
C: Me neither.
K: (laughs)
C: But there it is.
K: (laughs)
C: This is what you get with the Musicks in Japan.
K: (laughs) This is the good stuff you’re tuning in for. So, today we know what we’re talking about on the take two. Surprise, surprise. We know it during the main episode. And today, we’re going to be talking about – now my mind just went blank.
C: Audio?
K: Yes. Go ahead.
C: We’re going to be talking about audio.
K: (laughs) No but like doing audiobooks and hiring narrators and all of that. It’s a journey.
C: It is a journey.
K: It’s a journey.
C: And we’ll be talking about it.
K: Yeah. So, if you’re a patron, come on over to – follow us on over to Patreon for the take two. If you’re not a patron, for just 2 bucks a month, you get access to over a hundred take twos. And… that’s a lot of content for two bucks.
C: That is a lot of content. I’m not sure it’s over a hundred because we didn’t always do the take two. And we didn’t start off
K: We’ve always done the take twos. We didn’t do these take twos.
C: We didn’t start off recording them. We started off writing them.
K: Did we – okay.
C: Yeah.
K: But you get a hundred take twos.
C: You still get to see them, yes.
K: In various forms.
C: Yes.
K: And that’s a lot of content for 2 bucks.
C: That is a lot of content.
K: I’m selling here.
C: Okay.
K: Yeah. I’m trying to upsell here.
C: Okay.
K: And you’re like stepping on my groove, man.
C: Yeah. No. Join us over there.
K: Become a patron.
C: Yeah. Because on Patreon, we stay on topic.
K: (laughs)
C: We’re very focused.
K: We do. It’s a completely different show.
C: Exactly.
K: So, we hope you follow us on over to Patreon, and thank you for listening. We value your time. We know that’s a precious commodity, and… yeah. So, talk to you next week.
C & K: Bye.
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