Leafy Sea Dragon

Did you know this animal existed? I'll bet you didn't. I didn't either until just a few weeks ago when Kenji and I and some friends of ours visited the Suma aquarium. It looks like something out of spore.

You are not the chosen one!

There's a huge number of end-of-the-world-scenario movies now and there is an ENORMOUS audience for them. People like the stuff. I know these movies are meant to be some kind of eye-opener to shock us out of the collective unconscious that would lead us spiraling into the apocalypse but people don't go see these movies for a life changing experience. We see them over and over and it's not just the entertainment value. These movies give us hope.

Where is that damn apocalypse already? It was supposed to be here in 2000 - nothing. Oh wait, they didn't start counting the years from zero so that means 2001 - nothing. Ok, forget the book of revelations. Weren't the Aztecs around way before the bible? Are there any asteroids flying around? Or maybe hostile alien nomads. Well, what if bird flu mutates into something that turns everyone into a nocturnal super-human cannibals.

Am I suggesting that everyone is so obsessed with these end-of-the-world scenarios because they're actually looking forward to it? Yes I am. And I don't mean some people. I mean a little piece of every person that watches these movies. (disclaimer: I watch these movies.)

Every catastrophe movie has a survivor: just a regular guy who was living his painfully normal life when BAM! And every individual sitting in that theater feels a connection with this regular guy.

We all imagine ourselves as the lonely hero, the last hope for mankind after the slate has been wiped (almost) clean. The gladiator waiting to be awaken from our sleepwalk to face down certain death to be left with a real life, the living of which isn't negated by the endless subconscious loop that plays in our heads: "It's coming. It's only a matter of time. There's nothing anyone can do to stop it. It can't go on like this."

So I'm saying that the lone survivor in all of us might be OK with a lot of other people being dead if it meant he could have a real life. And some (SOME) people wouldn't even mind doing some of the dirty work themselves provided they could do it with a clean conscience. This is where the zombie genre comes in.

I'll save zombicide for another post. Meanwhile I'll continue mentally preparing myself for the day it's revealed that I am the chosen one and must single-handedly behead 10,000,000 zombies and spend the rest of my life tirelessly repopulating the planet.

Eigo Doujou

I've got an idea for a movie; an idea for a movie and not a reality because it could never exist in the real world. It is merely an English teacher's fantasy world called Eigo Doujou. You may be familiar with the word doujou as a place where Karate and other martial arts are practiced. These are skills that are mastered only through rigorous training on the part of a student who is willing to endure anything to meet the impossibly high standards of the master. I believe that mastering English as a second language requires the same dedication.

In my little fantasy world, all students would join of their own free will based on their understanding that the fun comes from developing their skill and finding their own ways of expressing themselves rather than being led to believe that English simply a set of games and activities. For many students, when the card games stop being fun, English stops being fun.

In this world my classroom decisions won't be second guessed by third party interests or information. Fluency in English is the ONLY goal to which the class must aspire AS A CLASS.

English practice will not be given the lowest possible priority in students' weekly schedules while putting the highest possible expectations on the teacher. If you want to master the piano, find a piano master. If you want to speak crappy English, find a crappy English school. The dojo is for English mastery.

Much more to come on this...

Work: If it's too complicated, simplify it. If it takes too long, don't do anything else (including sleep or eat) until it's done. If it's too difficult, know that before you start and start anyway.