Clap-happy Japanese applaud even the moon!

Ah! I'm back at work and life is good again! Hoo-ray! (I'm being serious). School started up and, strange as it may sound, my life at work is better than my life without work. I really have a good job.

In other news, last night I went to a temple complex in Kyoto for an "otsuki-mi", or moon-viewing festival. Basically, the last full moon before the vernal equinox is a big deal here, and moon-viewings are rather culturally significant. So I figured I'd show up and see what's what. To make a long story short, Kyoto's a goodly distance away from Kobe, Buddhist temple complexes are particularly spooky at night, and Japanese people enjoy clapping. I've noticed the clapping preference before (like five years ago when I was announced to be a summer van-driver for Japanese exchange students in Colorado), but it still often takes me by surprise and makes me chortle. So when the full moon ascended above the cloud line for the first time last evening and was welcomed by a smattering of "oohs" and round applause, I decided I should mention it in my blog.

Upon first hearing the applause, my mental reaction was snotty. I wanted to shout in Japanese (which I still can't speak) that the moon cannot hear your applause, and, even if it could, your cheers are not what guide it along its eons-old celestial path. You're being silly! But then, after thinking about it, I decided that the Japanese people don't really applaud the moon, but rather themselves and the Shinto-vestiges of their profound culture which still, after millenia of modernization, marks annual milestones in nature with giddiness and excitement. I decided that was kind of cool, so a few seconds later, I joined in applauding the moon.

YAY MOON! WHOO! WAY TO RISE ABOVE THE CLOUDS AND SHINE AND STUFF AND MAKE US HAPPY!

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Did I hear someone ask for my opinions on who will win and who will lose in week five of the NFL? Well, I'm glad you asked.

First, my standard boasting: after an average outing two weeks ago, I went conservative and wound up with a 9-5 record. I should've gone with my instincts on the Baltimore, Washington, and New England victories, however. (SERIOUSLY! I knew those three would win, I just wussed and and picked otherwise! I'M NOT LYING!) But 9-5 ain't too shabby, and it makes me 39-21 on the year, much better than any of CBS Sportsline's six "experts" and also better than NBC's five-man "expert" panel. As for ESPN's eight-man panel, I've tied with Ron Jaworski and am only one game behind Mark Schlereth, who's blue-and-orange history would qualify him as awesome even if he were an idiot--which he clearly isn't. I feel I'm just a couple weeks of strong-picking away from conquering ESPN's panel, but it's my nemeses at Yahoo!Sports who I really want to best--of their four-man panel, I'm better than only one, and still a whopping four games behind their Charles Robinson, who looks more like the driver of an ice-cream truck than a shrewd football mind:

I'll get you Robinson!

Here's Week 5's Picks:

• Colts over Titans (although I secretly want to pick the Titans simply because they're 20 point underdogs ... I'm going for them even though I pick against them.)
• Giants over Redskins
• Vikings over Lions
• Saints over Bucs
• Packers over Rams (an upset)
• Patriots over Dolphins
• the ravenous BEARS! (over the Bills, who have more heart than talent.)
• Panthers over Browns
• Jets over Jaguars (Marshall QBs face off--I'm thinking upset)
• Chiefs over Cards (recently-emptied bandwagons clash under the desert sun)
• 49ers over Raiders (Q: as a old Broncos fan, is it difficult to see the Oakland Raiders, once hated rivals, plummet to become the league's laughingstock? A: No. It's kind of fun to watch, actually.)
• Chargers over Steelers
  
• TO over McNabb (Is there an NFL fan alive who isn't at least somewhat intrigued with this matchup? I'm almost looking forward to this more than the Broncos.)
• Broncos over Ravens (But I hate the dirty, stinking birds! They seem to trip up Denver when we least expect it. However, this Baltimore team is overrated: great D, yes, but their offense will score more points for the Broncos than for the Ravens ... I'm predicting turnover upon turnover as ancient "Air" McNair takes on the league's most underrated defense.)

And that's about it. I'll close this post with a stylized and compelling portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who (in all likelihood) recently offed one of his country's most prominent journalists and a major critic of his administration. And American leftists regularly claim--in complete safety and immunity and with the straightest of faces--that Bush is a tyrant. Sheesh.