I Could be a Star, Maybe, Somewhere Else

One day, if I get the urge to name our house, it will not be "The Elms", or "Dunroamin'" or some such silliness. It will be "Esos Ciervos Sangrientos."

Just a thought for Monday as I peruse the garden ...

Among the things that I find amazing about modern travel is the ease of communication. In 2000 I travelled Australia, sending long missives from internet cafés and waiting up until 2 am to phone my parents and an Avid Fan or two back in God's other country.

Mme Metro and I are hosting a visitor from Japan. This woman, let's call her Tyushu, chats with her mother about every second night via cell phone, texting back and forth and sending pictures of the experience fresh as they happen.

A day or two ago I was lounging on the sofa when she approached me, clutching a small stuffed Ogopogo (Cryptozooic Mega-Fauna of the nearby vales). I was made to understand that she wished to take a picture of me with said CMF. I assented.

Approximately half-an-hour later I was munting about the internet when she came into the room and informed me that she had sent the pic to her mother, and that her mother said I looked like "er ... firm actor." It took me a minute to realize that a Japanese woman about my own age was saying I looked like a movie star.

It seems an appropriate time for this:



Lyrics:
Tom Waits: Big in Japan

I got the style but not the grace
I got the clothes but not the face
I got the bread but not the butter
I got the winda but not the shutter

But I'm big in Japan I'm big in Japan But heh I'm big in Japan

I got the house but not the deed
I got the horn but not the reed
I got the cards but not the luck
I got the wheel but not the truck

But heh I'm big in Japan I'm big in Japan I'm big in Japan

I got the moon I got the cheese I got the whole damn nation
On its knees I got the rooster I got the crow
I got the ebb I got the flow

I got the powder but not the gun
I got the dog but not the bun
I got the clouds but not the sky
I got the stripes but not the tie

But heh I'm big in Japan I'm big in Japan I'm big in Japan

Heh ho they love the way I do it
Heh ho there's really nothing to it

I got the moon I got the cheese
I got the whole damn nation on their knees
I got the rooster I got the crow
I got the ebb I got the flow

I got the sizzle but not the steak
I got the boat but not the lake
I got the sheets but not the bed
I got the jam but not the bread

But heh I'm big in Japan I'm big in Japan I'm big in Japan
I'm big in Japan, I'm big in Japan