Heroes and horses and whales, oh my� Fun with Rocking In Hakata

On October 22, 2007 in Interviews, bloggers

Hi All. If you missed yesterday’s post be sure to check it out now (we talked with Deas about the Japan Blog Matsuri). Today we are chatting with him about some of the neat and unique content on RockingInHakata.

Daily J: What is the most interesting project, etc. that you are current working on for your site? (I noticed that you started a series on Japanese used in the “Heroes” TV show)

Deas: The Heroes commentary series was unfortunately dramatically reduced thanks to the computer issues I’ve had of late. To be honest, I was way more excited about it weeks and weeks ago. Now it just feels good to get it out of my system! My favorite thing so far has been the whole Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey exercise. Humor is HARD to translate. But for some reason, I love attempting it anyway, even with my sub-par Japanese.

Daily J: You blog some in Japanese. I especially like your posts translating English humour into Japanese (Weird Al’s song). What motivated you to start posting in Japanese too? Which post in Japanese is your favourite so far?

Deas: Well, it was an attempt to thwart academic laziness and get my Japanese studies back on the right path, originally. But then it became a cultural interest. Some things get across, but some things miss by the widest margins you can imagine. When translating Weird Al, I made sure I’d chosen something easily accessible - the concept behind the song I did was pretty simple. I’m doing another one this week or next week, I think. I also did the aforementioned Deep Thoughts series. I’ve been gathering ideas for other future articles. I’m thinking that I might attempt some Mitch Hedburg and Eddie Izzard eventually. Any ideas for me? I’ve not tried translating Japanese comedy into English yet, but maybe that’ll come eventually, as well.

Daily J: I saw your post about whale. Have you had horse yet? When I was at Jochi U. I had horse and whale (only once). I thought horse was delicious (but hard to find in Tokyo)! Can you tell us a little bit about eating whale? Did they have whale ice cream (no lie, it exists!)?

Deas: I haven’t yet partaken of the famous equine delight. But I’ve located a place nearby that sells horse meat, so that’s a step in the right direction. I guess I should get around to that, huh? The whale was pretty strong tasting. I’d even say funky. Depending on the social situation and the price, I may or may not ever eat it again. Never had whale ice cream…though if you tell me where to procure it I might… The thing is, eating animals that the majority of people agree are majestic and graceful creatures has become super taboo. I got more nasty messages from the whale eating entry than I did for some other stuff. (Second only to the nasty messages I got from the global warming entry. Shudder. Or dare I say shiver?)

Daily J: You blog a bit about your travels (like your trip to Korea), what would you say was you favourite trip and why?

Deas: Tough call! I would say that my favorite trip is still the one I made to Hokkaido when I was an exchange student. I caught the Sapporo Yukimatsuri, went on a cruise through the frozen over Okhotsk Sea, saw laser shows and Tancho cranes, and basically had a blast with the bus full of old ladies that went on the same tour. It was awesome. Unfortunately, it’s on the old website. You can see it here: http://www.furman.edu/inted/viewentry.cfm?id=91 . It’s less sophisticated, but you can still enjoy pictures and video clips of the trip. I highly recommend it! Do it!

I’m going to repeat that last link because there are some really great pictures there, so click it! –>http://www.furman.edu/inted/viewentry.cfm?id=91

A big BIG thank you to Deas! It has been a lot of fun doing this interview.

And thank you all for reading.

Have a great day,

Daily J

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