Nice work melsie and jamsie, in the successful implementation of 'operation baby'. Check out the newest addition to the Nash clan:
In'e cute? Born yesterday, reportedly without too many hassles, mother and baby both doing well. I guess this means from this point onwards I should be referred to as 'Uncle Max Danger'...Congratulations james and mel!
In other news, me other brother patrick is visiting Japan at the moment. Spent the last few days doing a couple of day trips in and around kumamoto. Headed up to Mt Aso, an active volcano, then hit some hot springs for a relaxing soak afterwards.
On the way home we drove past two massive bronze cow statues by the side of the road. If that doesn't scream 'ride me' I don't know what does. Of course, myself and patrick had to oblige. Sure, some people might say 'that's really degrading to japanese culture you stupid obnoxious foreigner'. But if they did, they'd probably say it in japanese, so I wouldn't be able to understand it anyway (1). See below for proof that the extreme sport of 'statue riding' (2) is still alive and kicking.
We also checked out Kumamoto castle which was pretty cool. Proved that it's not that hard to scale castle walls, especially when you're as dangerous as I am.
A couple of nights ago a whole bunch of us went out to yaki niku and followed it up with a massive karaoke session. Yaki Niku is one of my favourite things about this country. Sure, Australia is famous for it's barbeque's, but yaki niku takes it to another level. It translates to 'fried meat', and involves sitting at a table which has a barbeque built into the middle, and frying your own dinner. They just keep on bringing out plates of meat. For $25 bux you get all you can eat, all you can drink. Unlimited meat + unlimited beer = damn good times.
I must admit that some aspects of the culture are starting to get to me - I fucken love karaoke. Woken up a number of times lately with a pretty sore throat, which attests to the joyous karaoke times had the night before. Here's an action shot of me and patty and a couple of locals in action on wednesday night:
So we're heading to Tokyo tomorrow night to check out the bright lights of the city, and catch up with some visting family and friends. Should be fun.
(1) In actuality, I cleared the stunt with my japanese friend (who took the photo) before pulling it. The cow statues are just that - statues, and don't have any special religious or cultural significance.
(2) Statue Riding: Although there is still some mystery surrounding the actual origins of the sport, research indicates it was invented circa 2003 at the Geebung Polo Club, Hawthorn, Australia. It involves scaling, riding and gesticulating wildly on large scale inanimate statues of animals placed in very public places. Provides a source of entertainment and/or bewilderment for any onlookers, it usually involves the ejection from the premisis and the infliction of physical pain at the hands of bouncers for the daring statue rider. Notable statue rides in the past include the initial geebung horse ride, and also the 'double ride' of the plastic cow in the middle of some ice cream shop in Bondi, executed jointly by 'the enforcer' and 'max danger'. The sport of statue riding can often be found in conjuction with it's equally dangerous sister sport, stair diving.
