Tristan profile picture

Tristan

swirlymuffins

About Me

I'm an English teacher tucked away in the recesses of Hiroshima's mountains of Japan.
Initially I was going on to become an artist, but during college I got totally engrossed in Japanese History, culture, and language. I did student exchange abroad my junior year of college, coming to Japan, I instantly fell in love with the rich Japanese customs, traditions, history, and beautiful people of Japan.
Oh, and I also met my beloved Japanese fiance while attending Kumamoto Gakuen University. After college graduation I joined the JET Programme and moved back to Japan... Now you know the rest of the story.

My Interests

Writing　執筆, Story telling　オリギナルの物語を書く, Japanese calligraphy 書道, drawing　絵画, manga 漫画, reading　読書, listening to music 音楽, movies 映画観賞, my beloved Sayaka 宮本・清香, Japanese food 和食, 食べ物など、Japanese culture　日本文化.

I'd like to meet:

At the moment I'm obsessed with Japanese "TV talents." They range from real celebs to barely passable quasi-celebrities, not quite famous but more famous than your everyday person since they are showcased on numerous television programs and talk shows.
Among them: Shinohara Ryoko, Fukada Kyoko, Yamada Yu, Kumada Yoko, Nana Natsume, Akane Hotaru, Watanabe Ken, Abe Hiroshi, SMAP, Gorie, etc.
I'd also love to meet my favorite manga-ka: Oda Eichiro, Ogure Itto, Takehiko Inoue, Urasawa Naoki, Kishimoto Masashi, etc.
As far as western celebrities go chillin' with Madonna or William Shatner would be pretty cool. Also the entire cast of 'High School Musical'... no, not really...

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Music:

Too many to list, but JEWEL is my favorite, Mihimaru GT and Ketsumeshi, Yoko Kano, Handel.

Jewel and Jessica Simpson - Who will save your soul...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW6QrCaRrmY

Movies:

Harvey starring Jimmy Stewart (based off of the Pulitzer Prize winning Mary Chase play) is my all time favorite.
Pirates of the Caribbean, V For Vendetta, Oceans 12, Shimotsuma Monogatari (Kamikaze Girls), My Sassy Girl, Life Aquatic, I Heart Huckabees, The Departed, Batman Begins, X-Men 2, Snatch, Phantom of the Opera, Pitch Black, Talladega Night: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Lord of the Rings, James Bond, Casino Royal, etc.
All Hayao Miyazaik films.
Films in general.

Television:

Scrubs, Battlestar Gallactica, Medium, Supernatural, 24, Prison Break, The Cosby Show, As Time Goes By, Faulty Towers, Friends, Futurama, Dragon Zakura, Unfair, SmapSmap, and Engine. Anything ANIME related.
Battlestar Galactica Season 3 Last 5min
..

Books:

Anything by Salman Rushdie or Haruki Murakami. C.S. Lewis is my all time favorite writer.
Current favorites
Manga: One Piece, Air Gear, Naruto, Vagabond, Pluto, Shin Angyo Onshi
Novel: The Wind Up Bird Chronicle, Mere Christianity, Lolita

Heroes:

C.S. Lewis, Dr. Seuss, Jesus Christ

My Blog

A Selection of Favorites: Movies that Matter Most

My Favorite Movies Which Consistently Rank High (With Me) 1.  Harvey (1950) Elwood P. Dowd (Jimmy Stewart) is a man with too much free time on his hands.  At least that's what everyone in...
Posted by Tristan on Tue, 10 Jun 2008 12:49:00 PST

Television Series I couldnt do Without

My Favorite Television Series which I couldn't do Without: Thank God for DVD!Includes all subsequent seasons: hence television series. 1. The Cosby Show 2. Scrubs 3. Futurama 4. Faulty Towers 5. ...
Posted by Tristan on Tue, 10 Jun 2008 12:55:00 PST

My Favorite End of the World and Mankind as We Know it Movies

My Favorite End of the World and Mankind as We Know it Movies   1.  Sunshine (2007) We are only stardust. Sunshine is such a sublime, beautiful, yet terrifying film.  Our sun is dying...
Posted by Tristan on Mon, 09 Jun 2008 03:17:00 PST

Deli ala Footus Longuiness

Japan doesn't have much in the way of Deli or Club sandwiches. They do however have the fast food franchise "SUBWAY" which is wonderful if you can get into the city and actually find one.As for me, I'...
Posted by Tristan on Thu, 05 Jun 2008 02:24:00 PST

Punctuation is Key

A friendly reminder (A follow up of Tyson's post: Punctuation is Key)Semicolons are most often used between two clauses of a compound sentence. Basically linking two simple sentences together which ma...
Posted by Tristan on Thu, 22 May 2008 01:01:00 PST

My Golden Week

Some photos from my "stay at home" Golden Week.Searched for some Geishas, but didn't find any.The inside of the Geisha palace turned traditional hotel opens into a central garden. With no closing door...
Posted by Tristan on Sun, 11 May 2008 07:13:00 PST

Religious Poem

    What Lingers Upon the Cross By Tristan Vick May 2, 2008   Who has scorched this land with hatred? Who has sent me, battered and broken, bleeding for my brethren? Who has ch...
Posted by Tristan on Sun, 04 May 2008 11:01:00 PST

Japanese Entertainment Farce: Its all an ActThanks for your Purchase!$$

Japanese Entertainment Farce: It's all an ActThanks for your Purchase!$$With an Ode to Ayumi Hamasaki Recently I have been listening to more and more Japanese music. Next to the U.S., Japan ...
Posted by Tristan on Wed, 23 Apr 2008 03:10:00 PST

Jewel and Jessica Simpson - Who will save your soul...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW6QrCaRrmY Watch how Jewel reads Jessica. This is an amazing duet....
Posted by Tristan on Fri, 11 Apr 2008 07:46:00 PST

News Briefs: An Opinion Piece

News Briefs: An Opinion Piece By Tristan Vick 4/9/2008 I’ve been meaning to do a political charged opinion piece recently, and haven’t found the time. But with all the crazy stuf...
Posted by Tristan on Thu, 10 Apr 2008 12:28:00 PST