December 31, 2006

  • OK, the cooking marathon is over and the New Years feast is all packed in the lacquered box that we use every year.  I got it all done pretty fast.  Does that mean that I am getting more efficient, or that I am getting lazier?

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    We will eat this tomorrow morning with shrimp and rice cake soup.

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    Grandma wants to watch the traditional NHK (that's Japanese for BBC) Red and White Singing Show - It's the male singers vs. the female singers, and most of them are pretty mediocre.  Maybe I am just getting too old to enjoy little girls who are squealing like little cats out in the alleys.  Hubby hates the show, but is tolerating it for Grandma.

    NHK showed very poor judgement for the show this year.  I was a bit annoyed when all of the female singers got together to belt out "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee, God of Wonder, Lord of Love" just like they would any rollicking dance number, and then the guys answered the challenge by having a soccer team prancing around to the "Hallelujah Chorus."  It all seemed like God's name was being taken in vain somehow.  I consider myself rather tolerant, and thought, "Well, God is gonna be praised somehow, even if the singers have no clue about what they are doing."

    A few numbers later I was not so tolerant, and I jumped up to call the station to complain about the topless male and female dancers on the stage.  It turns out they were just wearing cleverly painted tee shirts, but it looked real enough to make one sit up and take notice for sure.  Later an announcer came on the stage and said that the dancers were not naked and that NHK was sorry for the misunderstanding, so enough people must have complained to warrant an explanation.

    As long as I was calling I also mentioned the misuse of the Christian music since it was  in such an outright stupid setting.  Yeah, I can see why Aki hates the show, and we just had it on for Grandma.  She didn't like the tee shirts, either.

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    Grandma again.  Ain't she cute?

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    Out with the year of the dog and in with the year of the boar.

    Happy New 2007 or Happy Heisei 19.  Recently I have trouble remembering them both.  If I can get my act together tomorrow I will probably attend the New Year's service at church, after which we will probably have to make a trip with Grandma to a shine.  If she really wants to go we gotta take her, but I wait on the side until she is done with her visit.

    This is from the Japanese news.  There were about 250 complaint calls to NHK regarding the costumes.  Is that all??

    「裸」演出、番組内で謝罪　ＮＨＫ紅白歌合戦

    2007年01月01日00時59分

    　３１日夜に放送されたＮＨＫ紅白歌合戦で、「ＤＪ　ＯＺＭＡ」と出演した女性ダンサーの上半身が裸に見えるような演出があり、総合司会の三宅民夫アナウンサーが番組内で「ボディースーツを着用していたが、誤解を与えて申し訳ない」という趣旨の異例のおわびをした。

    　ＮＨＫによると、終了までに問い合わせなど約２５０件が寄せられた。ＮＨＫは裸に見えたのはすべてボディースーツだったとしたうえで、「裸と見間違いかねない姿になるのは演出側は知らなかった。紅白のテーマにふさわしくないパフォーマンスだったと考えている」とコメントした。ＤＪ　ＯＺＭＡは「リアルに作り過ぎたかな」と報道陣に語った。

    　問題の場面は同日午後１０時２０分ごろに放送された。直後から「裸ではないのか」「ボディースーツとはいえ、子どもの見ている時間にはふさわしくない」などの指摘があったという。

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