Commentary

What would you have done differently over the last 10 years if you could start over? What will you decide to do over the next 10 years to live your life to the maximum? I read a good quote from the head of AMD (chip maker in San Diego). He wants his workers to take risks. In work, he will not fault them for getting speeding tickets, but he be angry if they get parking tickets. So, don’t lay around doing nothing day after day and year after year, find an interest and set a goal and then get to it. Don’t miss the starting gun.

After “Time” comes the song “Money” which for lyrics and as a jam is unprecedented and gets an A+. Most artists treat money as an evil or pollution. Money is neither good nor bad, it is neutral. Money as greed is bad, but money spent the right way can do much good. Getting rich is a not a bad or dirty thing, provided it is not the greedy Gordon Gecko of the movie Wallstreet type. If one has no money or power, how can they provide for their loved ones or protect them if someone wishes to do them evil? The song Money is in 7/8 time which is extremely rare. Next time you hear the song and count the time notice that you don’t count 1, 2, 3, 4, but you count 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 until the guitar solo when David Gilmour changes the song seamlessly into 4/4 time to play his ripping solo and then back to 7/8 afterwards. He is an excellent guitarist, but on Dark Side of the Moon he is spot-on all the way through compared to some other work he has done. Money - “I think I’ll buy me a football team”

Sometimes the planets are aligned and everything comes together perfectly in life, and that is what happened in 1973 when Pink Floyd released Dark Side of the Moon. It is not only the album that has been on the charts longer than any other album in history, it also was the longest serving front page on mckellin.com that did not feature a picture of Anna or Alice on it. Those of you who at were at Kyoko and my wedding also know the planets where aligned and everything unfolded naturally and balanced on that day 10 years ago.

SINGAPORE

The reason I was able to go to Koh Samui for the fast was that I had a business trip to Singapore to meet some regional partners and to make a speech at the Messaging Asia Conference at the ultra-famous Raffles Hotel. Here was the speech content: 16.00 Growth Strategies For Mobile Email In The Asian Enterprise Market (Including Case Study On Enterprise China). The speech and meetings went well. Singapore is always a welcome location to visit; it is a very user friendly country. Everything works, is on time and in English.

WAR

I am not a great fan of GreenPeace, but there was a GreenPeace guy here on Samui wearing a T-Shirt that said “Unfuck the War”. I saw another shirt with a MacDonalds logo that said McShit.

I see the majority of Americans are now against the war. What where these people thinking 4 or 5 years ago? A quick study of history shows sending foreign armies into Afghanistan always ends up in humiliation. At the height of their powers, both the British and Russians massively lost there. Trying to take over and run Iraq was even more of a challenge than Afghanistan. I read a story that before the war that some in the CIA told the Bush Administration the worst case scenario for invading Iraq was civil war, and the best case scenario was civil war. Bush and team quickly fired those guys and said get us data that supports an attack. Well we stirred up a hornets nest of Islamic extremism that was inevitable someday, but we maybe moved up the activity a couple decades due to Rumsfeld and Cheney.

“War is my last choice” W Bush in 2002

“Forward they cried from the rear and front went down” from Us and Them about war on Dark Side of the Moon

According to the Art of War the last choice is fighting, if you must fight you have already lost. Winning through clever diplomacy is best.

Oct 28, 2006

YOUTUBE - My 2 year old Alice is addicted to YouTube and repeatedly chooses it over watching TV. It is amazing to see a technological divide between my 2 and 5 year olds. My 5 year old did not grow up with YouTube and is happy to watch cable TV and play video games online. At only 3 years younger Alice is part of the first generation of YouTube. She loves watching other people’s home videos of rides at Disneyland such as Small World. She sits in a chair and tells me what she wants to watch and we click through a variety of different videos and cartoons. Video on demand is finally here. I love YouTube to see live concert action from Neil Young and others. I recently really enjoyed watching 2 old Dick Cavett and Mike Douglass interviews with Gene Simmons of Kiss back in the mid-70’s. Time flies but video lasts forever.

MALAYSIA , late August - Mckellin.com is currently sitting on Malaysian Airlines flt 70 from Kuala Lumpur to Tokyo returning from a rather enjoyable 2 day trip to a suburb of Kuala Lumpur called Subang where many Telecommunications companies have their headquarters. Today is the Merdeka holiday celebrating 49 years of independence from the British, Japanese and once again the British. Malaysia has made great strides in raising the living standards of all citizens and has been fairly good handling racial harmony considering the unique mix it has; around 55% Malay, 30% Chinese and 15% Indian. There is damn good Indian food everywhere which is lovely. The local newspapers over the last couple days have been quoting typical Malaysians touting their love for their country and how being a citizen of Malaysia takes precedent over ones race. While generally true, my Indian taxi driver to the airport he claimed he was Indian first and a Malaysian citizen second. Still, 49 years of peace and steady economic harmony can be considered a great success for Malaysia and overall it seems like most citizens love their country and the freedoms they have. Overall I enjoyed my stay these last couple days more than I thought I would, Malaysia is an enjoyable and decent place with friendly folks.

MAINE - In early August we took a massive drive from Chicago to Allentown PA, Brooklyn NY, and then Old Orchard Beach in Maine where the McKellin clan threw a surprise 50th wedding anniversary party for Jim and Carolyn. Along the way we had great times with the Knechts in PA and Jason Gonsky & Co in NY. Maine was nice, Kyoko and I ate lobster all 4 nights in a row. The water got just warm enough so we were able to swim for 10 minute periods at a time. All of J&C’s kids and grandkids attended and it was a great success. Hey Carolyn -email me the letter you and Jim wrote about the experience and I will reprint it here. J&C had no clue at all that the party was coming. They were wondering why in the hell are we going to Maine of all places? Old Orchard beach gets 2 thumbs up in my book, it is a really nice place. We got to hang out with Jimbo Michaud and his kids which was a plus. Anna and Sydney Michaud got to play on the beach and hit the boardwalk rides for 2 days in a row. On the way back we stopped to sleep in Eire PA which was actually a pleasant place. We ate at “Fisherman’s Wharf” right on Lake Eire, however I would never eat anything out any of the great lakes except Lake Superior which is deep and relatively clean. Eire reminded me of Michigan City Indiana, but a little bigger and a little less trashy. The lakefront had a nice pier, lighthouse and bars and restaurants.

BUSH LEAGUE - These days we don’t need to bash Bush when there are many other articulate folks doing that for us, here is super columnist Camille Paglia -“That Donald Rumsfeld is still employed as the secretary of defense is a living testament to the managerial incompetence of the current president. If Rumsfeld had been booted out early on, Bush would have gotten more of a pass. It could have been argued that he had merely been misled by bad advisors. I'm not a Bush hater. I've always viewed him as a decent fellow who was pushed into the presidency because he was his father's son. But he's been out of his depth in foreign affairs from the start. He certainly lacks the basic verbal skills for the presidency -- reading speeches authored by others is no substitute. But I've become concerned about Bush's mental state in the past few months. Sometimes in his press conferences or prepared statements (which I listened to on the radio), I heard a sort of Nixonian tension and hysteria. His vocal patterns were over-intense and his inflections impatient, lurching and sarcastic. There was this seething quality to his speech that worried me and that seemed to signal that something major is being planned -- perhaps another military incursion. “ - I too have noticed a change in Bush. I think he realizes he is out of his league and along with the current mess he has led us into in Iraq is greatly hurting his confidence.

I had a guy say to me the other day “The great thing about Japanese girls is even though I keep getting older and older, they stay young!”

McKellin published in American Chamber of Commerce in Japan Journal -PDF page 13

Oct 2, 2006

Tightwad Tokyo - article on how to sightsee and stay in Tokyo on the cheap.

Colonics in Tokyo

Curezone - Educate instead of Medicate

Aug 15 , 2006

NEW Interview! - McKellin on ITV Japan

North Park Vikings Football Preview here! NorthPark has not had a season over 500 since 1968!

WRITTEN ONE MONTH BACK - Mckellin.com is sitting in Business Class on NWA flight 010 to Guam from Tokyo. It has been a while since I flew Business Class and the food was almost restaurant quality (seafood curry). I am off for 2 days to visit Choice Phone to train their sales team how to sell the Visto push mail service. The weather report is for heavy rain which is terrible luck on a trip to a semi-tropical island that specializes in tourism. My 3 girls leave for Minneapolis later today for 3+ weeks in the US, I will join them on July 27. Guam - “Where America’s day begins”. Don’t forget you all, Guam is part of the USA.

Market leading Japanese soft drink Pocari Sweat (yes, sweat) has a new ad campaign to “Re-Body”. Drink Sweat to Re-body! You can’t make stuff like this up. I boycotted Sweat for my first 6 years in Japan due to the stupid name, however I have been drinking it for the last 10 years and it is actually pretty good. Sweat knocked Coke out of the #1 position about 6 years ago in Japan. Time to Re-Body, you’all!

Both England and Brazil crashed out of the World Cup, both due to inferior coaching. The English side never found the right line-up to get into any sort of rhythm, the super talented Brazilians had the wrong offense and never played as a team. The one result from this World Cup is the American team should end up with the ex-German coach Klinsmann for the next 4 years which is welcomed. Soccer has many similarities to the world’s #2 sport -- Basketball. Both sports work to feed the ball inside to breakdown defenses, some from a set offense and some that rely on fast breaks to score quickly. Four years from now we will get more “football” when the World Cup takes place in South Africa. I predict the US makes the final 8 and that England doesn’t. Brazil will make the final but I will not go so far as to say they will win it all. No teams from Asia will make it past the first round, while 2 African teams will. Watch out for the Australians, they played aggressively in Germany and could kick some tail in South Africa.

Jul 12, 2006

McKellin Interview on Wireless Watch Japan!!

Jun 28 , 2006

Hello Friends. I hope you are enjoying the World Cup as much as I am. I just spent 3 days in Singapore and every taxi driver I met instantly wanted to discuss “football”, or as the Australians call it “soccer”. The final 8 teams have turned out to be an awesome collection of storied teams, with 6 of them past Cup winners. Host Germany vs. a resurgent Argentina should prove to be an epic battle this weekend. England vs Portugal should also be a match not to be missed. In many ways it is a luxury to be American during the World Cup as one has the freedom to cheer for any team they want. Personally I root for the Brazilians as they are so beautiful and entertaining to watch. They play with smiles on their faces which is contagious and refreshing. They are the only “overdog” team in sports that still has a strong following global with very little resentment, everyone cheers for the Brazilians. The Chicago Bulls where a little like that too, but it is rare. Most overdog teams are hated by many, such as the Yankees or Dallas Cowboys. Another reason to cheer for Brazil is they win a lot.

The other team I cheer for is the English side. In my travels the last 2 months in Japan, Thailand and Singapore I have never seen a team get so much coverage in the press as the English team, the whole world is fascinated by them. They definitely are hard to avoid and they have some interesting players such as the thong-wearing David Beckham, the 6”7’ 147lb striker Peter Crouch, and lynch-pin Wayne Rooney who is nursing a broken foot and on whose shoulders the success of the entire team rest upon. Then there is the English coach, the boring Swede Sven Ericsson who constantly gets bashed in the press as incompetent but somehow has his team in the Quarter finals. Soccer is the most effeminate “major” sport in N America. Hockey, football, and even basketball can be brutal. All the tough guys in my school played these sports, the wimpier guys played Thoccer. Take a look at Wayne Rooney for England, that guy is a mean, tough MF. The toughest guys play soccer in Europe and South America and it is cool. So it is hard to cheer for the American team, and easy to cheer for the charismatic Brazilians who are among the coolest group in any sport in any country.

Over the years the World Cup has become increasingly more and more enthralling and the Olympics more and more lackluster. I like the different nationalities going head to head and the fans treating each match as life or death, literally. It is difficult to watch the bloated Olympics and hard to find the interesting sports on TV. During the Summer Olympics in Japan we get stuck with Judo and in the Winter Olympics figure skating and ski jumping as mainstays on the tube. I will take the World Cup any day. Four years from now South Africa will host the World Cup which should be very cool, although in a time zone which will see us in East Asia watching matches that start at 11pm or 3am again. As my French boss Antoine said last night when someone in Singapore asked him if he was going to wake up at 3am to watch France and Spain battle “Of course, it’s football, its as important as religion”. Luckily for him the French won 3 to 1 in a very lively, aggressive an exciting match. Now as their reward they get to play reigning world Champions Brazil Sunday at 4am Japan time. The finals will be in Berlin on July 10 and I would not be surprised to see a repeat of the finals in Japan 4 years ago with Germany vs Brasil. However this time the Germans will be at home, and, somehow in the World Cup the home team always wins. Go Brazil!

Both Neil Young and the Economist are heavily bashing Mr Bush, the planets are aligning. I think Bush realized about a year ago that he is in over his head and he is no where near the level of a T Jefferson, A Lincoln or even R Nixon (in the intelligence dept). Bush has lost his inner confidence and is hoping to just make it to the end of his term and hopefully improve on his legacy a little. When Iraq goes into civil war and US boys are rushing out of the country the Repubs will be in trouble, and the whole region will be in big trouble. Neil Young and The Economist.

May 10 , 2006

Why do people on moving walkways tend to walk in slow motion once they step on the walkway? Why not walk full speed? I abhor getting stuck behind these people.

The girls and I just spent 9 glorious days in Thailand, 8 of them in the ultra-luxerious Hyatt hotel in Hua Hin. This hotel has the best pool I ever swam in. The pool for kids has a beautiful white sand beach that leads into the water. There is a giant waterslide and a “pool river” that snaked around the hotel grounds in a circle and led by a waterfall that one could swim under. We spent almost the entire trip at the pool, with occassional trips out to the beach to get 1 hour Thai massages for 200 ($5) baht each. Anna made 2 very good friends who also loved swimming, one from Japan and one from the UK. The trip was magnificent and there is a high possibilty we will be back to the Hua Hin Hyatt soon. Hua Hin as a town is quite pleasant and it has a lively night market that we often visited for shopping and the buzz of activity. We had Thai food 7 nights, Italian food 1 night and Japanese food 1 night for the kids. Several years ago Kyoko used to complain if I wanted to eat Thai food on consecutive days, however on this trip she was eating Thai food for lunch at the hotel pool and again for dinner out in the city almost everyday. Thai food and Thai massage are at the pinnacle of global culture.

Tim Mitchell, our buddy from North Park in Chicago, visited us for a couple days in Hua Hin and a week later we stopped by his home in a suburb of Bangkok called Minburi. Tim teaches at an International school and actually over half his students are Japanese children of Expats. Tim has a nice set up, he lives in a Thai middle class community directly across the street from his school. His wife Judy works in Marketing for one of the International Hospitals in Bangkok. She has a one hour commute by taxi that costs around $4 - $5 dollars each way. One can’t even sit in a taxi in Japan for less that $6 which is the minimum charge for any ride. Anna liked playing with Tim’s boy Maddox who was a well mannered and positive little chap. Tim’s school uses tow-headed Maddox liberally on their website to promote an image of internationality.

After Thailand I flew directly to Singapore to meet with some wonderful folks in the mobile space. Kyoko had to take the girls home alone which can be a big job as Alice is a couple months short of 2 years and she can be a real handful. The worst part of flying to Tokyo is once you land, you are still a 1.5 to 2 hour train or bus ride out of the city which can really try a youngster's patience, especially after a long flight. February was Hawaii, May was Thailand, and now in just a little over 2 months we will be in Chicago and New York for summer holiday. The trips just keep coming, luckily the last two have been mostly financed using free tickets from United airlines. This summer we will not be so lucky and we have to pay for Alice for the first time to fly. Four tickets in the peak season in mid-summer is painful, but a necessity.

I was going to write more about the similarities between Thailand and Japan, but alas I am on an airplane and my laptop battery is about to cut out. Quickly - Japan and Thailand are the only Asian countries that were never colonized. Avoiding colonization was a more difficult task for Thailand as she was surrounded by the English in the west and south, the French in the East, and the Chinese in the North. Japan was far away from the Europe powers and, as an island, had an easier time to keep the gaijin out. Both are Buddhist countries, albeit quite different versions. Thai Buddhism with it’s ornate temples and celebite preists seems to be like a “Catholic” version, while the more austere Japanese brand of Buddhism like a “Protestant” version. Japan and Thailand both have excellent cuisines full of seafood and Thai massage and Shiatsu massage focus on pressure points and are wonderful. Both countries absorb ideas and influences from other cultures while keeping their own cultures in tact. Both peoples have ultimate confidence and pride in their own cultures. One major difference is Thai people smile all the time, even when confronted by a difficult situtation, whereas Japanese people seldom smile. I’ll take a smiling face anyday. Oh Thailand -I hope to be back soon to eat your food, sun on your beaches, get massages, and to see your smiling face.

The President Speaks - ICA

Apr 22, 2006

Son-san of Softbank, which just bought Vodafone KK, is moving quickly to transform the company which is good, provided his direction is correct. Moving quickly in strategy is good. According the Art of War by Sun Tze “When doing battle, seek a quick victory. A protracted battle will blunt weapons and dampen ardor. When weapons are blunted, and ardor dampened, strength exhausted, and resources depleted, the neighboring rulers will take advantage of these complications. Therefore, I have heard of military campaigns that were clumsy but swift, but I have never seen military campaigns that were skilled but protracted. No nation has ever benefited from protracted warfare.” The entire Art of War is here. Maybe Rummy should read this while his army is bogged down in Iraq.

Neil Young urges Bush impeachment on protest album

Neil Young, strong backer of Reagan in the 80’s, records "Impeach the President" Song

Phallus Fans Flock to Fertility Festival

Crazy Beauty Products From Japan

Apr 2, 2006

Well the move from Vodafone KK to Softbank is complete and all the ex-pat Europeans are being sent back by the end of April, it is the end of an era. Ultimately Vodafone made too many mistakes in this market. We’ll see how the boys at Softbank fare competing head to head with KDDI and DoCoMo.

If you click on the ACCJ News page there is an update on the Giuliani breakfast we attended, and directly below a picture and update of my boss Antoine Blondeau. I set up the event for Antoine and we had a great turnout of over 100 attendees.

It is cherry blossom season in Tokyo - Tis a glorious time of year to be in Japan's capital. We have gone out almost every night to walk around and see different blooming areas around our neighborhood. Last night was Naka-Meguro and it was excellent. Naka Meguro lights up the blossoms at night and it is like walking through cherry blossom tunnels. Alas we took no photos, here is a link I just found from some gaijin I do not know who put up some pictures shot during the day. Here is a Japanese site with more pictures. As you can see on mckellin.com we did get some pictures while the blossoms were still in peak condition. Hanami season is crazy with totally wasted Japanese people all over. If you are not drinking excessively, you are making a cultural feau pax.

Kyoko says "hi"! and "Alice is speaking a lot, both English and Japanese". Next up is the Hyatt Hotel in Hua Hin Thailand starting April 27. We spoke to Tim Mitchell a couple nights back and will meet up with him in Hua Hin and his house north of Bangkok. Kyoko and I are looking forward to 2 hour Thai massages daily.

W. Bush is proving to be loyal to a fault. How about firing Rummy, and replacing Cheney? A fresh start would be nice and show some leadership. Cheney's approval rating is at 18%, ouch - time to go. It sucks being an American overseas with Bush as President, he has damaged our reputation and standing in the world. Remember when Bush said of the Iraqi insurgents "Bring it on!". Well, they did as he requested right up to the point where a civil war is a real possibility creating a power vacuum ready to be filled by a hostile Iranian super-state. Bush has also damaged the Republican party, but the Democrats are so busy damaging their own party that they are unable to take advantage of the incompetence currently occupying the White House.

Feb 18, 2006

We are back from Hawaii and as always it was a great trip. Anna and Alice had a great time with their Grandpa and Grandma as you can see in the pictures on the front page of this website. We most likely will be back in Waikiki next Feb so mark your calendars now if you want to join in the fun. For you NFL fans, we did not get to meet any players directly this year, which is good for them! We made it to the hotel where they were staying and actually swam on the beach and saw some of the players, but security was ratcheted up this year and we were not able to enter the hotel itself.

Hawaii in Feb is wild. Often at night the temp would hit the lower 60’s and walking down the street you see some folks wearing winter jackets and caps, while others wearshorts and T-shirts. Lower 60’s to a local is freezing while for Canadians and Minnesotans it glorious. We ran into tons of Minnesotans in Hawaii, really unbelievable. Lots of Canadians too, and of course tons of Japanese.

I just saw that Lisa Marie Presley got married again, this time in Kyoto Japan.

Mt Fuji to Erupt? Watch out Tokyoites!

James Nelson McKellin II - Rest In Peace - James McKellin, formerly of Wheaton, IL, died on Jan. 24, 2006. After graduating Wheaton College in 1935, James had a long career as the Food Service Director of Wheaton College. He later took positions at Northern Illinois University and Western Michigan University in the same capacity. One of his proudest accomplishments was that he started intercollegiate soccer at Wheaton College and was the first coach from 1935-1940. He and his wife of 70 years, Florence, retired most recently to Friendship Village in Schaumburg, IL, where she still resides. Also surviving James are three children, James McKellin of Stillwater, MN, Betty McKellin Knecht of Coopersburg, PA and Carol Whittaker Gonsky of Chicago; 13 grandchildren; and 16 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by one son, William; and a grandson, David Knecht. A private memorial service will be held in February. Published in the Chicago Tribune on 1/28/2006.

Feb 1 , 2006

Again another “Lost in Translation” moment here in Tokyo, this one PG13. Thanks to our alert colleagues at conbinibento.com and other Japan related websites we have learned about a new machine developed by the University of Tokyo that will give customers a robot-hand wank. Here is the hand and an action video to show the robot movement. Order it here! (Japanese only). According to Reuters, the Someya Group’s paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences said their “artificial skin might even be tweaked to outperform human skin.” Yes this is a strange (and wonderful) country.

Liberals attack Hillary!

The womenfolk of mckellin.com left for Hawaii almost a week ago for swimming and sunning, lucky girls. I will join them tomorrow. As noted on these pages earlier, Hawaii does live up to the hype. Great beaches, culture and vibe. Mahalo!

Jan 23, 2006

SNOW

Hello fellow readers, as you can see in our pictures Tokyo finally got a little snow last week. The way people were acting you would have thought it was a one week blizzard with snowed in houses and downed power lines. I went driving the day of the snow storm and the day after and actually got to my destinations faster than usual due to the fact that 80%+ of the drivers stayed home and the roads were empty.

FOOTBALL

mckellin.com will watch the Superbowl from Hawaii again this year and then hobnob with Probowl players at the Marriot Hotel at Ko Olina on Oahu. We are planning to cheer for the Steelers but have no real allegiance to either team. Fellow columnist Bernie Lincicome of the Rocky Mountain News wrote the following remarkable sentence that caught my eye - “Roethlisberger had enough time to read the Congressional Record while his receivers danced in spaces so open they could have been zoned for farming”. Both the Steeler and Seahawk organizations should be applauded for hiring superior coaches and then sticking with them for the long haul. However, Matt Millen continuing as GM in Detroit is a mystery. Luckily Detroit is in the NFC North which effectively means the NFC North is only total of 3 real teams with the Lions on the junior varsity. The Lions have won one post-season game since 1957, even recently fired Mike Tice won a playoff game last year and he is collecting unemployment (thank you Zygi for making a quick change!)

TAO /LONGEVITY

It is football season, so hence we write about football, but back to more important items such as The Tao and balance in life. For anyone looking for a positive change in their life, or more energy and less aging, then you must read Daniel Reid’s The Tao of Sex, Health and Longevity or his slightly newer and slightly more advanced Complete Book of Chinese Health.

Either of these books will change your life. Daniel takes ancient Chinese Taoist health philosophies and strategies and makes them effortless for regular folks like us to understand. It is his The Tao of Sex, Health and Longevity that introduced me to the idea of 7 day fasts with colonic irrigations. There is nothing like cleaning out the garbage floating around one’s body and getting in optimum health! I love the title of the book “The Tao of Sex, Health & Longevity” ? who can be against that? Good sex, Healthy body, Long Life. The only thing missing from that list is Financial Independence! We will save that issue for a future column.

GIRLS ON PHONES

Lastly, mckellin.com was just sent a link we thought we would pass on of pictures of sexy Japanese girls talking on mobile phones. I think the photographer is a famous German chap named Juergen

Jan 4, 2006

Well, I hope you all had a good holiday season. I just found an excellent website from a sharp minded gaijin guy living in Japan. ConbiniBento.com . He has covered a lot of interesting subjects over the last 1.5 years. Check it out - click on different months on the left hand menu. The excellent layout of the website reminds me that I have a lot of work to do to update the site you are reading right now.

Once a year in early February, mckellin.com flies to Hawaii to meet one NFL superstar, and then that star either becomes totally inept, embroiled in a sex scandal, or in the case of Daunte Culpepper, both! It is the NFL superstar curse of mckellin.com. Here is mckellin.com with Curt Warner just 3 days after he barely lost the 2002 season Superbowl to the New England Pats. At the start of the next season Kurt got hurt and his career went on a downward spiral. The next year Mckelln.com took a whale watching cruise with Michael Strahan and his wife. The following year brought Michael a string of numerous sex scandals played out on the front page of the New York Post that destroyed his marriage. And last year put us in contact with our favorite player in the NFL who chilled for a buffet breakfast with mckellin.com in Ko Olina on the west side of Oahu. That player is poor Daunte Culpepper. After meeting mckellin.com, Daunte totally sucked from the start of the 2005 season, got his knee severely blown out AND also had a sex scandal when he got busted on the Lake Minnetonka Love Boat. Stay tuned next month to see who mckellin.com places the curse on in Hawaii.

RECENT ARTICLES

Wiggles in Japan!

Walmart getting it’s ass kicked in Japan, but there is hope

Sexual minority group complains over Razor Ramon Hard Gay game - we’ve covered this guy on mckellin.com in the past, really really strange Japanese “TV Personality”

FASTING / COLONICS

Quite a few friends recently have taken the care and time to do fasting and colonics at The Spa in Koh Samui Thailand. Here are tips on fasting, and overview on Colon Cleansing. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Hippocrates, Buddha, Jesus and Ben Franklyn all used and believed in fasting therapy. Here is a review in Tokyo Metropolis of someone who did a 7 day program at Koh Samui

Here are some fasting / colonic resorts on Koh Samui:

Health Oasis Resort: www.healingchild.com
email contactus@healingchild.com
The Spa Resort & Health Cente, www.spasamui.com (this is where mckellin.com cleans out)
email thespa@spasamui.com
Dharma Healing Center: www.dharmahealing.com,　

mckellin.com has started a juice fast to start to the new year, To your health!

Dec 15, 2005

Lots of activity here with work as you can see below -

Vodafone KK to launch Vodafone Office Mail.

Vodafone Office Mail Delivers End-to-end Security and a Superior User Experience to Japan’s Mobile Professionals

Wireless Watch Japan interview with McKellin on the launch of Vodafone Office Mail

Visto Files Legal Action Against Microsoft

Visto hits Microsoft with lawsuit over wireless e-mail services

Visto Sues Microsoft on Patent

Oct 28 , 2005

As you, fellow reader, are aware, the Chicago White Sox won the World Series after an 88 year old drought. I was lucky enough to catch a live Sox game April 29 this year at US Cellular Field.

With the sweep, Fox got pretty screwed. Most networks don’t break even unless the series goes at least 6 games. Additionally it was the lowest rated World Series in TV history. “The second team from the Second City” as super columnist Bernie Lincicome puts it. He adds “They are not the Cubs, not the Yankees or the Red Sox, not beloved, not appealing, not much of anything really, other than world champions.”

As for me, I am a fair weather Sox fan so I was ready to jump on the bandwagon and enjoyed the World Series victory. I am more of a fan of the city of Chicago so I am glad whenever the city gets some sort of boost such as a championship in a major sport. Early in life, the Sox were my favorite team up until college. At that time I lived on the N. Side of Chicago and got wasted at numerous Cubs games when tickets for the bleachers were only $4 or so - tons of fun at Wrigley. Also at that time I pulled for the Twins as they won 2 World Series with my main man and unfairly maligned Kirby Puckett. The victories were great for a state used to second place losers and in dire need of some wins. The Vikes had lost 4 Super Bowls, Humphrey & Mondale got smoked by Nixon and Reagan, and the North Stars lost the Stanley Cup. So the Twin’s victories helped the Great Northwest with its loser complex.

For me, it is hard to cheer for any Jerry Reinsdorf owned team. Here is a guy, who as owner of the Bulls, sided against the greatest player in the history of the game (Jordan) and one of the greatest coaches in the history of the game (Phil Jackson) to follow the advice of fat, little, confused Jerry Krause. That is unforgivable! Jerry Krause over Jordan and Jackson! Krause screwed up the Bulls for years while Jackson won three straight titles with the Lakers. It looks like the choice of Ozzie Guillen as manager of the ChiSox was right though. Did you ever notice that Phil Jackson’s bosses in Chicago were Jerry & Jerry (Reinsdorf & Krause), then in his next job his bosses were Jerry & Jerry (Buss & West).

The Chiba Lotte Marines swept the Japan Series in 4 games straight, they are managed by gaijin Bobby Valentine. Good job Bobby!

One last thought, W Bush is in real trouble. Still the Dems probably don’t have the savvy or competancy to make any real headway against the Repubs.

Oct 15 , 2005

I saw an ad in the train today for a new primetime slot for a TV show called "Matthew's Best Hit TV". Matthew is the blond freak who had the TV show in the movie Lost In Translation that Bill Murray was on. Yes he is a real guy, and it looks like he is going prime time. For all you Tokyoites - you can see his show on TV Asahi every Thursday at 7:00pm. I will try to catch it sometime. I hear that real international stars actually do appear on the show.

mckellin.com needs a facelift and some repairs, the webmaster needs to get around to it.

Oct 10 , 2005

McKellin.com is currently sitting on flight UA 838 from Singapore to Tokyo after finishing up a 2 day business trip followed up by an extra day to cruise around the city and get some shopping done. Singapore is an amazing city/state. It is a country of mostly 4 million ethinc Chinese surrounded by 300 million Muslims in Malaysia and Indonesia (and many of you think living next to Cheeseheads is bad!). Singapore, if truth be told, performed a miracle to become such a successful and prosperous city in such a short time span, much like post WWII Tokyo. In 1946 Tokyo had been literally burned to the ground by US firebombing. There was very little food to eat or resources to heat homes during the cold winter. Yet just 18 years later the city was built up enough to successfully host the 1964 Olympics.

Singapore was actually a province of Malaysia until 1965. After the British granted independence to Malaysia, the xenophobic Malay government decided it would kick the province out of Singapura (Malay spelling) due to its high percentage of ethnic Chinese. The founder of modern Singapore, Lee Kwan Yew, pleaded with the Malay authorities not to banish their province, but to no avail. At that time, unemployment in Singapura was 70%+ and the island had none of the natural resources the rest of Malaysia had such as oil and rubber, the future looked bleak. When Malaysia turned its back on Singapura Lee actually publically wept in despair. So, with no other choice, in 1965 Lee Kwan Yew and Singapore declared independence and Singapore as a country was born. What Singapore did have was an excellent port strategically located between East Asia and the Middle East, a population with the strong Chinese work ethic that values education, and a visionary strongman leader in Lee who put the needs of the fledgling country and people first.

Lee created a state that is safe, clean, almost corruption free, and merit based with all races enjoying the same level of opportunity. English became the official language, foreign banks were invited to set up operations and most made Singapore the regional headquarters The port was expanded and oil refineries were created to add value to the oil sent from the Middle East to the booming industrial powers in East Asia such as Japan and Korea. The brightest citizens, solely based on merit and test scores, were sent to the top Universities in the US so they could return to become the political and business leaders. Today, Singapore consistently ranks in the top tier of highest average incomes and life expectancy. With almost the entire population fluent in both English and Mandarin Chinese, Singapore is well positioned to continue the miracle in this new century that is only 5% over.

The country itself is only 44km from East to West, and 29km from North to South. It takes less than 45 minutes to drive from one side to the other at the widest part. It is just north of the equator and the temperature is in the mid to upper 80’s everyday. However, it is actually one of the coldest places I have ever been thanks to the aggressive air conditioning in most buildings. My hotel room was so cold my first night I needed to get up and add blankets. Tourism is big in Singapore, especially with the Japanese. The number of stores and shopping centers on Orchard Road is incredible. The Japanese also like the warm weather, excellent restaurants and cheap prices compared to their home country. For me, Singapore is a great country for business, but for tourism it is a bit boring. In 2006 I will take my 3 girls to Waikiki beach in Hawaii in February, and to Hua Hin beach in Thailand in April. Then, of course, Shorewood Hills south beach on Lake Michigan in August.

So the lessons from Singapore and Tokyo teach us to never count the Chinese or Japanese out. They are hard working intelligent people and even when all the chips are down they can find a way to be successful. Over the last decade with the moribund Japanese economy I have been asked numerous times if I will leave Japan due to the perceived poor prospects of the business in the country. Japan will be back, not the same as before, but it will still amaze the world with its business, innovative products and cultural influence. Even with the post bubble blues for almost 15 years, the economy is still number 2 only to the US. Until we meet again on these pages, sayonara.

Oct 1 , 2005

Below are some stats and facts on Tokyo plagiarized from various places around the net:

Tokyo is judged to be the world’s most vulnerable city to suffer a catastrophe from an earthquake, tsunami, typhoon, volcano or other natural disaster. According to researchers, it’s more than four times as vulnerable as the No. 2 city, San Francisco.

One of the fault lines underneath Tokyo is, in places, just 4km below the surface.

There are usually 20-30 earthquakes in Tokyo each year. In 2004, there were 66. So far this year, there have been about 60.

The epicenter of the much-anticipated “Tokai” earthquake is expected to be somewhere in Suruga Bay, Shizuoka Prefecture.

Records show that big earthquakes in the Tokai zone have occurred every 100 to 150 years; the latest one was in 1854, which means that, as of 2005, there hasn’t been a massive quake in the Tokai zone for 151 years.

Researchers put the probability of a magnitude 7 quake hitting Tokyo in the next 30 years at 70 percent.

When Japan officially surrendered after WWII aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay, the US Navy raised the same flag that had been flown aboard Commodore Perry’s “Black Ships” almost a hundred years earlier.

In 1959, there was a plan to build “Neo Tokyo” by filling in Tokyo Bay to make space for a totally artificial city.

Obayashi Corp. proposed relieving inner city congestion by building a “second floor” of the city above overcrowded districts.

Tokyo sits on 10m of hardened ash from a volcanic eruption 100,000 years ago. Experts say an eruption of Mt. Fuji would probably coat Tokyo with a layer of ash 1cm thick

At Akihabara’s LaLa Love Doll Rental, customers can retire to a room with one of 17 styles of inflatable dolls. Cost: 12,000 yen for 90 minutes.

There are more love hotels in Japan (39,000) than there are 7-Eleven, Lawson, Family Mart and CircleK-Sunkus convenience stores put together (33,000).

Love hotels have their origins in Edo teahouses where men could take a lover or meet a prostitute. Hotels for couples became popular after the war.

Today, the love hotel industry is worth 4 trillion yen a year.

There are about 500 million visits to love hotels each year, equivalent to 1.48 million love-makings a day

More than 1,000 new types of tea and other canned and bottled drinks hit Tokyo’s convenience stores and vending machines each year.

There are 400,000 vending machines in Tokyo, one for every 20 people.

One vending machine uses the same electricity as a family of four.

About 60 percent of foreign embassies are located in Minato-ku, where they were built during the Meiji Era.

Many foreign embassies were erected on hilltops because foreigners liked the views, while the locals liked to be down near the ofuro and other conveniences

Tokyo regulates drilling for new hot springs out of concern the city may sink.

It is feared that much of the reclaimed land around Tokyo Bay will liquefy in a major earthquake, causing the buildings and industrial plants built on it to sink.

In the '90s, the National Land Agency recommended building a new Japanese capital in a less earthquake-prone area near Sendai, Nagoya or to the northwest of Tokyo.

The United Nations first named Tokyo the “world’s most expensive city” on Dec 17, 1972.

Tokyo is still the most expensive city in the world, according to various surveys, but only the 21st most livable.

A Big Mac costs 250 yen in Tokyo, less than the equivalent of･330 yen in New York, 370 yen in London and 660 yen in Oslo, according to figures from The Economist.

Every day, 3.2 million people pass through Shinjuku station, more than the population of Panama.

JR East is the busiest railway in the world, carrying 16.2 million passengers a day
The 2.3 million commuters in Chiyoda, Chuo and Minato Wards travel an average of 70 minutes each way, an aggregate journey of 613 years a day.

Over a 45-year career, each of those commuters spends 2.9 years traveling to and from work.

The official working week is 40 hours, and 44 for small businesses.

About 70 percent of suicides are by men, and 35 percent by people aged over 60. Monday gets the most suicides and Sunday the least.
The Chuo train line is the most popular line for suicides.

The Chuo line between Nakano and Shinjuku runs at 230 percent capacity.

In the ’70s, there was an unwritten rule among commuters on the Chuo line that women could grope men, but the men couldn’t look at them, follow them or touch them back.

Two out of three women in Tokyo have been groped on the train.

The most popular name in Tokyo is Suzuki, followed by Sato, Takahashi, Tanaka and Watanabe.

Shinjuku is the only station on the Yamanote line that is not also a family name.

Of the 23 wards, the only ones that are not also family names are Shinjuku, Chuo, Bunkyo, Taito and Setagaya.

In all of Japan, there is one family (only one) called Tokyo. They live in Osaka.

Sep 9, 2005

Who you looking at!

Today mckellin.com had an excellent Thai lunch at Siam in Yurakucho, and tonight we just finished up with a 2 hour traditional Thai massage at a place called Varinna - a great deal at just 7,000 yen. I also got an email from buddy Tim Mitchell who is now living just outside Bangkok, we may visit him and his family in early May 2006 when we go to Thailand, I already got the tickets. We will spend most of our time at Hua Hin at the Hyatt on the beach. Paradise.

I saw a couple bizarre things on the train on my way to the massage tonight. First, I saw an advertisement for sausages with Japanese guy dressed in girly, frilly clothes holding the sausages in his forefingers with his pinkies in the air. He had a very fruity look on his face and a multi-colored headband - who thinks this stuff up? And who green lights it to make it an actual ad? I guess I will remember the ad for a long time, but I will not be buying the sausages. When; getting off the train I saw a lady about 55 years old wearing a shirt that said “fairies enter from the rear”. Just a typical day in Tokyo.

The Japanese election is Sept 11 and it is the most exciting political event since mckellin.com came to Japan 14 years and 51 weeks ago. Koizumi has purged the Liberal Democratic Party of many of it’s old, stagnant fossils and is looking to really make a change in how the country is governed. It is sorely needed. It looks like Koizumi will win, but we need to wait and see. Japan is a country that resists change intensely, however once change does breakthrough it comes at breakneck speed as the 1860’s and 1945 have shown. It is time. Now we need to all watch out for the massive Tokyo earthquake that is long overdue.

On Sept 11 I land at Heathrow airport in London, not an auspicious day for terrorism. Plus Heathrow is just a terrible airport and always a bad “user experience”. After London I will spend 2 days in Paris, a city I have not been to in 20 years. Gonna order me some freedom fries.

Sep 6 , 2005

Dr. Gonsky Gonsky says "Love your children everyday"

Vodafone gets it's ass kicked in Japan

Aug 15 , 2005

JAPAN NEEDS DAYLIGHT SAVINGS!!

Basically, the sun sets far too early in this country. It gets dark around 7:00PM in the summer which is unacceptable; hopefully the Japanese Gov’t will fix this problem, and do so quickly. Alas, as most of us know, the Japanese Gov’t is mostly incompetent and there is a good chance they will continue to mess this up.

What is the world’s largest financial institution? If you said Citibank you are … complete wrong! It is the Japanese Post Office with over US$3 Trillion in assets. I am not sure what they are doing with all that money, probably financing the building of more useless highways and bridges in remote, sparsely populated areas of Japan. If I had any money in the Post Office, I would get it out asap and into something that at least pays decent interest. Prime Minister Koizumi, stifled in his valiant attempt to reform the beast the Post Office has become, has called a snap election and is gambling his political career to make the needed reforms a reality. The election will take place Sept 11, stay tuned.

How about that war in Iraq! Bringing Democracy to the Middle East! Going well, isn’t it? As predicted long ago on these pages the ugly mess (civil war, more dead Americans) Iraq will become in 2 years will really damage the Republican party in the 2008 elections. Can you believe we have 2.5 more years of Bush? Ouch. If Hillary wins our Presidential history will read Bush, Clinton, Bush, Clinton. Through Jeb into the mix and we get another Bush at the tail end. I think Hillary will somehow flounder and never be prez. Bill looks old recently, doesn’t he?

Our trip to the US in July was awesome as usual. My girls went a few days before me to spend more time with their cousins. My first night we took a boat ride on Lake Johanna in MN with Aaron Seymour and family. It was a beautiful evening with no wind and the lake like glass. The sun was starting to set and the sky was various colors of orange and blue. Very relaxing and surrealistic. The rest of the trip was great too with another boat ride with the Floods to see fireworks on Lake Minnetonka, fun times with the Gonsky’s in Chicago (the Children’s Museum at Navy Pier is gets thumbs up) and lots of swimming in Lake Michigan.

On a semi-humorous note, Anna McKellin is now a United Preferred Customer because she has logged over 20,000 since January this year. Outta time, off to Chigasaki to go to the beach, later you’all.

June 27 , 2005

All is here well in Tokyo, the world’s most fascinating city. I have been host to numerous engineers over the last few months who had never been to Japan before. It is always interesting to see newcomers and what things they observe and how they react to this strange land. It reminds me of my early days in Japan OVER 14 YEARS AGO. Over the years I have become de-sensitized to this nutty-make-no-sense place. Being with the first timers as they experience Tokyo reminds me of my early years here, and makes apparent all of the little differences between the most Western countries and Japan. Why is Japan fascinating? Well, it is ancient yet ultra modern, Asian but very Western, and most of all it is unique and nutty. It is Washington DC, NY and LA all rolled into one. All the banks, Gov’t and media are here. An emperor lives here. As the world’s most populous city there is always something new and interesting taking place, and, it is all so very very safe.

Here is a website from a Canadian named Jean Snow who claims ‘I am absolutely in love with Tokyo”. I have not read the site much but will take a closer look when the sun comes up again, here is the link.

Congrats to best buddies Ariel and Jen on the birth of their first child Meris Xavier (Male). Birthday: June 23, 2005

mckellin.com super-fan Tim Widerquist alerted us of the following impossible to believe Japanese TV show (actually there are several impossible to believe shows here). The show is Bakuten and has a guy on the show called "Hard Gay, Layzer Ramon". Here is a picture of Hard Gay.

For those of you lucky enough to be living in this superior metropolis you can catch this show on Thursdays from 7-8 (I think). Have you seen Lost in Translation? Remember the nutty TV show host with blond hair named Matthew? That guy is real! And he has a show! I think it is on TBS on Wed at 10:45pm.

For all of you Michiana people that think Gulestan is the best restaurant in SW Michigan, you must help FREE IBRAHIM!

SPORTS - In sports everything is falling into place nicely with Tiger winning the Masters and Phil Jackson at the helm of the Lakers again. The Vikings have picked up some excellent defensive players and are toying with the idea of an OUTDOOR STADIUM. Sounds cold. An outdoor stadium will help the Vikes get to the Super Bowl, but not to win one.

July 1st I land in MN and will then go to Chicago from July 5- 17. I am very very much looking forward to it and seeing everyone. My girls leave a few days before I do. See you all soon. Send a mail if you can meet up. mckellin(at)yahoo.com.

May 18 , 2005

May 3rd Florence McKellin turned 100 years old. She is amazingly mentally sharp, much more than many people I know 6 or 7 decades younger. She can talk about events from back in 1910 as if they happened this morning. She is the oldest person I ever received an e-mail from and is a paradox - a conservative southern Baptist lady from an earlier era who nonetheless is undaunted by using a new technology like the Internet. In her later years she really developed much more of an open mind that her conservative Baptist upbringing wouldn’t have allowed back when she was a young whippersnapper in her 70s. One could say she aged like a fine wine. The Florence of the 1960s would not have appreciated that analogy; however the Florence of the 21st century probably wouldn’t fuss too much about it. Anna and I were lucky enough to make it to Chicago to be at the celebration and meet the relatives. For me, the highlight of the party was when Anna sang happy birthday in Japanese for her Great Grandma Florence.

Good buddy Tim Widerquist and his wife Hiromi just had a baby girl, details here.

For all of us Phil Jackson fans here is a day in the life of Phil Jackson

March 31 , 2005

40 Full Moons

As you can see in the mckellin.com diary pictures I have turned 40 since I last updated this file. As with used cars "it’s the miles not the years". Luckily I feel good and have 3 young, cute girls surrounding me everyday to keep me youthful.

A special thanks to Kyoko for all her hard, secret work to pull off a surprise party for me on March 18, and over the last couple months to secretly produce a large birthday book of pictures and letters from countless friends and relatives wishing me well on my 40th B-day. She was very good a keeping the party and book a secret from me - I wonder what other secrets she may be keeping!! The birthday book is awesome and I want to thank all who contributed. I will be reading it over and over again for a long time.

Regarding the parameters of traditional Western thought, we have the assumed rule that we have two choices, a glass can be half full or half empty, and we must choose one of them. Does it really have to be one or the other? Why can it not be both, or neither? Western thinking mostly consists of blacks and whites. The cowboy in the white hat is the good guy, the cowboy in the black hat is the bad guy. I’m right, you’re wrong. Life is rarely black and white but numerous shades of gray. Keep your mind and thoughts flexible and open.

The reaction of many upon reaching 40 years is to see the glass as half empty and life enters a period of decline. Not me. I believe the next 40 years will be infinitely better than the first 40, which were pretty damn good. With experience and accumulation of knowledge comes understanding and wisdom. So at 40 is the glass half empty or half full? I look at 40 as a moon that is roughly half full. A moon that is waxing, not waning. It is getting bigger and brighter until it is totally full and complete. Then we pass into the next phase of our existence.

Other Stuff

We had a family of large, nasty crows make a nest in a tree above our driveway. In the last 3 days they got aggressive and started dive bombing me and crowing and hissing loudly. Quite scary actually. Last night the crows attacked while I was holding Alice which was the last straw. Today the landlord hired some guys to come pull the nest out of the tree, not a great job to have. One guy wearing a helmet, mask and gloves climbed up in the tree and started yanking the nest out while all the crows circled him and hissed but they did not attacked him. The nest was made up of around 200 wire hangars with a smaller twig nest in the middle. Welcome to the jungle, Tokyo Japan.

Anna and I will go to Chicago/Michigan April 27 - May 5, the main purpose being to attend my grandmother Florence McKellin’s 100 year old birthday party and to see all our relatives. Hope to meet up with some of you then.

Neil Young almost dies, someday most of us will have to face a world without Mr Young

Until the next time we communicate, remember “Life is difficult, so get used to it”.

Feb 20, 2005

As you can see from the pictures on McKellin.com we just got back from a great trip to Hawaii. Hawaii is the real deal and lives up to the hype, especially for those who enjoy great beaches. We stayed on Oahu and visited many beaches around the island, all are special in their own way. Bellows beach has the open ocean and large waves, Ko Olina has crystal clear waters protected by coves and Waikiki is a great beach right in the city. We will be there again in Feb 2006 if you want to meet up. Alice loved the water and would float around for hours at a time. Sometime she would be so happy she would start letting out loud shouts and screams. Kyoko, Anna and Alice got to stay for almost 19 days so they did get a lot of swimming in.

This is our 3rd straight year of visiting Hawaii the same week as the Pro Bowl (by coincidence). This year we saw many stars including Donovan McNabb (totally underwhelming - I don’t think he will ever win the big one). It is fun to see all the wives and entourage people hanging around Honolulu. As you can see on the pictures we did get to meet Vikings superstar Daunte Culpepper. He is a class act and a man that hopefully will win the big one soon.

Now it is back to Tokyo, lots of fun here. Tough times never last, tough people do.

Jan 3, 2005

Happy New Year to you all. - We had a great O-shogatsu (New Years) in Chigasaki at Kyoko's parents house. Anna had fun playing with her cousin Shingo and seeing all her Japanese relatives. Everyone enjoyed playing with and holding Alice, she is 6 months now and really active. Jan 2 morning I got to the beach before sunrise. The sky was totally clear after 2 small snow storms cleared out all the pollution. There was a 3/4 full moon starting to set over Mt Fuji in the west and steam rising off the Pacific. The waves were decent and already there were numerous surfers floating around. When the sun cracked the skyline and started to rise it was galleries, a great way to start the new year. Sorry, no pictures, didn't have my camera.

In football the Vikings roar into the playoffs and I believe they will beat the Packers and then get blown out by around 41 to 13 in the next game.

We are looking forward to a great 2005. Our new house is getting much more organized and livable since moving in 10 months ago and Anna has many new best friends after joining Ikuei Yochien Preschool.

Best wishes in the new year to anyone reading this, take care and have a great 2005.