Atlanta Braves News

Cox reaches milestone with win

Skipper earns 2,000th win in home finale at Turner Field

Instead of just handshakes, there were hugs. This wasn't just another victory. Not for manager Bobby Cox. Not for his players. Not for Braves fans.

Bravo Bobby!!

Atlanta Braves News

Braves rally, win division title

Let the champagne flow.

The Atlanta Braves clinch their 13th consecutive division title.

Unbelievable.

My Mother's Birthday

Today, Sept. 22, is my mother's birthday.

I would just like to take a moment to tell her I love and miss her very much.

May she have the happiest of all birthdays.

Operation Praying Buddha

From East to West, I'm trying to change the winds. And something tells me it just might be working.



As I have written before, my Uncle Ned is battling brain cancer and my cousins Harris and Stuart are right by his side.

The last conversation I had with Ned he asked me to get Buddha on his side. I'm trying my best.

Wednesday before leaving for school I received bleak email from my cousin Harris explaining that Ned had been making slow progress, but over the weekend things began to slip downhill, and they rushed him to the hospital for an emergency cat-scan.

Doctors noticed a cyst forming in the area where they had removed a tumor two weeks ago. The cyst was causing fluid to build up in Ned's brain and it was hampering his ability to use the left side of his body. They were going to conduct another emergency operation to relieve this pressure.

I went to school Wednesday morning knowing that my Uncle was about to go under the knife again, so I did the only thing I could think of to help him. I talked to my students.

My students listened intently as I played the pop song "Do you Realize?" by the Flaming Lips which discusses the preciousness of life and encourages us to share it with others.

Next I used family photos taken last Christmas to introduce my family members, especially Ned. I told my students Ned was a Boy Scout troop leader, a soccer coach, a sports fan, and a father. I explained that he was currently battling brain cancer and needed all the help he could get.


The Gignilliat family


Ned with brother Charles, my father

The reaction of the students was overwhelming. They expressed sympathy, concern, respect, and most of all love.

Mrs. Keiko Goto, the students home room teacher, and I began passing out paper and the students each began writing 'Get well Soon' cards.






I intend to mail these in the next few days

All the students then went to the black board and wrote positive messages directed at my Uncle Ned.





Last but not least, I took photos with my students in front of the black board, so Ned and my cousins know that my students and I are with them in spirit as they fight this battle.






That evening I emailed a few of the photos along with a short note to Ned, Harris, and Stuart. The following morning when I checked my email Harris had sent a reply.

My prayers had been answered. The second operation was a miraculous success. Once the pressure had been relieved around Ned's brain, he'd regained control of his left side and could even answer analytical math questions, which I didn't even know he could do in the first place!

I'm beginning to think there just might be something to this Buddha stuff.


All of our love

US assault weapons ban to lapse

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | US assault weapons ban to lapse

What we do now is future mouldin'
Columbine bowlin', childhood stolen
We need a bit more gun controllin' -- Beastie Boys

Posting Pictures

My work schedule for the month of September is very light because my schools have Undokai (Sports Festival). Most extracurricular activities and some lessons, like English, get axed, so the students can practice and prepare for this big event.

I'm using my free time to post pictures from my summer journey through SE Asia into all my previous related entries. This is a very tedious process and I'm not finished yet, but I'm slowly working my through it.

To see pictures from my trip, please check the archives, on the left side of homepage, for July and August and scroll down.

I've also added a feature to facilitate emailing posts between friends. Just click the small envelope icon at the bottom of each post, enter the required email addresses, and press send. Easy.

Enjoy.

'World wants Kerry as president'

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | World 'wants Kerry as president'

I find it interesting that a majority of the world dislikes George W. Bush because of his foreign policy yet a majority of Americans feel he's making the world a safer place.

Home Sweet Heiwa-cho

I've been back in Heiwa-cho for the past few days. The minute my feet touched the ground, I've been on the run with no signs of slowing down. Heiwa-cho is a small country town that means Peace Town, but it hasn't been very peaceful recently. There have been two earthquakes, one typhoon, and a couple other surprises to boot.

I arrived at Nagoya International Airport about 8pm on September 4th after a brief and uneventful stop over in Tokyo Narita.

It was raining when I stepped off the plane and unusually cool for early September. I was looking forward to some time to myself, so I didn't ask anyone to meet me at the airport. Instead I opted for the privacy of a pricey taxi cab.

The cab driver was funny in that he spoke a little English. Everything he knew, he'd learned from watching American gangster movies. So, every other word was f*ck this and f*ck that. All in his best DeNiro accent.

Stepping out of the cab, I noticed my yard was completely overgrown. Much like some of the jungle I trekked through in Thailand and Laos. I had to fight my way to the front door, but the inside of my house was in good shape. No mold covering my floors and furniture like last year.

First thing I did was take a shower. Then I started unpacking and watching the clock. There's a 13 hour time difference between Japan and the East coast of the US, and I didn't want to wake anyone up when I called home.

At a sufficient time, I placed my first call to my Uncle Ned's house. He was recovering from a successful brain operation and considering the circumstances, he sounded really good. Occasionally, he'd get a bit emotional, but for the most part he's a stubborn Gignilliat that's chocked full of determination and refuses to let brain cancer get him down. I tip my hat to him and to my cousins, Harris & Stuart, who are by his side every inch of the way. They left no doubt in my mind that our family will make it through these hard times.

Next, I called my grandparents and attempted to reach my mother, but there was no one home. I also tried to call a few friends who were attending the University of Georgia's first football game of the season, but as expected they didn't answer.

Sunday morning I slept as late as I could; I think I woke up at 11am, and then called my friend Miki who works for a Japanese company called Gulliver that buys and sells used cars.

The road tax, called Shakken, was about to expire on my Toyota Light Ace van. The van was diesel and a recent law passed banning the renewal of all diesel cars in Aichi Prefecture, so I had to buy new car.

Miki picked out a Mazda Cappella wagon for me while I was gone and all I had to do was go pick it up and give him the money. It cost me about $730 and it has enough Shakken to get me through to the end of the school year in March. At which point, I hope to sell it to some other English teacher for about $500.

While I was getting the papers all worked out with Miki, another friend named Richard Jordan called to inform me that Big Frog, a Japanese jamband, was passing through Yokkaichi about dinner time. He invited me to drive down in my new car and have dinner with them. Splendid.

"By the way," he says, "I have an old iMac computer I'm about to throw away. Do you want it?"

So, in the span of about 30min I got a new car and a new PC! All on my first day back in Japan.

On the drive down to Yokkaichi there was an earthquake while I was on the highway. I didn't feel it, but Richard told me as soon I met him.

Richard, Big Frog, and I hung out at Richard's house and watched a DVD Richard had made documenting his families' summer trip to England.

Later that night, after I'd returned, home there was another earthquake. This seemed to be a big one. It shook everything in my house for at least thirty seconds, and I actually crawled underneath my kitchen table just in case the roof collapsed on my 90-year-old house. Luckily, everything was okay.

Monday I went back to work. Work was nothing special, but I did meet a new English teacher to the area named Daphne. She's a Canadian who recently graduated from University and came to Japan on the JET Program.

Monday night, Miki came over with a friend named Wacky to look at some pictures of my summer journey. We hung out and had a few beers, and they eventually went home around midnight.

Then, my old girlfriend Mika called me out of the blue. I hadn't spoken with her in almost a year, so we ended up chatting late into the night.

Tuesday I got up around noon and drove to meet Miki at his work because he needed a few more papers to make the car sale complete, and he graciously helped me install a 10 disc CD changer. Let there be music!!

Tuesday night, enjoying my new ride and cranking out the tunes, I drove into Nagoya to meet my friend Toku and see a guy named Kei, an acquaintance, play improvisational guitar.

A huge typhoon was blowing through, so no one else made the trip out. It was not as bad as it seemed; just a hellva lot a wind and a little rain, but it was all over the news to take shelter and many schools were cancelled.

Wednesday I went to Jyushiyama Junior High School and taught four classes about my time in SE Asia. I showed them many pictures from my trip and hopefully they got something interesting out of it. I never can tell.

Last night I watched one of the pirate DVDs I bought in Hanoi, Charlie Kaufman's newest movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I'm not sure if this the kind of film my Uncle Ned would enjoy, but the title alone speaks wonders.

The next few days I plan to drop more pictures into all my previous posts, so the archives for July and August should start to take shape. Please keep checking back.

Toll in Iraq war marks a grim milestone - 9/8/04

Toll in Iraq war marks a grim milestone - 9/8/04

1,003 and still counting...

"How many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?"-- Bob Dylan

Back in Bangkok

My last couple days in South East Asia were spent in Bangkok around Khao San Road. The time was mostly uneventful and was haunted by some bad news from home.

The bus from Siem Reap to the border crossing town of Poi Pet left at 8am. The road from Siem Reap is notorious among travelers as the worst road in SE Asia. From my experience to call it a road is being too generous. It's more like a two lane dirt track with enormous pot holes chewed into it from rain and truck tires.

It was about a five hour drive where all the normal bus activities were impossible. I couldn't read my book because the bus bounced around too much to hold the page still; I couldn't listen to my CD player because it kept skipping; it was nearly impossible to sleep, although I did my best. All I could do was bounce. Bounce. Two times... bounce bounce.

Crossing back into Thailand was easy and uninteresting. It was just a lot of fellow travelers from about two or three others buses trying to cross at the same time, so things moved very slow.

After crossing the border, everyone had to wait because the buses got changed into something a little more luxurious. Waiting outside a small sandwich shop it started to rain very heavily and I started talking to a fellow American named Gaylan from Austin, Texas.

Gaylan lived in Bangkok for a semester during his university years. After graduating he moved to China for eight months, and now he's preparing to go to South Africa with the American Peace Corps to help with the AIDS crisis. Pretty interesting young guy.

We both got on the same bus and discussed the Peace Corps, books, and a few places around Bangkok as we cruised down the tarmac relishing the comfort for the last four hours of the drive.

The bus dropped us off on Khao San Road about 10pm. Gaylan went to stay with some local friends of his, so I walked back down the Bangkok circus to find a hotel.


Bar in the middle of Khao San Road

It wasn't as interesting seeing Bangkok again after traveling for two months. Maybe my skin was thicker the second time around, maybe my hair and goatee were too long and wooly, or maybe I'd learned not to look anyone in the eye. For whatever reason, nobody approached me as I walked down the street to the Marco Polo Hostel, the first place I stayed when I arrived in SE Asia.

Anyway, I got cleaned up, went out on the road for a quick bite to eat, and then tried to go to a nightclub for some fun. As soon as I walked in the door and heard the loud music and saw everyone dancing, I pulled a U-turn and walked right back to guest house. Just too tired to handle all that.

The next morning I got a sudden rude awakening when I checked my email for the first time in a few days. My brother sent me an email to inform me that my Uncle Ned (the man who taught me how to play poker, drive a car, shoot a BB gun, and ride a motorcycle) had undergone an emergency operation to remove a plum sized tumor from his brain.

The operation was successful, but doctors found another tumor that is inoperable.

I think I wondered around Khao San Road in the rain for the next few hours completely dazed and confused. Hoping and praying it was just a bad dream because there was nothing I could physically about the situation.

Eventually, I wondered into a restaurant for lunch. As I was eating a bland vegetable sandwich on stale bread, a Scotsman sat down next to me and started a conversation. I asked him if he knew of any cinemas in the area because I wanted to get out of the rain and needed some kind of easy escape.

He was also interested in the movie idea and suggested we catch a cab to Siam Square, an area with two super sized shopping malls. There were two theaters and we picked the EGV.

It was the poshest movie theater I've ever been in. Ned would've loved it. The tickets cost 500 baht ( about $10), which by Thai standards is very expensive, but it was totally worth it.

It was like walking into the Ritz Carlton. The small lobby was covered in huge black and white portraits of famous elite movie stars, and we were immediately greeted by an usher wearing a tuxedo. He sat us down in red leather chairs and brought a complimentary drink from a fully stocked bar.

After finishing our drinks, the usher informed us the theater was now open, and he escorted us to our seats, two fully adjustable lazy-boys with pillows, blankets, and even a pair of white socks.


EGV Cinema

We kicked back, put our popcorn and cokes on the table next to us, and got settled in for the movie. Just as I was at my most comfortable and the movie (The Village) was about to start, the Thai National Anthem was played and I had to stand up and watch a short propaganda preview about the Thai King. Very strange.

The movie finished and we caught a cab back to Khao San Road for a bite to eat. The Scotsman, whose name I never got, eventually walked back to his hotel, so I continued on to a nightclub by myself.

In the nightclub I bumped into an Israeli guy named Omar I'd met in Siem Reap. He was one of the happiest guys I've ever met.

I followed Omar to another pub where we could play free pool and met a few of his friends from Australia and three crazy Germans. As we were waiting for our turn on the table, the pub closed down and kicked us out.

Omar had made good friends with the DJ of the pub, so we all got invited back to the DJ's flat for a late night party.

In the flat there was a full drum kit, two percussion sets, a few tambourines, and a turntable.

Everyone began beating on the drums as one of the Germans with a skint head began DJing some techno music he'd made and railing on me about George Bush.

Eventually the party died down and we all caught cabs back to Khao San Road for some sleep.

The next day I had a lot of time to kill before going to the airport, so I walked around shopping for last minute gifts, t-shirts, a few pirated PS2 games, and got a one hour massage. A nice way to end a long travel before getting on a plane and heading back to Japan.

Heiwa here I come. Peace Town beckons.

Siem Reap (Angkor Wat)

The past few days I've been in Siem Reap touring the temples of Angkor Wat. Absolutely incredible. It was one of the best and worst places I've been. On one hand I saw some of man's crowning creative achievments, and on the other hand, almost simultaneously, I saw man at his most destructive.

My Capitol Tour bus arrived in Siem Reap late afternoon and dropped me off at the Tasom guest house on the northern end of town. It was clouding over and looked like rain, so I just booked a room for $3 a night and secured a motorbike driver for the next few days.

About 5pm my driver, named Mole because of the large mole on the end of his nose, drove me to the ticket office so I could purchase a three day pass into Angkor Wat. After getting my pass, he took me into the temple grounds, past Angkor Wat itself, to the Phnom Dakheng temple to watch the sunset.


Phnom Dakheng

Phnom Dakheng is located on a large hill that overlooks Angkor Wat. The path up to the temple was a very steep rocky path that was full of Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and European tourists. The steps of the actual temple were very narrow, so everyone had to step sideways in order climb up.

Instead of a colorful sunset, rain blew in and forced everyone to run for cover inside the ruins. I waited inside one of the corner lookout posts with several other people smoking cigarettes, but the light rain never ceased. Eventually, I climbed back down to meet my driver and head back to the guest house for an early night.


Smoking cigarettes inside to avoid the rain

The next day I started 9am. Mole met me outside the guest house and proceed to drive me all over the temple grounds until about 5pm. I've come to the conclusion that I cannot write about Angkor Wat. It is more wondrous than words. I've never been to the pyramids in Egypt or the seen the works of the Incas and Mayans in Mexico, but Angkor Wat would fall in that category.

Someone I met in Hanoi recommended that I take a CD player with me as I walk around the ruinous temples. It sounded like a good idea, so that's what I did. I listened to the really deep mood music of Aphex Twin and raucous psychedelic explosions of Acid Mother's Temple as I went completely camera crazy. I killed two camera batteries and almost filled up my 256 megabyte memory card taking pictures of all the stupas, doorways, and engravings inside the temples.


Ta Prohm










Entrance to Angkor Thom Gate


South Gate of Angkor Thom


The Bayon








Angkor Wat

Almost as amazing as the temples, were the children I met around the temples selling small handicrafts and offering to guide me around the outside of the temple's walls. These kids were cute, incredibly witty, and possibly the smartest kids I've ever met. Some of the ten year olds can speak their native Khmer, English, French, and even Japanese because they've grown up speaking with tourist their whole lives and depend on the tourist's money in order to buy food for their families.


Kid listening to Aphex Twin


His buddy wanted to listen too







That night I went out downtown and ate dinner in a place called the Red Piano. There was a giant poster of Angelina Jolie as the Tomb Raider. Evidentially, she ate dinner here once and initiated a Laura Croft cocktail.

I had Amok, a white fish cooked in red sauce served with steamed rice and vegetables on a banana leaf. Very tasty.

The second day I slept in and got a late start. Mole took me to a few smaller temples a little further outside of town. Around lunch time we got rained into a small tent where we had a light lunch and decided to call it a day.


Preah Khan



On the way back into town I asked Mole if he'd stop at the Jayavarman VII Children's Hospital. I'd read a poster at the guest house that over 30% of Cambodians that give blood test positive for HIV or Hepatitis.


Jayavarman VII Children's Hospital

The hospital was very clean with a professional staff, so I donated blood.

That night, feeling a bit depleted, I walked back downtown and had dinner at the Red Piano again. This time I tried the Lok Lak, a fried beef dish served with steamed rice. It was good, but the Amok was much better.

On my way back to the guest house, a 7 year old boy carrying his infant baby brother told me he needed food for the baby. He took my hand and walked me to the nearest market and asked if I'd buy a $4 jar of baby formula. I couldn't say no.



My third and last day of temples I tried to wake up early to see the sunrise over Angkor Wat temple. Unfortunately, it was raining at 5am, so Mole told me it would be better to go back to sleep.

Back up again around 10am, we drove about 30km outside town and toured some of the more remote temples.


Banteay Srei





Later in the afternoon on our way back to town, we stopped off at the Landmine Museum. This museum gets no national funding and is run by a guy named Akira, a former member of the Cambodian army. He has amassed the most unbelievable collection of land mines, bombs, grenades, etc.


Landmine Museum

Everything on display was defused by Akira himself from the surrounding area around Siem Reap and the temples of Angkor. I'm talking thousands and thousands of potential bombs.


A band of landmine victims playing outside a temple. Two were blind and three were missing arms or legs

That night I walked back downtown and tried out a different restaurant. I went a bar/guest house called the Ivy and had a dish called N'Yum. It was fried glass noodles served with herbs and steamed rice. (The herbs on my dish were not mind altering, but there were many Happy Pizza restaurants located just around the corner).

Anyway, the walls of the Ivy were covered in various photos from around Siem Reap and Angkor temples, but the piece I found most interesting was a glass case with a toilet seat inside. The plaque on the toilet seat read, "This toilet seat was taken from Pol Pot's house in the year 2000. Even Pol Pot had shitty days."

My last day in Siem Reap was spent walking around downtown and shopping in the old market. I walked down by the riverside to drop some post cards in the mail, and it was incredible the number of children and men who have been maimed by land mines. Too many people hobbling about on crutches or wheel chairs.





I'm not naive enough to feel that my small contributions of blood and money can change the situation in Cambodia, but it is rewarding to buy a ten year old boy with one leg a bottle Coca Cola just to see him smile.



The next morning I caught a bus back to Bangkok.