I laughed until I cried when I read this one-upmanship response from Clay to Open Forum.

(At the Sakai Conference in Vancouver)

After the karaoke contest, and before the hockey game, there’s also
going to be an open-mike poetry reading.** In preparation for this
I’ve been doing research on Sakai metaphors and allusions, just in
case it dissolves into a freestylin’ throwdown and I need more
ammunition. I went to wikipedia for my research, and I’ve learned
that the name has indeed a rich and storied tradition. For example:
“Saburo Sakai was a Japanese fighter ace during World War II. On
August 8, 1942, during the air group’s first missions of the battle of
Guadalcanal, he was seriously wounded in combat with Douglas Dauntless dive bombers. Although suffering from a serious head wound and blind
in one eye, he managed to fly his seriously damaged Zero back to
Rabaul, where he insisted on making his mission report to his superior
officer before collapsing. He was invalided back to Japan where he
endured a long surgery without anesthesia.”

This one’s easy: Sakai does indeed teach us fortitude through agony.

But I’m having a harder time coming up with meaningful interpretations
for these others:

“Masaaki Sakai is a Japanese popular performer from Tokyo. He fronted
the mod-rock group The Spiders, formed in 1962, whose popularity
lasted throughout the 1960s, spawning several hit songs and five
films. He created a dance called “the Monkey” which became a craze in
Japan.”

A modder, hmm, Peacock-ish dandies, scooters. Maybe something in
there I can use about natty sophistication and battling uncouth
“Rockers.” Or I can just go low-brow and fall back on the monkey
angle.

“Noriko Sakai is a J-pop singer and actress. Her debut single was
released nine days short of her sixteenth birthday. The name of that
song was “Otoko no Ko ni Naritai” (I Want to Be a Boy).”
OK, someone help me out here.

~Clay
** wink