Dr. Sus Ito, a veteran from the 442nd, will be in attendance.
Apologies for the formatting fail. I just copied this out of The Genki Spark email and don't have the time to figure out how to make it happy with Blogger.
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Friday, October 26, 2012
The Genki Spark / Pilgrimage to the Past: Tule Lake and the Japanese Incarceration Why it Matters Today
The Genki Spark just sent out updated info on their Tule Lake lecture next week. Looks like it's going to be a great event. I believe this is the 4th Japanese American incarceration-related event in Boston this year. I've posted about Eric Muller and Wendy Maruyama's talks, but have yet to finish my post on Konrad Aderer's film showing at the Boston Palestine Film Festival.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Ramen coming to Central Square?
Some of you may have heard that H Mart, the Korean grocery chain, is coming to Central Square. One of my Japanese friends told me a few days ago that he heard there will be ramen in the food court. No idea if it's true, but just thought I'd mention it. Will update if I hear more.
Boston Asian American Film Festival
The 2012 Boston Asian American Film Festival starts tonight! It runs through Sunday at several venues around town. There are two films by Japanese American filmmakers: Model Minority, directed by Lily Mariye (Saturday @ The Paramount Center) and short film, People Aren't All Bad, directed by Matthew Hashiguchi (Sunday @ The Paramount Center). Sadly, it doesn't look like either of them will be in attendance.
Earlier this month the BAAFF co-presented Enemy Alien, a really powerful documentary by Japanese American filmmaker, Konrad Aderer, at the Boston Palestine Film Festival. He did a Q&A and a few of us went for drinks with him afterwards. I've been meaning to write about it, but have been too busy writing about ramen. I was sorry the film didn't get more publicity in Boston's Asian American community - I think there were only five of us in attendance.
There are many other interesting looking films by non-Japanese Asians and a lot of the directors are planning to attend (see press release for details). Check it out!
Earlier this month the BAAFF co-presented Enemy Alien, a really powerful documentary by Japanese American filmmaker, Konrad Aderer, at the Boston Palestine Film Festival. He did a Q&A and a few of us went for drinks with him afterwards. I've been meaning to write about it, but have been too busy writing about ramen. I was sorry the film didn't get more publicity in Boston's Asian American community - I think there were only five of us in attendance.
There are many other interesting looking films by non-Japanese Asians and a lot of the directors are planning to attend (see press release for details). Check it out!
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Gyu-Kaku coming to Brookline
Months ago a friend told me that a Japanese yakiniku chain was going to open in Boston but I completely forgot to look into it. Tonight my fellow volunteer at Yume Wo Katare reminded me about it. He heard that it's a franchise and the owner isn't Japanese, but that shouldn't matter. It's going into the former Ginza location. I didn't even know they'd closed.
Update 4/28/13: Gyu-Kaku had their soft opening a couple of weeks ago. I haven't made it there yet, but the report from a friend who ate their a week ago is that Gyu-Kaku in NYC is better, but it's still good. Per their website (and a phone convo I had with them), you should call for a reservation.
Night 6 @ Yume Wo Katare: Craziness in the rain
Please see my Everything you need to know about Yume Wo Katare post
for more information.
for more information.
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| 6:09pm |
I thought that the rain would keep people away tonight but by 5:45pm there were 55 people in line. By 6pm the line was already to the end of Dunkin Donuts. The first guy told me he got in line at 4:30pm!!! That's the earliest the line has started. Doors opened at 5:50pm and the line was closed at 9:25pm, apparently because they were running out of broth. The wait was well over 2 hours for a lot of people. By 7pm, around 40 people had gotten in and received their food, but things slowed down later on. There were some particularly slow eaters tonight. The last customers were in the door by 10:25pm but didn't get their food another 10:45pm.
The crowd tonight was very heavily MIT. Twenty people showed up from Sloan and I saw at least 2 others from MIT (they had an MIT umbrella :). The Sloan guys told me that someone had invited a few friends and then it turned into a chain mail and the next thing they knew there were 20 of them. They had to split up into several groups.
The crowd tonight was very heavily MIT. Twenty people showed up from Sloan and I saw at least 2 others from MIT (they had an MIT umbrella :). The Sloan guys told me that someone had invited a few friends and then it turned into a chain mail and the next thing they knew there were 20 of them. They had to split up into several groups.
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| 8:27pm |
There were a lot more families with young kids than I've seen before. When one family got to the front of the line the little boy was jumping up and down yelling, "Tabetai! Tabetai! Tabetai!" (want to eat!). It was pretty funny. Earlier in the night I'd actually heard an adult in line yelling, "I'm hungry!" Someone in line asked me why there was a seat that had been empty for the hours she'd been standing in line. Just because there's an empty seat, doesn't mean that it's available. The number of people who are let in next is based on the number of each group. They usually only let 5 or 6 people in at a time, but sometimes it's only 4. They generally won't let people jump the queue by more than a few people, so if a group of 4 is followed by groups of 4, 5, 3, and 2, the group of 2 can't move ahead.
I know it's frustrating for people to see an open seat, but they've figured out a system to work for them. The main reason the line moves so slowly is that many people eat slowly, talk, text, and surf the Internet while they're eating, and sometimes continue to sit at the table after they've finished eating. If people ate quickly and left without chatting with their friends for 30 minutes, the line would move more quickly. Being Japanese, the owners are too polite to rush people out the door. It surprises me that after waiting in line for 2 hours people aren't more mindful of the people behind them.
I asked my fellow volunteer how long it takes him to eat ramen and he said 10 minutes. Even when I hurry and don't talk, it takes me a good 15-20 minutes to eat Yume Wo Katare ramen. He said to me that girls always eat more slowly. I gather that most men in Japan can inhale a bowl of ramen in 5-10 minutes.
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| 9:01pm |
People continue to ask me when the best day/time is to come and I still don't have a good answer. I thought the rain would deter people but it seems not. It was surprisingly warm tonight so maybe if it's cold and rainy on a weeknight, maybe that would deter people, but on the other hand, that's perfect ramen weather. You really need to be in the first 6-12, although if the line starts at 4:30pm, then you're still going to be waiting a long time for your ramen. It seems that you ought to get in arrive by 9pm to ensure the line hasn't closed.
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| 10:15pm |
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| This is what the guys eat at the end of a long night. |
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| 10:45pm Bowl #5! |
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| Itadakimasu! |
I really am beginning to think that getting through a bowl of Yume Wo Katare ramen is a process of building up endurance. I did better tonight than I did on Wednesday night and left less broth behind.
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| Gochisousama deshita! |
Friday, October 19, 2012
The Original Yume Wo Katare
Please see my Everything you need to know about Yume Wo Katare post
for more information.
for more information.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Night 5 @ Yume Wo Katare: Less crazy
Night 4 @ Yume Wo Katare: Still crazy
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8:13pm
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Rar. Found out last night when I got home after over 7 hours at Yume Wo Katare that there was a hater on Yelp who'd said I was an employee and that my review was fake. I actually like their ramen. If I hadn't, I probably would have just posted some pictures and no review. People have assumed that I'm an employee, but I'm just one of several friends volunteering to help them out. I don't think the Nishiokas had any idea how high the demand for their ramen would be. They already have fans and there were many repeat customers last night. The lines have been insane every night and I get the feeling it's not going to die down any time soon, especially as word gets out and people keep coming back. Which is great, because although this is the 7th ramen shop they've opened, it's the only one they currently own, so it's like starting from scratch. It was certainly a gamble to come to the US and open a shop with a style of ramen (Jiro) that is love it or hate it. They are looking to hire staff but although they've had some inquiries, nothing has panned out yet.
So, I'm working for free ramen and an all access backstage pass to the workings of an authentic Japanese ramen shop which I then write about here for the public. I try to stay out of the way when I'm taking pictures and not ask too many questions, just watch, listen, and learn as I go. I won't help out forever, but they need the help and it's fun for me.
I had half a spinach knish from Kupel's and some Raspberry Noosa Yoghurt (first time and it was delicious) before heading out to Yume Wo Katare. Early in the evening it wasn't too bad opening the door but as the hours went by I got hungrier and hungrier. About halfway through the night I had some delicious apple cake baked by a friend of the Nishiokas. I was good for a little while, but late in the evening standing inside the restaurant was torture. My fellow volunteer and I couldn't wait until it was time to eat. When the line dropped after 9pm we got very excited, but by 10pm the line had jumped to 27. We closed the line at 10:05pm. The last customers didn't get their food until 11:25pm.
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| By 5:45 the line was past the edge of the window. |
I took some notes but managed to lose them over the course of the evening, so I'll write what I can remember. Last night the line started at 5:15pm. You really want to be in the first 6 or 12 to get in with the first group. By the time they're open the wait seems to be well over an hour. We actually opened at about 5:50pm. The first (repeat) customer was out the door by 6:15pm and I think we started seating the next 12 by 6:30pm. We got 30 people in the door and eating by 7pm, but things slow down substantially as the night goes on because some people eat slowly. You can't judge the wait by how many people are in line because many people are waiting for friends.
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| The line at 5:59pm after the first 6 people were let in. |
I forgot to ask what the count was at the end of the night but I'm pretty sure it was over 100. Saturday and Tuesday were about the same at 110. I noticed it's going to rain this weekend. I'm wondering if that will keep the crowds away.
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| My fellow volunteer is ready to stuff ramen into his mouth. |
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| 11:25pm At last! Bowl #4. |
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| Mine is not as tall as the others. |
I was right that you need to be starving to finish. This was the first time I managed to eat all my food and some of the broth. I also learned from reading other sites about Jiro-kei ramen that the way to do it is to eat quickly, eat the noodles first and the rest later. There's no shame in not finishing the broth, although damn impressive if you can.
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| Gochisousama deshita! |
Tsuyoshi-san finished his ramen in 5 minutes flat and went right back to work. I think it took me about 15-20 minutes.
Update 9:40pm: Stopped by Yume Wo Katare and found out last night was almost 130 people, so close to Friday night's crowd. People have asked me when is the best night/time to go and it's really hard to know. I'd guess that when the weather is bad people will be less motivated to stand in line, but so far the cold hasn't deterred too many people. From what I've seen you really need to be first or last in line to have the shortest wait.
Yume Wo Katare original Yelp review
Update 10/20/12: I just got home to a message from Yelp that my review was removed on the 19th for violating their Content Guidelines. I admit it's been a while since I read them and I didn't know that I wasn't allowed to post because I'm friends with them (nevermind that I only met them last Thursday). So, my bad for posting. My original review and the disclaimer that was up for less than a day addressing accusations in a negative review are below.
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| My first bowl of Yume Wo Katare ramen. |
4 stars
I was privileged to have a preview bowl of ramen a few hours ago (around 1:30am). It was very tasty, but I couldn't finish. The noodles are thicker than what other ramen shops in Boston serve - closer to Okinawa soba, but not quite as thick as udon. I had Okinawa soba at Sunrise last time I was in Hawaii - I think the texture is similar but it was a few years ago so I can't be sure. The noodles are chewy (their sign refers to it as being al dente), which is the preferred Japanese preparation. I'm told that they're using flour imported from Japan,
Yume Wo Katare offers only pork ramen - Ramen (2 slices - $12 tax included) & Buta Ramen (which is extra pork - 5 slices - $14 tax included). Both come with more than double the amount of noodles most other ramen shops serve - 350g, thick slices of rich flavorful pork, plus a heaping serving of cabbage & bean sprouts, and generous servings of fresh minced garlic and seabura (pork back fat) if you want them. The veggies and seabura are free and if you want additional, you can ask for it, although I really can't imagine why anyone would need more!
If you like the pork so much you want more, you can get 500g to take home for $15. It's both salty and a little sweet. Quite delicious.
The man behind the counter making the ramen is Tsuyoshi Nishioka. This is his 7th ramen shop (5 still open in Japan and they've been bought by the guys who managed them for Nishioka-san). He's passionate about ramen and has wanted to open a ramen shop in the US since 2008. His wife Naomi will also be working until they can staff up.
The restaurant is very tiny - 16 seats. If you can get a seat at the counter, that's where you want to be.
You'll notice lots of frames on the wall - they're for rent to post your "dreams". There are 3 main sizes - 1 month ($10), 3 months ($30) 6 months ($50), 1 year ($100). Then there's one 10 year frame for $10,000! Some folks have put in stuff like "girlfriend" or "make friends from music business" but there's one enterprising golf performance coach who is using it for advertising. If your dream comes true by the end of your rental period, you win stuff. 3 months is a bowl of ramen, I think 6 months may be a t-shirt and 1 year is a special clock.
Bring your appetite, bring friends, bring your dreams, and bring cash! They don't take credit cards.
Update 10/13/12: 2nd bowl of Yume ramen tonight. I've decided that Yume Wo Katare ramen is like ramen on steroids, with crack (seabura). I could taste the seabura tonight - delicious pork fat, but I can only handle a few pieces and I'm done. My mistake last night was that I was only eating the smaller bits. You really can't get a sense of it unless you eat one of the big hunks. There was one brave vegetarian tonight (he later explained he is Muslim). He requested noodles and veggies only. Nishioka-san wasn't about to serve just noodles and veggies so he dressed it up with some soy sauce and a heap of bonito flakes. I also saw them give him some black pepper. :)
I forgot to mention drinks - bottled water $1, iced unsweetened green or oolong $2, Red Bull $3.
T-shirts also for sale for $15. Unfortunately, size M only. They appear to come in at least a dozen colors.
If you get cold while waiting, Dunkin is conveniently right there.
Lastly, if there's a line, please wait on the sidewalk behind the "line" at the corner of the stairs. Blocking the stairs is a fire hazard. There's a little bit of room for customers on deck for ramen to wait inside - about 4 or 5 people.
Update 10/14/12: I forgot to mention that these aren't your average slices of ramen pork like Pikaichi & Sapporo serve. These are much thicker. The pork is rolled and tied, marinated for a few hours in a soy sauce-based marinade, then cooked.
I wanted to write some notes for the allergic since as someone with food allergies, I'm always having to figure out where I can safely eat. There are more ingredients than just the ones posted on their menu sign. They're still learning English so if you have a severe food allergy it might be risky. Ingredients I know are involved: wheat, soy, pork (the broth is pork broth and there's no alternative available), cabbage & bean sprouts (cooked together), garlic (also in the broth), corn starch, potato starch, shiitake mushrooms, bonito flakes, MSG.
A very important note for the strictly observant & pork-allergic - the same tongs are used to handle the noodles, veggies, and pork, so even if you request only noodles & veggies, the tongs will have touched pork. It's possible that if you request they use different utensils, they might, but because of the fast pace, I wouldn't count on it.
Disclaimer added 10/18/12:
10/18/12: I had to cut a bunch of my review to include this disclaimer. I feel I have to say something due to another reviewer's incorrect assumptions. For the record, I'm not an employee of YWK, although I am friends with the owners. I met them the day before they opened and ended up helping out by accident, in part because I'm fluent in English and they're not. I keep going back because I've been having fun. They absolutely didn't solicit this review or any others (anyone who knows Japanese culture would know that they would never do that since it would be totally impolite) and had no idea that I posted it until after I told them. One of our friends asked me why I didn't give it 5 stars and I said that 4 stars was my honest review because the ramen is a little on the rich side for me. I do love it, but I just can't eat it as often as Pikaichi. Although it's possible it's an acquired taste. I turned down ramen on Tues because I left early but then was thinking about it when I was trying to fall asleep. I had my 4th bowl on Wed and was able to finish all the food (although not all the broth). YWK currently has only 1 employee and I don't think he's even on Yelp.
A lot of people have complained about the lack of variety. I think it was Eater that described their thing as "do one thing really well." Yume Wo Katare is a Jiro-style ramen restaurant. That's all it is and that's all they plan for it to be. If you don't like it, you can vote with your dollars by eating at other establishments. They get that not everyone will like their style of ramen and the people who really do will thank you for not making the line longer.
Follow all the drama:
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Yume Wo Katare runner-up in NY Street Ramen Contest!!!
I tried to find this info earlier but couldn't. I just did one final search before turning in and found out that Yume Wo Katare got runner-up in Round 3 of the NY Street Ramen Contest! (10/18/17: Bah, their website has been hacked so I've removed the link. You can check them out on Facebook. Site archived here.) Yay! That means they'll compete against the 3 winners and 2 other runners-up.
That's Tsuyoshi-san in red on the left. He looks really excited.
Date and location of the 2012 Championship Round have yet to be announced.
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| Tsuyoshi-san's cap |
More photos over @ GO RAMEN!.
Edit History
- 10/18/17 - Discovered that link to group photo was broken. Found it in archive.orghttps://web.archive.org/web/20140602020431/http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/10463_282615438523725_2022708665_n.jpg and updated. Also removed link to NY Street Ramen's old website because it's been hacked.
Wendy Maruyama: Executive Order 9066 - Artist Talk & Exhibit @ SAC
If you don't know about the Japanese American incarceration during WWII, you may find my introductory post helpful.
Wendy's talk and exhibit dovetailed nicely with the talk I went to on Friday - Professor Eric Muller spoke at UMass Boston about his book, Colors of Confinement: Rare Kodachrome Photographs of Japanese American Incarceration in WWII.
The groupings are hung so that they can rotate (see right). Wendy also collaborated with the Purple Moon Dance Project who performed a piece titled When Dreams Are Interrupted--San Diego at SDSU (see other videos of previous iterations of When Dreams Are Interrupted. Jill Togawa talks about the piece in the second video.) You can see the eerie movement of the tag groupings in the video.
This post is way overdue. There's still time to see the exhibit. It closes 11/3/12.
On Saturday, September 22nd, I attended Wendy Maruyama's artist talk about her work on Executive Order 9066, an exhibit currently on display at The Society of Arts & Crafts Gallery on the second floor at 175 Newbury St., Boston, MA. The exhibit is free and worth checking out. It's small, but very powerful. It's unusual to have this kind of exhibit in New England. I don't know if we've ever had an exhibit about the Japanese American incarceration in Boston before. This is the first one I've ever heard of. Wendy attended BU, so she said that in a way this was like coming home for her.
Wendy's talk and exhibit dovetailed nicely with the talk I went to on Friday - Professor Eric Muller spoke at UMass Boston about his book, Colors of Confinement: Rare Kodachrome Photographs of Japanese American Incarceration in WWII.
Wendy's talk covered her earlier work when she was studying furniture-making, and the work she created after she was done with school, a brief explanation of the Japanese American incarceration and her family's experience, and how she came to recreate the 120,000 tags that were issued to Japanese and Japanese Americans when they were shipped off to the camps. Wendy has a great sense of humor which sometimes shows up in her work (a chair inspired by Mickey Mouse, a cabinet featuring Godzilla, and a tea house featuring Hello Kitty sliding doors). Interspersed between the serious subject matter she showed us pictures of her dogs and cats.
Wendy is a sansei and like most Japanese Americans, her family didn't talk about their camp experience. Most of what she learned about the incarceration she discovered when she was doing research for E.O. 9066. At the end of her talk she showed us this fantastic video by Xavier Vasquez of Studio 6608 documenting the making of The Tag Project.
After the talk we walked over to the SAC Gallery to check out the exhibit. The exhibit is comprised of 3 elements - one of the ten groupings of tags from The Tag Project, Wendy's E.O. 9066 pieces, and artifacts from camps on loan from The Japanese American Historical Society of San Diego's collection. The artifacts include art created by internees, including paper flowers which they made because flowers couldn't grow in their desert location, and a pile of luggage.
I really don't have the words to explain how powerful it is to see just one of the ten groupings of tags. I wish I could have seen all 10 together. Wendy described them as ghostly figures that rustled when people walked past them. Very appropriate since she intended for them to represent the spirits of all those who were incarcerated.
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Tag 03565 - Mochizuki, Atsuko
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The Tag Project was originally exhibited at the San Diego State University University Art Gallery. It took Wendy and her many volunteers, two years to complete The Tag Project. They painstakingly recreated each tag using the list Wendy got from the National Archives, custom made tags, stamps, red ink, pens, and tea & coffee (for aging).
The groupings are hung so that they can rotate (see right). Wendy also collaborated with the Purple Moon Dance Project who performed a piece titled When Dreams Are Interrupted--San Diego at SDSU (see other videos of previous iterations of When Dreams Are Interrupted. Jill Togawa talks about the piece in the second video.) You can see the eerie movement of the tag groupings in the video.
Boston is only the first stop for Wendy's exhibit. It will travel to Arkansas, Arizona, and California over the next three years. Executive Order 9066 closes on Saturday, November 3, 2012.
Night 3 @ Yume Wo Katare: The craziness continues
Those who went last week have mentioned that there were a lot of staff - that's because 10 guys came over from Osaka to help with the opening. Sadly, they flew home on Sunday (their shop was closed while they were gone). From now on it will be just the Nishiokas and 1 staff person. A few of us have been volunteering to help with crowd control.
The first guy was in line at 5pm and within a few minutes there were several people behind him. By 5:30 the line was past the edge of the window.
Tonight they reduced the number of seats from 16 to 12 (6 counter, 6 table). They were really busy when I got there so I didn't get a chance to ask why. First group was in the door at 6pm and some were eating by 6:15, although the last people in the first group didn't start eating until almost 6:40pm, so the wait to get your food seems to be about 1.5 to 2.5 hours, possibly longer during peak times. By 7pm, the line stretched to halfway across Dunkin Donuts.
Tonight there was already a repeat customer. She hadn't planned to come back so soon but said she was already craving Tsuyoshi-san's ramen. She came with a friend who hadn't been there yet. I'm sure he had to twist her arm really hard to get her to come. :)
Someone stopped by and bought take home pork for the first time. They said they planned to eat it with rice. I learned that it's available in very fatty or less fatty!
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| 500g (17.64oz) delicious pork - $15 |
Their cute shiba inu was with them. I wonder if she'll get some?
We also had some out-of-town guests from New York City. I didn't work the line last week so don't know if they were the first out-of-town guests. One guy, a Japanese American, told me they work for the Japanese government and had come to inspect the restaurant. He kept a very straight face and it took me a second to realize he was joking. They do actually work for the government (JETRO) but had just lucked into finding out about Yume Wo Katare last week and happened to be here on business this week. I'm sure their coworkers will be jealous, although New York does have a lot more ramen than we do.
On opening night they served over 130 bowls of ramen (with staff and friends it was over 140). On Saturday I think it was around 110. I suspect it's going to remain busy for a little while. It seems like almost all of Boston's Japanese population is coming to check it out and every night some people give up because the line is too long. Now that word is getting out, there were more non-Japanese tonight. I've heard that Ippudo in New York still has waits of 1-2 hours so maybe it will be the same at Yume Wo Katare.
Hoping to write a long post about opening night soon, but I've been too tired/busy to get to it.