End of an Era

So, I haven't written here in a while, and, as usual, I'm sleepy and want to go to bed. So here's another quick one:

#3 - David is famous!

So my friend David was at a Chinese New Year festival in Paris, and he was interviewed by some national news channel! Here's the link to the video, although he says it's only going to be available for the rest of the day : http://jt.france2.fr/20h/index-fr.php?jt=0&start=1411

[ed - you can see this until the end of the week, apparently - see comments.]

#2 - Mad expensive vending machines.

I never in my life thought I'd put $1500 into a vending machine, but here it is - the machine I bought my 6-month train pass from. I felt a little nervous putting that much cash into a machine with no human operator, but my faith in the Japanese system carried me through. And now I have my very own teiki-ken commuter pass! Just like a real salaryman!



#1 - Love is in the air!

So ... it has happened at last. "Crazy" Yuki is getting married! This is a day I don't think I'd ever prepared myself for ... my old drinking and clubbing buddy is tying the knot. It's really like the end of an era for me. Of course I'm incredibly happy for her and Florian. They're a wonderful couple.

I guess the reason it's hitting me so hard is that through the past seven years a lot of people have been coming in and out of my life, but Yuki was the one constant. It's not like she's going away or anything, but there is definitely somewhat of a wall between married and unmarried life. Maybe it's finally time for me to think about growing up.

Or just find some new party friends. ;)

Reflections on T3A

As those of you who have me on your RSS feed readers may have noticed, I haven't posted in a few days. Just like in November, I have found that posting every day is just too much time and effort for me. Plus I feel like the quality of the posts suffers a little. Any opinions from my readers? How does it impact the entertainment value of my blog? I mean, I have a personal, paper diary I could write this stuff in rather than putting it all up here.

But beyond the logistics of blogging, I think there's another problem with the T3A concept. Although I think it's a great idea to make an effort to notice the beautiful and good things in life, I think that in most cases, the negative experiences are what enable us to learn lessons and gain insights. Writing purely about the good things makes my blog feel flat and without substance.

Anyway, I'm feeling kind of tired today... I think I'm going to go to sleep early.

#3 - Silly English

Here's a pic I took while wandering through Shinsaibashi. It's a typical example of a Japanese-English "single-entendre". I think this is a takoyaki stand, with the creative name, "I see. Happen?"



In case you're completely lost on that one, the Japanese below the name says "Oishii? Happon?" which, if your pronunciation is creative enough, is an exact homophone for the English phrase above it. "Oishii" means delicious, and "Happon" is a counting word, meaning eight of anything sticklike.

So now you get it. It's a Japanese joke. :P

#2 - Love Thy Neighbor

So it occurred to me last night, as I was preparing a salad and realized that I had no dressing, that I have neighbors. Not just random people living near me, but friends who live in the same building as me, whom I hardly ever see.

So I took the elevator down to Peter's apartment, rang the doorbell, and asked him if I could borrow some salad dressing. It just so happens that he had just gotten several bottles of salad dressing from Costco, and he happily lent me one.

Something about that exchange was very ... human. So many of our relationships are structured and defined a priori - when you need X, talk to person Y, etc. But just going over to a neighbor's place seemed so ... organic? warm? I can't quite put an exact word on it. It seemed a little bit old-fashioned. Like walking over to Mrs. Garrison's place to ask if she has a cup of flour you can use for the butter cookies you're baking to bring to the barn dance that night.

I often lament the lost sense of community that seems to be a product of our technologized society, and this experience just seemed to contradict that pattern beautifully.

Plus it was pretty good dressing.

#1 - ...

I'm kind of tired right now, so I think I'm going to stop here. But just trust me that #1 was really, really awesome. :)

White Lovers and Pterodactyl Porn

So to prevent me from procrastinating too long, I'll limit these descriptions to just a few sentences each. I've been spending too much time blogging and not enough living. Tonight I shall exact vengeance upon my belongings that have so smugly been sitting there, un-put-away, mocking me from the safety of their cardboard boxes for the past month. I am going to take action and bring this to an end.
This I vow: there will be carpet visible this night!

T3A for today:

#1 - Gorgeous sunrise!

Today was a rainy day, but when I woke up, it hadn't started yet... a blanket of thick, heavy gray thunderclouds hung overhead, and yet a band of sky near the horizon was still clear. The morning sun peered over the edge of Ikoma Mountain with sleek, dark, variously-shaped clouds scudding past it. The atmosphere was full of energy, and if I hadn't been so sleepy from photoshopping that Star Wars picture last night, I might have even gone for my camera!

#2 - Pterodactyl porn!

Yes, you read that right. I love this guy's blog post about it, where he presents it as irrefutable evidence of Intelligent Design. He's got a screen capture from it there, too (no naughty bits visible, but you can tell what's going on). Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately...) the link from there to the video itself seems to be down. I think the site that hosts the video got bombarded with too many requests.

If any of you get your hands on this video, though... let me know. ;)

#3 - Valentine's Day

So today was that least-favorite holiday of mine, Valentine's Day. As I mentioned a day or two ago, Valentine's Day in Japan is typified by a one-way exchange of chocolate from women to me. In response to the numerous queries I have already received regarding the number of chocolates I've been given this year, I offer my standard response of, "enough to make me happy, but not enough to make me fat."

Anyway, in terms of interestingly-named chocolates, the prize has to go to this treasure from Hokkaido: the Japanese writing on it reads "Shiroi Koibito", which means "White Lover". Why they chose that name I have no idea, but I find it hilarious!





-- UPDATE, 1:21 am --

Mission accomplished! More or less... My carpet is clear and my kitchen is improving greatly. I had to put some stuff back in boxes, but that's sort of inevitable for the moment I think. For now, though... I think this place is almost livable. Once I carry out the five bags of trash and piles of cardboard boxes by my door. Who would have thought that I'd have so much stuff left to throw out after moving?

I also came up with a new profile photo for my blog. A couple people have been weirded out by my old freaky picture. Here's the new one. I took it with my phone and applied a fresco effect in photoshop. I'm pretty happy with how it came out, although the fresco effect looks a little strange at some sizes - kinda just makes it look like my face is dirty or something. :P

Blogging, Sleep, and Robots... Choose two.

#3 - New Blogger Templates

So I was up kinda late last night completely replacing the template on my blog. If I did a good job, most of you didn't notice that much had changed. :P

A little while back, when Blogger pulled out of Beta, they made this option available, but I never got around to upgrading my template. Recently, though, I started noticing how difficult it was to navigate to previous posts, and given my prolificity throughout NaBloPoMo and my recent fits of prose, it was beginning to become quite a problem.

Please notice the cool new sidebar, which is far, far more navigable than the old interface. You can click on the little arrows and whatnot. Very cool.

The next step, I guess, is to start using tags. It'll probably take me another two months to get around to that as well, so don't hold your breaths. ;)

#2 - Midday napping can save your life!

Scientific studies provide incontrovertible proof that napping can prevent heart disease. Ok, so it was just one study, but 23,000 subjects ain't too shabby!

Anyway, I'd better print out a copy of this and post it by my desk for my boss to see.

According to this article the three pillars of health are diet (ouch!), exercise (ouch!), and sleep (haaa, right...). So it appears that there are almost boundless opportunities for me to make my life even better than it is now!

#1 - Robovies at attention

Haha, I'm such an eight-year-old...

At one point recently we had to line up a bunch of the robots in one room for an inspection. It really reminded me of the ranks of stormtroopers lined up while the Emperor came to inspect the Death Star. So, here you go, yet another way I spend my free time other than sleeping.

(By the way, the writing wasn't photoshopped... the front robot really is an R-2 unit!)



(also note that almost all the photos I post are available on Flickr at much higher resolution... click on the photo and then click "All Sizes" for options)

Urara 6 Reunion!

At least it felt like it. I had rehearsal with Utaurara today for the first time since December! They've actually had one rehearsal since then, but I had to work late that day so I couldn't make it. Anyway, it was good to sing again. Nothing has really changed in the meantime, though - Kern was sick, as usual, and Lito hadn't practiced his music, as usual. :P

We had a good rehearsal - practiced choreography for our show next Sunday, worked on some new songs, and had a nabe party afterwards! Right around then is where the T3A list starts:

#3 - Valentine's Chocolates!
So the Urara 6 ladies were really nice again this year and got Valentine's Day chocolates for the guys (Japanese tradition dictates that girls give chocolates to guys for Valentine's Day, and then the guys give girls chocolates one month later, on "White Day"). Here's how the distribution of the chocolates went:

"Kern, here's a very special present just for you. We know you'll love it!"

"Lito, here's something for you, too - we looked all over and we found the perfect thing for you!"

"Dylan... oh, you can just grab a generic gift out of that bag over there. It doesn't matter which one."

...

Yup, I guess that's me right there, your run-of-the-mill everyday average Joe, nondescript, generic, and replaceable. Ha ha.

Revenge comes on March 14.

#2 - Walking and Soujing

I've been cleaning up my apartment lately, or at least talking about cleaning it when in reality all I'm doing is blogging. :P

Anyway, it turns out that I had left my broom in my old apartment, and thus needed to purchase another one. I found a cool broom at one of the stores in my area. It comes as a set with a dustpan, which has a long handle so you don't have to squat down to use the dustpan when you're sweeping. The best thing about it, though, was the label:



For those of you who don't understand that, "souji" is the Japanese word for cleaning. They don't usually put "-ing" on words, though, even when they "Engrify" them, so I thought this was interestingly original.

#1 - Very cool interactive radio website

Philo emailed me a link to this: http://www.musicovery.com/. It has a very interesting interface, distributing music in a 2D space based on how energetic or calm it is, and how dark or positive it is. It also represents the song on a timeline, showing when it was created, and there are a number of other controls based on genre and other factors.

It also gives you a 2D space to move around in, showing where your song is located and plotting a path through other songs that seems to be kind of like a playlist trajectory. You can scroll around the space and click on other songs, too.

Anyway, don't just read my description of it... try it out! If nothing else, it can bring a little glimmer of user interface joy to your life.

Hoshi Matsuri '07

Sleepy as usual, so I'll just cut to today's T3A:

#3 - Falafel!

Four of us went out for falafel and hummus tonight. Not the kind of thing you get a lot of in Japan, and we had to head all the way up to Demachiyanagi, in northern Kyoto, to get it. This is the same restaurant I went to for my birthday last year, by the way.

Anyway, after an excessive wait, the food wasn't great, but it was certainly passable. After the heavenly food we had in Abu Ghosh, it's hard to eat hummus anywhere else. Anyway, that meal brought some joy to my life, as Middle Eastern food is something I love to eat and yet rarely get the opportunity.

We ran into some friends there too, by chance. Kansai is starting to feel real small these days...


#2 - Today was 2/11, Japan's National Foundation Day. It also happens to be the day of the Agonshu Hoshi Matsuri. A full description of this festival can be found on my blog entry from last year.

Anyway, here are some pics from this year's festival.

The Fires:



The Blessing:



The Devout:




#1 - Coat check

So this is another "it happened last night, but after midnight so it counts as today" posts.

I was at a night club. There were on the order of 100 people there, all there to see this famous DJ. When we entered, I had handed my coat to a friend of a friend to check with the people working the bar. Then, around 2:30am I decided it was time to head home. Except, I didn't have a coat check ticket or anything, and I didn't know where my friend was.

So I walk up to the bartender (some guy whom I had never spoken with - his shift must have just started) and ask if I can have my coat, and he's like, "sure." Then he walks into the back room and almost immediately comes back... with the right coat! How awesome is that!? Out of like a hundred coats. Talk about service!

That totally rocked.

Extraordinary lung capacity

So... I've tried to refrain from putting too many YouTube links in the T3A list, partly because my parents have an internet connection that pumps bits about as fast as a kindergartener typing in Morse code, and partly because the whole T3A philosophy was to get myself to notice and share the beauty of life around me, not silly web links.

However, it would be denial to pretend that the internet isn't a part of and an influence on my life, and many of the links I've been forwarded lately have, in fact, been YouTube links. I spent a good hour today catching up on watching all the videos I've been sent over the past couple weeks, and this one was too awesome to let slip.

#1 - Beatboxing while playing the flute

This man is a god! I am in awe of his breath support and sense of rhythm...

The guy's name is Greg Pattillo, and he has a couple other videos on YouTube, although I found this one to be the most impressive of the ones I watched:




#2 - Bunnies.

They're cute, they're furry, they're athletic, they're survivors. They're the canonical basis for comparison when discussing reproductive fervor. Bunnies.

Born in the year of the Rabbit in the Chinese calendar, I can't help but identify with them to some degree. I never thought I would get requests for things to put on the T3A list, but hey, why not? This is pretty awesome. :)

Yes... it's the Danish Bunny Show Jumping Championships.



And of course, how could I not follow that up with a nostalgic clip showing what bunnies can REALLY do...



#3 - Underage

So tonight I went out with a friend from Osaka, and some of his friends from Shimane Prefecture, and a friend they knew from Tokyo, who happened to have some Japanese friends who were DJ's and who were playing at an event with Sinbad, a world-famous DJ from (France, I think?) whose name I had heard but whose music I had not. Anyway, I ended up going, of course.

As I was mingling with the crowd and meeting interesting people, I noticed a Japanese guy who appeared to be underage. Now, they're pretty lax about enforcing rules about that here... I only know one major club that regularly cards people, so it was completely reasonable to assume that somebody underage (20 years old is the cutoff for pretty much everything in Japan) had gotten into the club.

His actions really kind of gave him away. Everyone else was dancing in a very relaxed, sort of adult way (the music was pretty mellow at that point), but he was sort of jumping around awkwardly. He didn't really seem comfortable talking with people, either. I didn't see whether he had been drinking or not, but at one point he just came up and hugged me, while looking off in another direction, then he left again, distracted.

Finally, at one point a couple of my friends went up and asked him how old he was. It turns out he was three. He was playing with Matchbox cars too... I guess that was another giveaway. :P

That was kind of interesting. Not exactly what you would expect to see at a nightclub. He was adorable, though.