One more day until VACATION!! ...and some pics from Sunday

On Sunday we went out to Nara to pay our respects to Ulala's family grave. We took a cab to the cemetery but chose to walk back (despite the cold) and i had a chance to see some deer and Todai-ji and take some cool pictures on the ol' iPhone. Then we met up with Yuko in town and had some coffee and pizza and chatted for a while before sleeping on the train ride home into Osaka.







Symian is: REALLY looking forward to a few days off.
Currently Reading: -
Currently Listening: "Life" by Keith Richards - audiobook narrated by Johnny Depp

Parallel Lines - The Gift

I may have posted this already a while back. It's still awesome.




Symian is: very much looking forward to vacation.
Currently Reading: Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
Currently Listening: "Life" by Keith Richards, digital audiobook narrated by Johnny Depp.

Boxing Day Tai-yaki

Off to Nara today for a visit to Ulala's family grave and then some wandering through the city. It's going to be COLD in Nara. So we started our day with a German potato tai-yaki from a street vendor near Nipponbashi. Delicious! Mashed German potato with cream and bacon and just a little chili spice, served nice and hot. Perfect snack on a cold winter morning.



They're called "tai-yaki" because of their shape. "Tai" is the fish name (i believe in English it is Sea Bream) but the snack itself contains no fish. They're typically stuffed with sweet red bean paste (called "anko") and sometimes other things - like German potatoes and bacon! Yum!

Ghosts, Samurai, and Kitty of Christmas, oh my!

Here's a bunch of random Christmas stuff to get it out of my system so i can properly focus on Boxing Day.
You may or may not have seen it before and much come to me through my friends via the Facebook.

So Merry Christmas, everybody!
Next year i think i'm just going back to my annual viewing of "It's a Wonderful Life" starring Jimmy Stewart.

Booyah.















_
And this one is because few believed me years ago
when i said i saw this here in Japan.
Well, here it is! It's real! And no less disturbing...


I found it (and some of that other stuff) at this site: Cabinet of Wonders - Christmas Wishes


Symian is: working the Christmas out of his system.
Currently Reading: Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
Currently Listening: way too much Christmas Muzak at the mall.

Santa Claus is coming to yadayadayada

Santa. Made from "Nanoblock." A gift from Kazuki and Azusa.







Symian is: longing for more lego!
Currently Reading: Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
Currently Listening: "Finished Symphony" - Hybrid

a tale of two xmas parties

So this weekend was the start of the Christmas and bonenkai party season. Started off with a double-header. Saturday was the work party and Sunday was my friend Peter's party for his English school. Both parties were fun. Both parties has lots of rich food and way too much beer. Now i need a week to recover! Off to the gym i go! I left my camera off for most of both parties but below is a couple quick shots from Sunday, including Suguru getting his Secret Santa gift.
Hope everyone has a great holiday season!






Symian is: food coma.
Currently Reading: The Speed Reading Book by Tony Buzan
Currently Listening: Fourcast podcast with Tom Merrit and Scott Johnson

(19/12/10) This was brought to my attention : an alternate (slightly) openning. I wonder what caused these seemingly minor changes to be made.


And THIS (despite being a Sprite commercial) is why i love living in the postmodern hyper-culture times that we do:

100 Yen - The Japanese Arcade Experience

There is a site called IndieGoGo which does an awesome thing. It provides a place for creative and entrepreneurial people to fundraise for startup projects that they would like to make a reality. Kind of micro-financing crowd-sourced. The variety and creativity of these projects is intense.

Check them out at IndieGoGo.com

I became aware of the site through an extremely talented friend of mine, Brad Crawford, who is using the site to help him make films. His current project is "100 Yen: The Japanese Arcade Experience." As an independent filmmaker, getting funding is hard. Through IndieGoGo Brad can get investors from a wider source at no risk to the investor (if the target is not reached, the donation is not cashed in). You can also be part of this exciting and creative project. Just check out the link and trailer below. You can find out all about how the movie is being made. You can even get involved.

Brad and his team have already reached the first of their goals but they have a ways to go yet before the film becomes a reality.
So please take a moment and check out the link to the site and watch the trailer. Christmas is coming. Be awesome.
Link: 100 Yen : The Japanese Arcade Experience

While you're there, be sure to check out some of the other amazing projects being funded through IndieGoGo as well!

Insert coin. Blow your mind.

100 YEN: The Japanese Arcade Experience from Brad Crawford on Vimeo.

Symian is: inserting coin.
Currently Reading: The Speed Reading Book by Tony Buzan
Currently Listening: The Arkells - Jackson Square

Saturday Morning Cartoons

Recently there was a viral Facebook campaign that was aimed at raising awareness about violence against children. The idea was that people would change their profile picture to a picture of a character from one of their favorite childhood cartoons. This got me looking through the hive-mind archive of YouTube at old '80s cartoon intros. Some good laughs and memories there. So for the next few weeks on (appropriately) Saturday mornings I'll be posting some of those videos. Enjoy!

First up, the ultimate classic:

Fun with Star Wars

Awesome stuff from the ImprovEverywhere troop.


And just in case you hadn't seen this in a while. This always brightens my day.

Akinator

I've tried this game a bunch of times now and it has won every time! The computers are getting smarter!

Click on the link below to check it out. You just think of a character (real, fictional, animated, etc - anything is fine) then answer the questions and the program *mysteriously* figures out your character.

Algorithms. The universe and all consciousness is just algorithms...

The Link: Akinator





Symian is: worried his computer might be reading his mind... or at least his blog...
Currently Reading: Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
Currently Listening: Johnny Cash and Joe Strummer - Redemption Song (orig. Bob Marley)
Kanji of the Day: 心／こころ／mind/heart

Come Together

Everything old is new again...
I love living in the time that we do.

Original song by The Beatles (with nifty animation)


A.Skillz remix (also with nifty animation):

Luminarie 2010

This Sunday we went out to Kobe to have dinner with Ulala's family and to see this year's Luminarie. The city of Kobe puts this on every year to commemorate the victims of the Hanshin-Daishhin earthquake 13 years ago that leveled Kobe and killed thousands of people. The even runs for a couple weeks and involves hundreds of thousands of tiny lights arranged in a slightly different pattern every year. It's always crowded but if you go with people and you take it sow and go with the flow, and if you can ignore the multitude of volunteer traffic directors with megaphones (a ubiquity at all Japanese events, unfortunately).it can be quite beautiful. The walk winds through the Kobe streets and ends with the main lit-up center-piece in a park which also contains the earthquake memorial.

Take a look:









Symian is: all a-twinkle.
Currently Reading: Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
Currently Listening: Coverville podcast with Brian Ibbott

Is your 'coon feeling less than fresh?

Not to worry! We have the solution to all your 'coon refresh needs!
Don't delay! Visit us today!

Don't be a loon! Refresh your coon!

Osaka Time Lapse video by Paul Hillier

She was not my first and she will not be my last, but his city, i love her.

autumn brews

It's that season again, when the Japanese breweries toss out their autumn brew. This year i tried out two (pictured below). Nothing to scream about but both decent for a mid-level beer. The Yebisu in the red can was by far the better of the two, having a fuller flavour. Yebisu is one of my preferred Japanese mainstream brewers.



Symian is: chilling, much like the weather.
Currently Reading: Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
Currently Listening: Coverville podcast with Brian Ibbott

Hipstamatic Kyoto

Some more quick pics from Tuesday's Kyoto walkabout seen through the ever brilliant lens of my Hipstamatic iPhone:
(and yes, you can expect more of these until the novelty wears off for me...)

Pretty leaves in Northeastern Kyoto

What a nice day of wandering through Northeast Kyoto, crepes, coffee, snacks and then falafel dinner.
Oh, and we saw some pretty leaves too.
















Today's breeze is brisk,
incense and low temple bells
share the autumn air.

Symian is: admiring awesome autumn.
Currently Reading: Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
Currently Listening: Billy Idol's cover of Tomorrow Never Knows
Kanji of the Day: 紅葉／こうよう／autumn leaves (lit. "deep red leaves")