First
things first.
I got a bunch of email in the last month. Two things stick out.
First, there's my cousin Adam. One could say that, in the right circumstances, that he was the man. But now, he's followed in his father's footsteps and literally become The Man.
Congrats to father and son! And watch yourself when you go to Texas (heh.)
Also, my friends Jon and Bonnie announced that they're going to have twins. Yup. TWO kids.
One of each. One Chinese, one European.
Ha.
OK, in other, less impressive news.
My camera died. It's a long story, but the view screen is now a constant, unchanging, solid white. I don't know what happened, but it affected the quality of the photos as well. They all looked like a bad TV signal.
Here is the final photo taken with that camera. Appropriately, it captured what appears to be a train party.
No, I don't know why it says that. Hmm.
I got a new camera, which, with the advances in technology being what they are, is a much nicer unit, although it was a little less than the other, now dead machine.
I decided to test it. There's this billboard I really like that you see when riding from Kawaguchi to Shinjuku. I never bothered to try and photograph it, though, since you're zipping by at 60 MPH, the train is rocking back and forth, and there's all sorts of buildings and concrete pillars that zip past between you and it. Not to mention, it's about 300 yards away.
So, just to test the limits of the new camera, I decided to try. And...
I took the power lines out with (although I got lazy with her kimono,) but beyond that, that's pretty much what the picture looked like right out of the camera.
The party train pic was taken fifteen feet away while standing on a concrete platform. The billboard pic was taken about 300 yards away while on a moving train.
Nice. OK, enough with the geek moment.
One thing that I'm occasionally reminded of, regardless of country, is that sometimes kid artwork is a lot cooler than the grownup stuff. Case in point: anti-drug posters made by school kids in Koenji.
LOOK AT THIS ONE.
I realize the point of the exercise was not to make passers by go "YEAH! I want one of those hanging in my house!!!," but you have to admit they're pretty cool, in a Hammer Horror kind of way.
Maybe the kid who made the last one could advise the Dark Ducks on their next cover.
Yes, there is not only a band called Dark Ducks, they've been around long enough to merit a box set.
For those of you who are interested in Olde England, there was an absinthe party here in Tokyo. I'm not much of a drinker, but it was cool to see the whole process (there's a special absinthe spoon used to dissolve the sugar into the glass, and...well, just watch the Jack The Ripper movie From Hell for more info.)
The place was interesting. The absinthe wasn't the only attraction.
I, having only a couple of drinks, became the chaperone/referee for the rest of the group. I obviously didn't do much of a job, but LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THAT BEER.
Don't ask.
Why, thank you!
For when pants just aren't good enough.
There appears to be a campaign to make people in japan a bit more...hefty. Exhibit A:
This is known as a "Mega-Mac," and I almost fell asleep in my chair after eating it.
Krispy Kreme has also infiltrated the area. And they brought the lines with them.
No, that's not a crowd socializing, that's a line.
To buy donuts.
Donuts.
Guess they were out of DataCarddasses.
OK, NOW LISTEN UP RECRUITS. YOU ARE HERE FOR ONE REASON, AND ONE REASON ONLY. YOUR MOMMIES ARE NOT HERE TO HELP YOU (actually, they're over there watching,) SO I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANY CRYBABIES!!! DO YOU HEAR ME!!?!?! YOU HAVE YOUR ORDERS!!!
NOW GET TO IT, AND DON'T LET ME CATCH YOU SLACKING!!
Even the bathroom graffiti here is a bit more polite.
"Cool! Give me something to make me see flying monkeys."
OK, that's this month. I haven't taken a day to truly test the new camera out, so the next update might (hopefully) have some good stuff, maybe even the cherry blossoms.
Now, I'm gonna go to one of those chicken stabbing places.
As always, mail me here.
I got a bunch of email in the last month. Two things stick out.
First, there's my cousin Adam. One could say that, in the right circumstances, that he was the man. But now, he's followed in his father's footsteps and literally become The Man.
Congrats to father and son! And watch yourself when you go to Texas (heh.)
Also, my friends Jon and Bonnie announced that they're going to have twins. Yup. TWO kids.
One of each. One Chinese, one European.
Ha.
OK, in other, less impressive news.
My camera died. It's a long story, but the view screen is now a constant, unchanging, solid white. I don't know what happened, but it affected the quality of the photos as well. They all looked like a bad TV signal.
Here is the final photo taken with that camera. Appropriately, it captured what appears to be a train party.
No, I don't know why it says that. Hmm.
I got a new camera, which, with the advances in technology being what they are, is a much nicer unit, although it was a little less than the other, now dead machine.
I decided to test it. There's this billboard I really like that you see when riding from Kawaguchi to Shinjuku. I never bothered to try and photograph it, though, since you're zipping by at 60 MPH, the train is rocking back and forth, and there's all sorts of buildings and concrete pillars that zip past between you and it. Not to mention, it's about 300 yards away.
So, just to test the limits of the new camera, I decided to try. And...
I took the power lines out with (although I got lazy with her kimono,) but beyond that, that's pretty much what the picture looked like right out of the camera.
The party train pic was taken fifteen feet away while standing on a concrete platform. The billboard pic was taken about 300 yards away while on a moving train.
Nice. OK, enough with the geek moment.
One thing that I'm occasionally reminded of, regardless of country, is that sometimes kid artwork is a lot cooler than the grownup stuff. Case in point: anti-drug posters made by school kids in Koenji.
LOOK AT THIS ONE.
I realize the point of the exercise was not to make passers by go "YEAH! I want one of those hanging in my house!!!," but you have to admit they're pretty cool, in a Hammer Horror kind of way.
Maybe the kid who made the last one could advise the Dark Ducks on their next cover.
Yes, there is not only a band called Dark Ducks, they've been around long enough to merit a box set.
For those of you who are interested in Olde England, there was an absinthe party here in Tokyo. I'm not much of a drinker, but it was cool to see the whole process (there's a special absinthe spoon used to dissolve the sugar into the glass, and...well, just watch the Jack The Ripper movie From Hell for more info.)
The place was interesting. The absinthe wasn't the only attraction.
I, having only a couple of drinks, became the chaperone/referee for the rest of the group. I obviously didn't do much of a job, but LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THAT BEER.
Don't ask.
Why, thank you!
For when pants just aren't good enough.
There appears to be a campaign to make people in japan a bit more...hefty. Exhibit A:
This is known as a "Mega-Mac," and I almost fell asleep in my chair after eating it.
Krispy Kreme has also infiltrated the area. And they brought the lines with them.
No, that's not a crowd socializing, that's a line.
To buy donuts.
Donuts.
Guess they were out of DataCarddasses.
OK, NOW LISTEN UP RECRUITS. YOU ARE HERE FOR ONE REASON, AND ONE REASON ONLY. YOUR MOMMIES ARE NOT HERE TO HELP YOU (actually, they're over there watching,) SO I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANY CRYBABIES!!! DO YOU HEAR ME!!?!?! YOU HAVE YOUR ORDERS!!!
NOW GET TO IT, AND DON'T LET ME CATCH YOU SLACKING!!
Even the bathroom graffiti here is a bit more polite.
"Cool! Give me something to make me see flying monkeys."
OK, that's this month. I haven't taken a day to truly test the new camera out, so the next update might (hopefully) have some good stuff, maybe even the cherry blossoms.
Now, I'm gonna go to one of those chicken stabbing places.
As always, mail me here.