Think about that for a minute, then continue when you're ready. OK. This past month, I surprised my parents (via the good grace of my aunt Kelly) for their 40th anniversary party. Mom was a bit caught off guard. Dad was as well, but we lacked the foresight to take a picture of him. Ah well. Anyway, Surugi made the trek as well, inspired by her love of meat.  Here she is, excited at the prospect of a "beef only" longhorn steer cutting board. Well, after the initial shock, we explored everything Dallas/Fort Worth had to offer.  Most of which, naturally, was meat based. "Hey!  Maybe they have the rest of your hair in there!" Be still my beating heart. One thing that was a bit of a shock upon return was the produce.  The whole genetic splicing thing isn't really done in Japan, but in The States... OK, you guys back home aren't impressed by that picture, but that amazed look on her face in genuine. "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here." We also hit the Texas Ranger Museum, where a confused Surugi got to attempt putting together a gun. We also hit the Dr. Pepper museum in Waco. No. OK, maybe. Anyway, we weren't there for the hot Dr. Pepper or drunken jewelers, we were there for Mom and Dad's 40th. ...which went off without a hitch.  Thanks everybody! Anyway, back to Japan after five short days in Dallas. As you well know, Japan has a reputation for goofy stuff, like, for example, gigantic cowboy dinosaurs in boots straddling abstract pillars: The fact that this picture was taken in Downtown Dallas, across from the JFK museum, changes nothing. Because, clearly, the dinosaur in question was Japanese.  Here's his kid brother. That says "Punk Godzilla," by the way.  Sorry, couldn't get around the reflection. Back to Japan means, naturally, back to digging about in the music scene. Here's a few shots of 長谷川剛＆ビッグバンロケッツ. Don't ask me how to pronounce it.  I'm not really sure. So, what were they like? Kinda quiet. Heh. So, anyway, also back to work with my big box of Twinkies in tow. See, the kids know Twinkie Man (who goes to work with me every day,) but had no concept of the fact that he was inspired by food.  So, they got a taste of their first (and, possibly, last) Twinkie. That was the relatively clean kid.  Now I know why there aren't so many cream filled snacks here. "OK everybody, now that you have all that sugar in your system, let's recite Lincoln's Gettysburg Address!  Ready?  Go!" OK, never mind. By the way, sorry about the funky picture size...didn't notice they were different until I started editing the page, and by then...well, I'm lazy. Right now, Eric, Cindy and Cathy are sleeping upstairs, recovering from their 14 hour flight.  I'm sure we'll have all sorts of shots next update. As always, mail me here.