The web page for Kevin and Jeff's BigBeefyBirthday Bash at Barbacoa is up!
Todd and I spent the moring in Akihabara pricing parts as he's thinking about building his own projection tv. Saw some promising bits; small LCD screens and an overhead projector for only 6000 yen but the dude in the store couldn't get it to work.
However the real story is about, you guessed it! GIVE YOUR MEAT. Waiting outside the station for Todd and I see a guy with a blue sweatshirt and in green letter it says GIVE YOUR MEAT. I show him the image on my phone and he laughs and says "that's my friend" and points to her as she's coming out of the ticket gate. He said they got the sweatshirts somewhere in Nerima. I will have to investigate more, but at least I see it's all coming together. And they definitely are NOT Japanese; he and her and about 4 other people where handing out flyers for computer software and stuff -- same street, too. So at least now I know where to go to find them.
Tonight a bunch of us got reserved-seat tickets for Spider-man which should not suck. So far I'm 1 for 2 regarding reserved-seats; Planet of the Apes was a bomb, but Lord of the Rings was THE bomb. So hopefully Spider-man will push my record up to 2 for 3.
Had dinner with Hiroko at Lucky. Seems Miwako is back together with her boyfriend (he finally apologized). Also, someone started a Lucky rip-off restaurant in Gotanda; stole the whole 1930's decor and everything, but of course it sucks. Remember: there is only one true Lucky, and it's in Azabu-jyuban.
Oh yeah, don't be fallin' for no damn virus scare about jdbgmgr.exe; I dunno what's worse, real virii or all the time and bandwidth wasted on freaking out about hoaxes.
My brother, by the way, is helping to spread the GIVE YOUR MEAT meme, so do your part and link. Google won't rank highly the unlinked, and we have to reclaim the phrase from vegetarian and/or gay porn sites!
Ouch. Aikido last night was entirely sitting techniques. You'd figure sitting is less tiring than standing, but that's so not right. No skin left on my knees. Looking at the photo of Yumippe's knees after she took a tumble on the streets of London and you'll get an idea of what my knees look like. Arms and back were sore from iaido on Monday, so in a sense it was good to have a lower-body workout at aikido. So now my entire body is in pain. I love it.
Photos from Joel & Aki's wedding are up! Wow I took alot of bad photos, so I only uploaded the few decent ones. I take the most pride in the shot of Colonel Beck and Z -- check out the expression on her face!
Haven't been to iaido for two weeks, and it shows. As is typical I can barely lift my arms and don't remember anything, but I had maybe one decent cut that made that nice high-pitched noise of sword cutting air...all the rest was pretty lame. Any movement other than straight down and I'm hopeless; diagonal cuts, straight across, and anything single-handed is even worse as I can barely keep my wrist straight let alone actually cut someone. But at least I get to "stare at the far mountain" and work my ass off gettin' all Zen-like. Did a new standing kata today, too: dude comes up from behind and you do kind of this 45 degree turn to the right, barely peeking behind, and then turn and cut up diagonal, follow him as he retreats, and finish him off. Looks really slick when K-sensei does it. I look like an old man planting rice or something...
Been cranking on the translation of the Mugai-ryu homepage, too, but I got stuck on the poem by Sekitan that inspires Heinai to name his iai style Mugai. Need Hiroko's help and a whole lotta brain juice to boot.
But first I really need to study for the RR level 1 exam! I barely understand futures, and haven't even gotten into options yet, let alone review margin trading and all the new tax laws...remind me why I am taking this test?
Them Calverts showed the true meaning of G.Y.M. this weekend. Jeff's famous barbeque chicken and the traditional 500 pounds of fixin's made for a dangerously bloated fajita evening. With the colonel mixing (and drinking) potent margheritas, it was an evening of excess, topped with "Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back" and "Zoolander".
Stevie provided the comic relief as only Stevie can: he lost both his cell phone and his keys, forcing him to break into his own apartment building. He later found both items on the street, behind a bench. Only in Japan, and only Stevie.