shrek 2

Hiroko and I saw Shrek 2 this afternoon. Awesome! I think it outdid the first Shrek. The CG is stunningly better, and the characters are quality (especially Pinocchio.) Great script, great soundtrack, loads of fun for kids of all ages.

clean your car

Met Kiyokawa at about 11am at the Moai statue in Shibuya and in the pressing heat and humidity we walked all over Shibuya looking for a bigger place for the monday practice. We finally got on the bus to Furukawabashi and had ramen for lunch at Doraichi before heading home to cut.
Today was a bad day for cutting, to say the least. Probably because we didn't have the traditional and requisite shaved ice, we couldn't cut for beans. After calling it a day and rolling a bunch of targets for next time, we took the bus up to Azabujyuban and had shaved ice before going to Honbu Dojo for practice.
Did a little bit of kenjutsu before practice, and then half-way through practice Gosoke took some photos for the webpage. Finally stopped at 9pm, the dojo a good 35°C, and went to grab some dinner.
After eating Ohtsuka-san dropped me off at Roppongi Hills and we made fun of his dirty car and talked smack most of the way.
I bought tickets for Shrek 2 (Sat) and Steamboy (Sun) before walking home at midnight.

smooth

Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep last night, so when I got to Honbu I was pretty burnt. Took a bit of a nap before Kiyokawa showed up, and then we ran through the kenjutsu we've been doing. I had one inspiringly smooth move that made the day. The rest was typically sub-par.
After lunch I drove to Sakuraya to pick up my formal kimono with my family crest on it (need it for Florida in August) and then went to practice at Iidabashi. It was one-on-one with Takahashi-san the whole time. Kiyokawa practiced on his own while I drilled Takahashi-san through the basics and then a couple of forms for the national tournament in September.
Came home and could barely stay awake through dinner.

late night

It was really, really hot and humid, so I was having a hard enough time falling asleep. About 1:30 am the doorbell rang and someone pounded on the front door. Nobody was there when I opened the door, so I grabbed my Surefire and my tanjo and went outside to see what was up.
Down the street, in front of the Iranian Embassy, a couple of drunk dudes were making noise and blocking traffic. So I called 119 and told them a couple of dudes were fighting in the street and causing a ruckus.
Then I went back to bed. 10 minutes later, the police called me back saying they got the message and would send someone out asap. 15 minutes later, they called me again saying they couldn't find anyone and could I please come out.
So I got out of bed, walked down the street and saw two ambulances, 15 rescue workers in full gear (helmet, jacket, gloves, etc.) and 5 cops. Actually not even cops -- keisatsu -- but officers from keishicho; the guys who guard all the embassies and government buildings. I guess they're like federal marshals or something. I told them what I saw and they asked me stupid questions like "Where they Japanese or foreigners?" (From 15 meters away at night, I have no idea) and "Did they have knives?" And then they told me "We looked all over and couldn't find anyone." as if I had made the whole thing up. What I wanted to say was "There were here 30 minutes ago when I called" but what I said was "Thanks anyway. I'm going back to bed now."
I feel so much safer.

shoes and socks

Got up fairly early, and for the first time in weeks, put on shoes and socks. I wasn't going to the dojo, I went to DB to talk to HR about the process of becoming an employee when I start working for them in August. Technically I'm still employed by MS and on vacation, so today was just a chat about procedure and trying to figure out what to do with my Japanese 401(k), etc.
Today was also the hottest goddamn day ever. It was almost 40°C and high humidity. My scooter seat was so hot I could barely sit on it. People were dropping like flies from heat stroke. And now that the rainy season is officially over (with barely any rain) I am really wondering if this isn't just global warming or something.
I had lunch with Hiroko and the LincMedia women, then went to Honbu Dojo, but it was so hot I spent most of the time in the air-conditioned office. Had a good turnout for evening class, but at 9pm it was still 35°C, and when I got home and went to bed it was still over 30°C.

spiderman 2

Hiroko and I walked around Roppongi Hills for a bit, grabbed deepFriedPork lunch in the basement, checked out the cool toys at Vanguard, and walked around some of the less-lame stores before hitting the 14:50 showing of Spiderman 2. Gotta say, Daboo got it right; a wonderfully entertaining summer flick. The CG spiderman flying around the city still looks so realistic he looks fake, but it's fast, fun, and thoroughly enjoyable. Especially when seen from row G of the screen 7.

ninja jeopardy

http://snaxor.com/snaxor/flash/ninja/ninja.htm

amy and slinky

Amy came over with Todd and Narumi to play. It was too hot to bother going outside, so we stayed under the air-conditioner and munched potato chips. Amy was grumpy unless mom was holding her, so Todd and I stole her away to the basement, where she cried and cried...until we pulled out the slinky. Ah, the magical toy that is coil of metal; glittering, slithering slinky! Amy was immediately entranced and spent a good 30 minutes bouncing around the basement with the slinky all over the place. It stretches! It rolls! It walks down stairs! Amy would take the slinky, walk up to steps, sit down, put the slinky next to her, and then point and the slinky and look at me until I made it walk down the stairs. Then she'd squeal and go down and grab it and repeat.
After playing in the basement for a while we came back upstairs, had some more munchies, and then went out for a walk. I needed string to tie up cutting targets, so we walked over to the D2 home center and back. Getting to be about time for dinner, so we ordered some pizza and chicken from Pizza Salvatore Cuomo. After dinner Amy was starting to fade, and was soon asleep in mom's lap, so it was time to go.