log web page visits Blaaarrgh!: 07/01/2004 - 08/01/2004

木曜日, 7月 29, 2004

Thoughts Well,  it has been a while since I've actually written anything, and this is not going to be too long, but I've found some most enjoyable music, Indie Rap.  The first MC I would recommend is MC Frontalot; as I've just started listening I can't say too much about him, but he has a large collection of very enjoyable songs available from his website.  My favorite is "Indie than Thou," which speaks to many of ironies of the indie subculture. The next is a group, Optimus Rhyme.  They have a whole story behind them and they seek to rid the world of the Wakacons.  They have a couple songs available on their site as well.  Both Frontalot and Optimus Rhyme are excellent lyricists, and I would recommend checking them out, especially if you want to be even more indie.

水曜日, 7月 28, 2004


The beautiful floating Tori gate of Miyajima, I was pleased how well this turned out.

水曜日, 7月 21, 2004

Waifu Thoughts K and B from Portland are here now, and boy is it exciting! We are touring around, and have done a lot of things we have never tried before. We went to the Gion Matsuri in Kyoto, and got crushed by the crowds, but experienced the sweet, shrieking sound of the traditional Gion Matsuri music during the parade. The next day we visited Nijo Castle in Kyoto, the opulent digs of the first shougun, showing off his power by means of ninja-proof squeaking floors, golden paintings, fantastic gardens, and endless tatami. Apparently furniture in this time period was virtually non-existent. We also went to Ishiyama-dera, the birthplace of the Tale of Genji, by Murasaki Shikibu. The temple is the oldest in Shiga prefecture, and is surrounded by the rest of the mountain, and is exceedingly beautiful. The sound of cicadas (called semi) is quite deafening. We went to the sento in Yasu, and got nekkid together in hot baths. Delightful. Yesterday we went to Nara, and they all visited the Dai-butsu (giant Buddha) inside Toudaiji Temple, while I ate strawberry-sugar shave ice and was attacked by deer. The Husband and B attained enlightenment, for they made it through the Buddha's nostril. Well, that was bound to happen anyway, because the Husband had given me the backpack to carry. The weather is a little warm. Ten minutes and sweat is pouring off us, and we yearn for air conditioning. We have been actually closing off all the windows in the apartment and attempting to funnel the A/C from the bedroom throughout everywhere else. It is a poor coolness, but less deadly than the external humidity. Ah, for rain!!! Yesterday in Nara we were yearning for showers by the time we left Kibukawa station, only the first leg on our route out. However, this time around, we took the opposite way around the mountains, taking the little country trains to Nara instead of bustling through city to Kyoto. What fantastic countryside! We have also been attempting to expose K and B to as much Japanese cuisine as possible. We have gone out for kaiten-zushi (conveyor belt restaurant sushi bar place), ramen (I of course forced gyoza and goma-dango on them!), yakiniku (yum, 6 kinds of beef! and... beef! aaand... chicken fat??), Unagi (eel--we went to the restaurant in Seki that is melt in your mouth delicious!), and we have yet to feast on tenpura, kaiseki-ryouri, and okonimiyaki. Gastronomic tours are fun!!! And we're not gaining weight, because we're hiking around in a sauna. Today the crew is in Kyoto, hitting the flew market at Tou-ji, and wandering through Gion. I am at work, but it's cool. Friday we head to Himeji Castle and Hiroshima by shinkansen. I made reservations for a minshuku (Japanese B&B) in Hiroshima BY MYSELF IN JAPANESE!!! I am too proud of myself to worry that I can't join them until dinner time. Coming soon... PICTURES!!!

月曜日, 7月 12, 2004


Another picture of the scenery out here.

土曜日, 7月 10, 2004


I had a bit of a chance to wander around Minakuchi while the computer was acting weird so I went away from the Yasugawa and found this lovely scenery.

金曜日, 7月 02, 2004

Thoughts

Well, the past week has been a bit hectic. Our computer has been acting a bit weird for a while now and I haven't been able to access anything on it so I'm writing this on a different computer. I'm not entirely certain what is wrong, but I think I've found the source of the problem. Call me funny, if you will, but I think it has something to do with the cup of coffee that was poured into the floppy drive in an attempt to get it to "wake up." Ever since then we get this bizarre errors: the monitor will not work, but the drive is attempting to process something, the monitor works but the drive does not process, or sometimes nothing happens at all. The coffee thing is merely a theory, however, it could be any number of the substances that came dribbling out with the coffee as I turned the computer on end and wept: sugar; milk, those things that The Wife adds to her coffee.

Not having the computer around is actually quite nice. Despite the incredible stress about finishing my research project and doing class work, not having to stare at a screen is marvelously freeing. I went out about Minakuchi and took some more wonderful pictures a couple of days ago, I have been able to get some fun reading done, and some, note: some, housework done. Still, I've missed a fair amount of my music. Not too much, as we had an influx of CD's two weeks previous to the coffee incident, and I have been collecting more CD's from Book Off! I mostly just missed the random play for my ADD mind. I don't really have ADD, but I feel like the episode of Dr. Katz where his patient discusses the random function on CD players, "I'm familiar with your album, but not in the order you think."

We met Ka-kun down by the river last night for some fun conversation and to meet his coworkers. Pretty fun people, they break horses for a living. If anyone has any interesting links they've visited recently, let me know, I must let the screen consume me with never-ending worthlessness!

Later