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RSS and weblogs
Every morning, I spend between an hour and 2 hours checking in on friend’s weblogs and reading news. Lately, I’ve been thinking that this activity takes up too much of my time. NetNewsWire keeps track of new headlines on news sites and new posts in weblogs. This would be a huge time saver. But… It…
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The storyboards are done
The storyboards are done and most of the locations are figured out. Now I have to confirm a few minor points, get in touch with some people, call in favors, and get a haircut. Then I can start filming…
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Sketching storyboards
This morning I am sketching storyboards for a video project I’m planning. By the end of the day I will have drawn 137 frames. My sketches are cartoonish and probably not illustrative to anyone except me. How is anyone going to know that the green line on a grey background with three white boxes above…
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Aimee Mann
Aimee Mann has a new album out. She’s one of my favorite singers (along with Sam Phillips, Holly Cole and a few others). Lost in Space is independently produced and brilliant, classic Aimee Mann. She has an amazing vocal range,and writes dark, thoughtful lyrics with catchy tunes. I’m listening to the songs online now and…
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Struggling with kanji
Oyama sensei is on holiday in Canada this week. We’ll have a substitute teacher tonight. But instead of a regular lesson, Oyama sensei left us a page-long composistion to translate. We’ll discuss it in class tonight. I’ve finished deciphering the first three sentences. This makes me realise how few kanji I actually know–there’s a lot…
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Heat island nation
Every summer we hear about the “heat island” effect of too many buildings, air conditioners, cars, heat-absorbing asphalt and other inconveniences of the modern environment. The average summer temperature has increased 3 degrees Celcius in the past ten years. Tokyo’s supposed to have some rules about roof gardens and open/planted land per square foot of…
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People on roofs
People do weird things on roofs in Tokyo. Across the tracks, on top of an office building, a man is practicing the trumpet. He comes out to play at lunchtime once or twice a week. He’s not too bad, though he’s not really playing more than scales and phrases. On a nearby apartment building, Tod…
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Yokohama daytrip
I literally dragged Tod out of bed this afternoon at 1 (he’s quite heavy!), got him into the shower and out of the house by 2. We went to Yokohama. So much has changed since the last time we trekked down there. Before there was lots of construction around Sakuragicho station but MInato Mirai 21,…
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Kitano Jinja festival
For two weeks, a tinsel draped signboard at the end of our street has reminded us about the Kitano Jinja matsuri around the corner from us. Saturday 8/24, 5-9 pm. Rain or Shine. The main selling point was “Dad, we’ll have beer at good prices!” By 8 pm, the lanterns leading up the stone stairs…
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Another mad cow
Another mad cow. This one is #5. It was noticed during the Agriculture Ministry’s testing process this week so it hasn’t been sold or served. They didn’t say it wouldn’t get mixed into cowfeed, though. That happened with one of the other mad cows earlier this year. I was really hoping to have some tasty…
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