And the answer is....42.
yes so I will be gone for a week climbing here. Climbing, roadtrip, climbing, Camping and climbing...yes.
I've got wednesday, thursday and friday off next week anyways so I took monday and tuesday off as well and turned it in to a week vacation. This place is called Ogawayama and its the same place I went to when i was living in tokyo durring the same time of year. I am crossing my fingers that I can meet up with some of the people I met the first time I was there. That would be really amazing. It was such a cool story last time of how I met these people...oh, would you like to hear it? Perhaps I shall recite it, but I need some home-baked goods, such as breads and cookies, to fuel my creative engine.
(recieves baked goods)
(munch munch)
mmm yeah ok so real quick: when I was in tokyo I went climbing for a weekend to a small place just south of the city for two days. I met some people and one of the guys in there group, who had to be at least 70 years old was like "what are you doing for Golden Week?" I responded that I wanted to go to Ogawayama and climb.
"Hey, im going there too." He then told me to meet him at a certian train station on a certain day and time. I said "Ok", we climbed some more and then I left.
I didnt hear from him at all until I showed up at this random train stop on the appointed day with probably 60 pounds of gear. I got off the train and there he was, waiting with his wife and station wagon. We packed up and off we went. While I had really only thought I was getting a ride to the place, what I atually got was a mini-homestay. His inredibly kind non-climber wife made all our meals and set up our very pleasant domestic campsite while Kudo-San and I went out and tackled the slabs.
They told me that they've been going there every year for like 10 years durring Golden Week (next week), so I think there is a chance they will be there this year and I can see them again. That would be phenominal.
So yeah, thats were I will be. Pictures and stories are sure to follow.
I would like to now take this oppertunity to give a huge shoutout to my graduating and almost-graduating friends and family. You know who you are. I love you and congradualtions!
(munch munch)
PS
we had a little "Sayonara" formality for Sakamoto Sensei (see below). When I was saying goodbye she managed to whack me on the head one last time, for good measure.
After Kendo last night I went to her house to pick up the two Shinai (bamboo swords) that I had ordered through her, because she gets me awesome discounts (The one I had been using more or less broke). I stayed awhile and talked and she was miffed that I didnt get to compete in the little tournament we had yesterday (Im not a student so they wouldnt let me compete). I've gotten the impression that she really fights for me to be included and treated as equally as possible.
I dont know the whole story, but apparently when they were organzing the list of names of people who can pre-test for their Shodan rank next month, there was some protest as to whether the "gaijin" should be allowed to do so. perhaps this has nothing to do with me being not Japanese and simply has to do with me not being a student and therefore in a different category. I really have no idea and and does no good to speculate on such things. I do know however that whatever it was, Sakamoto Sensei stood up for me. So I can pre-test and we will see how it goes. I said all that to say, I could'nt be more greatful towards her and the things shes done for me.
Anyways I went to her house to get my new Shinai and I ended up leaving with two shinai, a bowl of chicken and two cans of beer. I love Japan :)
Friday, April 28, 2006
...what?
if you havent heard about this, go read up on it. Bascially a huge ring of pirates hijacked the NEC name and conviced NEC's manufacutring firms that they were executives from the company and got them to produce their pirated products. Amazing.
someone on Engadget said it best:
"10. These men are my new heroes and role models.
The cajones it takes to not just get stuff manufactured under a brand name for yourself, but actually pay for R&D is mind boggling.
I tip my hat to you, anonymous Asian criminals. You are truly entrepreneurs of the highest calibre."
someone on Engadget said it best:
"10. These men are my new heroes and role models.
The cajones it takes to not just get stuff manufactured under a brand name for yourself, but actually pay for R&D is mind boggling.
I tip my hat to you, anonymous Asian criminals. You are truly entrepreneurs of the highest calibre."
Monday, April 24, 2006
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Monday, April 17, 2006
the best joke ever
next time someone corrects you, say:
"like an orthopedic patient, I stand corrected"
its the best joke ever.
"like an orthopedic patient, I stand corrected"
its the best joke ever.
Sunday, April 16, 2006
American Inventor
...I was skeptical, but now I am hooked. I only watched the Episode 5 recap, cause basicially that was the only one with all the seeds on mininova
I hope the kid with the bike wins. Hes got heart, man.
I hope the kid with the bike wins. Hes got heart, man.
Saturday, April 15, 2006
Please MTV, Pimp my Ride!
I got some wheels. 4 of them actually. They are attached to a metal frame and when you blow up gasoline inside of it, it pushes stuff and turns other stuff and then turns the wheels. For you scientific people we call this a "car." My "car" has a place to sit and even a way to see how fast you are going, which is awesome.
I got a Toyota Corolla II and I honestly think its gonna be a great car. The price was excellent and I have faith that it will last me for the few short years that I am over here. The car is a 4 cylinder 1.5 liter manual transmission. I was told that the standard model has a 1.3 liter and I feel like the extra .2 gives it a bit more of a kick. The manual is perfect cause around here in the winter I wouldn't feel safe driving anything but a stick.
I was nervous about driving on the left side of the road but the first time I actually did it I was amazed how easy it is to switch your brain over and think opposite. It isnt even an issue. However sitting in a passenger seat is a totally different story. First time I was in a car here and we made a left turn into the left lane, I thought I was dead.
When I am controlling the car though and sitting on the side closest to the middle divider, it just makes sense.
The body of the car is pretty beat up. My goal is to cover this beast in stickers and paint sweet flames. Actually a whole head of Eddie would be ideal. Oh speaking of that I need help coming up with a cool name. My last car had two names. "The Silver Bullet" and the "Shaggin' Wagon.", both of which it neither deserved. So I need help thinking up a cool name that my new car also doesn't deserve, like "Clean."
The guy I bought it from (Ross) has lived in Japan for 14 years and hes a really cool guy. He works for Japan's Rally Association and does a lot of their translations and organizing. So he know a lot about cars which made me feel good buying it. Plus he was just a cool Auzie with some crazy stories.
Here are some pictures
Its a hatchback, as you can see. I think this is better for being able to haul gear and bikes. We had some problems with the plates because I am dumb and didnt realize that while I had a local parking permit, I didnt have one from the Hawaiian 5-0. It amounted to pretty much a huge inconvenience for Ross (gomen). This in turn meant that I couldn't go down to Asahikawa (our district) to get the registration completed, because in Japan you cannot register a car unless you can prove to the police that you have an actual place to park it. Like, you need to bring in an actual Topo map that's been approved to show where you car will reside when you aren't using it. Amazing.
Look! Its a 1993 and its only got 76K (k!) which is like 47,000 miles.
The speed limit in Japan on non-freeways is 50k, which is like 31 miles per hour.
I think I am going to need a radar detector.
Isn't she a beaut?
I will let you know once I get it pimped out, cause I don't think MTV is coming over. My plan to convert my laptop into a sweet mp3 server died when the laptop decided to not boot. That's too bad. I was really looking forward to making a sweet project out of it.
So yeah I forgot how freeing it is to have a car. I was driving down to the 7-11 and I was like "...wait a minute, I can go ANYWHERE!" ...I still just went to 7-11 but still the realization that I can now go visit my friends and go climbing and hiking and go to Sapps town whenever I feel like it has just started to sink in. w00t!
In other news I also got my own set of bogu. Jesse has been spending a bit too much money, yes. But shhh dont tell him that. He's very enamored with the whole process and I think you might hurt his feelings if you remind him that money isn't cheap.
I got to wear my own set of armor for the first time and it was totally awesome. Training with the kids was better than ever and I feel if I can keep it up (sadly because I go to the islands now, I lose two practices a month) I might not get totally pumelled in the adult tournament in June. Actually on second though never mind. I am going to get totally pumelled. At least I will die with my boots on....er, armor.
Cranium Holder.
These are the wicked nice gloves. That's my first name stiched on the mit.
Here is Sakamoto Sensei and I :) After she realized that my camera was digital, she wanted to take like 3 or 4 more pictures doing sweet poses with the shinai. I thought that was hilarious. Sakamoto Sensei has been an amazing teacher and really, for me, it's a complete dream come true to be here in Japan studying under someone like her. I can remember sitting in the dojo at the IKS thinking that someday, I will be doing exactly what I am doing right now. And now here I am. I dont know how else to say it. It's amazing and the most incredible blessing.
I feel like I should apologize for my awful haircut. Don't make fun of it, or I will totally hit you with a bamboo sword. Actually, that's Sakamoto Sensei's job. Watch out, it hurts.
Well, I would write more but I have to get back to my rousing Saturday night!*
*not actually rousing
I got a Toyota Corolla II and I honestly think its gonna be a great car. The price was excellent and I have faith that it will last me for the few short years that I am over here. The car is a 4 cylinder 1.5 liter manual transmission. I was told that the standard model has a 1.3 liter and I feel like the extra .2 gives it a bit more of a kick. The manual is perfect cause around here in the winter I wouldn't feel safe driving anything but a stick.
I was nervous about driving on the left side of the road but the first time I actually did it I was amazed how easy it is to switch your brain over and think opposite. It isnt even an issue. However sitting in a passenger seat is a totally different story. First time I was in a car here and we made a left turn into the left lane, I thought I was dead.
When I am controlling the car though and sitting on the side closest to the middle divider, it just makes sense.
The body of the car is pretty beat up. My goal is to cover this beast in stickers and paint sweet flames. Actually a whole head of Eddie would be ideal. Oh speaking of that I need help coming up with a cool name. My last car had two names. "The Silver Bullet" and the "Shaggin' Wagon.", both of which it neither deserved. So I need help thinking up a cool name that my new car also doesn't deserve, like "Clean."
The guy I bought it from (Ross) has lived in Japan for 14 years and hes a really cool guy. He works for Japan's Rally Association and does a lot of their translations and organizing. So he know a lot about cars which made me feel good buying it. Plus he was just a cool Auzie with some crazy stories.
Here are some pictures
Its a hatchback, as you can see. I think this is better for being able to haul gear and bikes. We had some problems with the plates because I am dumb and didnt realize that while I had a local parking permit, I didnt have one from the Hawaiian 5-0. It amounted to pretty much a huge inconvenience for Ross (gomen). This in turn meant that I couldn't go down to Asahikawa (our district) to get the registration completed, because in Japan you cannot register a car unless you can prove to the police that you have an actual place to park it. Like, you need to bring in an actual Topo map that's been approved to show where you car will reside when you aren't using it. Amazing.
People tell me that this is an important part of the car.
Look! Its a 1993 and its only got 76K (k!) which is like 47,000 miles.
The speed limit in Japan on non-freeways is 50k, which is like 31 miles per hour.
I think I am going to need a radar detector.
Isn't she a beaut?
I will let you know once I get it pimped out, cause I don't think MTV is coming over. My plan to convert my laptop into a sweet mp3 server died when the laptop decided to not boot. That's too bad. I was really looking forward to making a sweet project out of it.
So yeah I forgot how freeing it is to have a car. I was driving down to the 7-11 and I was like "...wait a minute, I can go ANYWHERE!" ...I still just went to 7-11 but still the realization that I can now go visit my friends and go climbing and hiking and go to Sapps town whenever I feel like it has just started to sink in. w00t!
In other news I also got my own set of bogu. Jesse has been spending a bit too much money, yes. But shhh dont tell him that. He's very enamored with the whole process and I think you might hurt his feelings if you remind him that money isn't cheap.
I got to wear my own set of armor for the first time and it was totally awesome. Training with the kids was better than ever and I feel if I can keep it up (sadly because I go to the islands now, I lose two practices a month) I might not get totally pumelled in the adult tournament in June. Actually on second though never mind. I am going to get totally pumelled. At least I will die with my boots on....er, armor.
The Spread:
Men (helmet)
Tare (gauntlets)
Do (chest guard)
Tare (waist guard)
Carrying bag, Zekken (name tag) and 3 tenagui (head towels)
When I went to get the armor I said that I was a student of my Sensei, Sakamoto, and they gave me a huge discount. Also something funny happened. The girl at the store was like "which set of armor do you want?" I asked for the second-from-cheapest one and then I tried on the gloves. They totally didnt fit at all. So she kept coming back with all these different gloves and obviously none of them fit my huge mits that I call "hands". So finally she was like "well, just try these on for size" and went and got these gloves that cost like the price of a set of bogu. She said "just try these on for size". So I did and they actually fit. She said that she would order my size in the other kind (the kind that went with my cheap armor set). I said that was fine but when I went to pick up my new set, she said that they couldn't find any other gloves in my size, so they just gave me the ones that actually fit me. I was not expecting that! For every time that I am treated poorly over here, there are 10 times that I am treated amazingly well. So that was really cool of them and they didn't have to do that at all.
Men (helmet)
Tare (gauntlets)
Do (chest guard)
Tare (waist guard)
Carrying bag, Zekken (name tag) and 3 tenagui (head towels)
When I went to get the armor I said that I was a student of my Sensei, Sakamoto, and they gave me a huge discount. Also something funny happened. The girl at the store was like "which set of armor do you want?" I asked for the second-from-cheapest one and then I tried on the gloves. They totally didnt fit at all. So she kept coming back with all these different gloves and obviously none of them fit my huge mits that I call "hands". So finally she was like "well, just try these on for size" and went and got these gloves that cost like the price of a set of bogu. She said "just try these on for size". So I did and they actually fit. She said that she would order my size in the other kind (the kind that went with my cheap armor set). I said that was fine but when I went to pick up my new set, she said that they couldn't find any other gloves in my size, so they just gave me the ones that actually fit me. I was not expecting that! For every time that I am treated poorly over here, there are 10 times that I am treated amazingly well. So that was really cool of them and they didn't have to do that at all.
Cranium Holder.
These are the wicked nice gloves. That's my first name stiched on the mit.
Here is Sakamoto Sensei and I :) After she realized that my camera was digital, she wanted to take like 3 or 4 more pictures doing sweet poses with the shinai. I thought that was hilarious. Sakamoto Sensei has been an amazing teacher and really, for me, it's a complete dream come true to be here in Japan studying under someone like her. I can remember sitting in the dojo at the IKS thinking that someday, I will be doing exactly what I am doing right now. And now here I am. I dont know how else to say it. It's amazing and the most incredible blessing.
I feel like I should apologize for my awful haircut. Don't make fun of it, or I will totally hit you with a bamboo sword. Actually, that's Sakamoto Sensei's job. Watch out, it hurts.Well, I would write more but I have to get back to my rousing Saturday night!*
*not actually rousing
Monday, April 10, 2006
"can you please leave?"
i got asked to leave a school-wide meeting today in the Gym. It was the "hello!" ceremony for the new first years at the middle school. It was almost all done with when the new English teacher walks over and asks me if "wouldnt you like to leave right now?" I was like "well, no, not really. Its not done yet." So she basically asked me to leave and she came with me. She was simply the messenger, because aparently one of the teachers, whose new duty is now the "diciplinarian" was going to give a razing speech to the 2nd and third years, probably along the lines of "dont harrass the new students". For some reason he asked the new English teacher to ask me to leave the auditorium for this portion of the events.
I asked her why did I have to leave and I didnt get a strait answer, ever. I asked her if he (the teacher) would have been embarrassed or something had I been there while he was razing the kids. She assured me that wasnt the case. She just said that he had thought it would have been too "boring" to sit through, and "would you please like to leave now?".
I dont get it. It then occured to me that maybe they wanted me out because they were going to talk about me or something, which started to make me mad. I asked her if that was the case and she again said "oh, no, not at all not at all". So I really have no idea.
but what it comes down to is that I am constantly and forever treated like an outsider and a guest. Even after 8 months, I am still "different", on a fundamental basis. like it is litterally impossible for me to be accepted. Like I have to be shielded or something. If this was 2 weeks after I had first arrived, yeah OK I would understand. But now? Its just plain stupid and insulting. I am sure the teacher had the best of intentions, but it had the exact opposite effect when I was litterally ushered out in front of everyone, simply because I'm "the guest".
it is monumentaly frustrating.
good thing I have kendo tonight.
I asked her why did I have to leave and I didnt get a strait answer, ever. I asked her if he (the teacher) would have been embarrassed or something had I been there while he was razing the kids. She assured me that wasnt the case. She just said that he had thought it would have been too "boring" to sit through, and "would you please like to leave now?".
I dont get it. It then occured to me that maybe they wanted me out because they were going to talk about me or something, which started to make me mad. I asked her if that was the case and she again said "oh, no, not at all not at all". So I really have no idea.
but what it comes down to is that I am constantly and forever treated like an outsider and a guest. Even after 8 months, I am still "different", on a fundamental basis. like it is litterally impossible for me to be accepted. Like I have to be shielded or something. If this was 2 weeks after I had first arrived, yeah OK I would understand. But now? Its just plain stupid and insulting. I am sure the teacher had the best of intentions, but it had the exact opposite effect when I was litterally ushered out in front of everyone, simply because I'm "the guest".
it is monumentaly frustrating.
good thing I have kendo tonight.
I installed boot camp and all i got was this crummy reformatted harddrive
Dear Apple Boot camp,
Im still not sure what I did wrong, but it ended up in windows writing it's partition OVER my OSX partition. This resulted, of course, in a complete loss of data. 8 months of pictures, music, movies, projects...gone.
I had to learn the hard way, didnt I? My "Apple Smug Rating" was slowly on the rise, perhaps fueled by George Clooneys uber-smug academic awards acceptance speech. I thus believed myself invisible to problemia computeria, and oh how I have fallen.
here is what i did:
closed all programs.
flashed the firmware to latest update (1.something)
I burned the mac driver disk.
set the partition to: OSX = 230gb XP= 20gb
i then got an error to repair the drive headers.
so I booted into the install disk and repaired the drive.
I tried to set the partition again (with boot camp) to the same specs.
It worked.
I inserted a copy of XP
I clicked "restart"
imac restarts and then boots into the ever familar "windows setup"
i was positivly giddy
it asks me which partition to write to
I picked the only one avaible, the "C:\" partition.
The partition formats and then the install begins.
install fails for no determinable reason.
starts causing a seemily Infinate Loop. (no pun intended)
my only option then is to boot back in OSX.
however when I go to boot into OSX, there IS no OSX. its gone. totally gone.
So, I boot from the OSX install disk, reformatt the entire drive and re-install OSX from scratch.
Project start time: 10:00pm
Project end time: 3:00am
amount of data lost: 150gb
number of CDs used: 5
that sinking feeling you get when you realize all your data is gone: PRICELESS.
All for naught. I was looking foward to Far Cry so, so much.
Maybe I will try this again, but I need to be sure it will work. Therefore I think I want other people to handle the beta and I can wait for the V1.0 release or at least the preview release.
(sigh)
at least I got my hands dirty with the imac. Its been running so damn well for so long, i was getting scared that i was getting too soft. take that, iMac! I'll fight you right now!
later dog.
PS
note to self: buy external backup drive.
note to self: back up nightly.
PPS
if you know a good way to get *.wmv (or any way for that matter) to run on the Intel Imac, please let me know? before the reformat I could play them with windows media player. but now thats been pulled and flip4mac is in its place which sucks cause its not a UB yet. Help!
Im still not sure what I did wrong, but it ended up in windows writing it's partition OVER my OSX partition. This resulted, of course, in a complete loss of data. 8 months of pictures, music, movies, projects...gone.
I had to learn the hard way, didnt I? My "Apple Smug Rating" was slowly on the rise, perhaps fueled by George Clooneys uber-smug academic awards acceptance speech. I thus believed myself invisible to problemia computeria, and oh how I have fallen.
here is what i did:
closed all programs.
flashed the firmware to latest update (1.something)
I burned the mac driver disk.
set the partition to: OSX = 230gb XP= 20gb
i then got an error to repair the drive headers.
so I booted into the install disk and repaired the drive.
I tried to set the partition again (with boot camp) to the same specs.
It worked.
I inserted a copy of XP
I clicked "restart"
imac restarts and then boots into the ever familar "windows setup"
i was positivly giddy
it asks me which partition to write to
I picked the only one avaible, the "C:\" partition.
The partition formats and then the install begins.
install fails for no determinable reason.
starts causing a seemily Infinate Loop. (no pun intended)
my only option then is to boot back in OSX.
however when I go to boot into OSX, there IS no OSX. its gone. totally gone.
So, I boot from the OSX install disk, reformatt the entire drive and re-install OSX from scratch.
Project start time: 10:00pm
Project end time: 3:00am
amount of data lost: 150gb
number of CDs used: 5
that sinking feeling you get when you realize all your data is gone: PRICELESS.
All for naught. I was looking foward to Far Cry so, so much.
Maybe I will try this again, but I need to be sure it will work. Therefore I think I want other people to handle the beta and I can wait for the V1.0 release or at least the preview release.
(sigh)
at least I got my hands dirty with the imac. Its been running so damn well for so long, i was getting scared that i was getting too soft. take that, iMac! I'll fight you right now!
later dog.
PS
note to self: buy external backup drive.
note to self: back up nightly.
PPS
if you know a good way to get *.wmv (or any way for that matter) to run on the Intel Imac, please let me know? before the reformat I could play them with windows media player. but now thats been pulled and flip4mac is in its place which sucks cause its not a UB yet. Help!
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