wednesday. office day. i know i'm not the only one shocked by the recent cold weather (chicago)... my god, it was 45 degrees F last night... on May 27th. i went for a run yesterday and had to suit up in my winter gear because the wind was so fierce. i'm only sad that those in denial about the greenhouse effect (or those that just won't accept it) won't be alive when the weather really goes into the toilet. i didn't sleep again last night... maybe 1 hour this morning after i looked at the clock and saw it was 7am. it's the strangest thing.

so my g/f is working on this new site, Tokyo Videos, which is more about videos around Japan that she deems worthy. I emphasize that last part because you won't find too many music videos or J-pop performances here. it's a lot more about culture and things unique to Japan. not everything but most of it.

Looking across the lastest video posts for May I see: kabuki, sanja matsuri, aoi matsuri, yumomi dance, and rakugo among other things. There's plenty of "everyday" type stuff and probably around 300 videos at this point (and still going). if you've got an interest in Japan and all things Japanese (culture, history, language, etc.) definitely check out the site and browse around. if you see any "broken" videos, please post a comment or send an email.

memorial day 2008. being out today reminded me of a couple things I hate about the warmer weather we're finally experiencing... the first: seatbelt enforcement zones. this is a lovely way to slow the already slow traffic; what's worse are the idiots that don't bother to put their seatbelt on after seeing the signs then get flagged and ticketed only moments later. duh. It's always nice to know our tax dollars are going towards the installation of 4 or 5 cops on a slow street corner to enforce seatbelts.

The second: ice cream trucks. This, to me, is arguably the most annoying aspect of warm days. I cringe whenever I hear that same stupid (loud) tune echoing thru the neighborhood that switches between "The Entertainer" and some other equally repetitive jangling tune. Ugh. I remember the ice cream trucks when I was a kid... and even patronizing them when they came into our cul-de-sac. But I've never had a fondness for them. Yet, over the recent years, I've developed a hatred for them. I wish I had a device that would silence them anytime they came into the vicinity. Then maybe I wouldn't care so much.

Saw tCoN: Prince Caspian today... it was okay.

I watched a flick lastnight I got from Netflix called Frontier(s). It's connected to the Lions Gate/Horrorfest series... and I wish it was one of the flicks that I saw last fall (@Horrorfest 2). I don't remember if this one was listed or not but it's quite disturbing. The first 3/4 are intense and done well... the final sequence was bit rushed, IMO, maybe to get the movie under 2 hours. anyways, It's worth the watch if you haven't seen it; It's like Texas Chainsaw Massacre.. in France. Has that High Tension vibe to it.

Oh, I just checked; it wasn't part of Horrorfest but they are promoting it (it was in a handful of theaters on May 9). I'm glad I didn't see the trailer beforehand... it's all spoilers. So don't watch the trailer (assuming you haven't seen the flick; if you have, never mind).

back in office after a long week in vegas. new guy starts today which is awesome for our company. so much to review and share and do in so little time; in approx 44hrs I'll be on a plane to San Juan, PR to speak (and moderate) at the CHA internet marketing conference. crazy. I really don't know how I will get everything done before I hit the road again.

good news: my g/f is flying down for a few days while I'm in San Juan.

bad news: my g/f is moving to the other side of the country next week. boo!

so the Matt Cutts keynote was decent (@PubCon) for a standard Q&A (so it really wasn't a keynote). nothing really juicy but overall it was good to hear some of the questions to get a feel for what people are thinking. I'm in the CSS/Panel now in which half the panel didn't show up. that's disappointing.

I'm sitting here at PubCon 2007 listening to Craig Newmark's keynote.... which is more "history of craigslist" than keynote but it's nice to hear the story from the man himself. my feet are cold.

well, I'm back from South Africa and sunny Cape Town. being in the thick of work really has me yearning to be back in SoAfrica. the weather there was amazing considering it's going into winter over there. Sunday, my last day there, was strange as it was so warm and sunny as we visited the Green Point market in the morning. by the afternoon, it was windy and rainy as we departed for the airport. can't say how the weather has been since I left but I'm glad it was so nice during my short week there. And I'm digging my Soviet shoes and Aca Joe hat. back to it...

memorial day weekend hasn't been much of a weekend with my g/f out of town and a big project for work to complete. at least i was able to spend time at Capt'n Satan's place saturday night and hang with his kids for a little pokemon trading and whatnot. and i finally got to see The Proposition and The Descent. wow, Descent was genuinely scary. the parts of the movie shot in the narrow tunnels literally had me panicked. it's too bad movies like that get overlooked. i'm hoping we do a double feature with Dog Soldiers and The Descent (both by Neil Marshall). The Proposition was also really cool; Nick Cave's score was excellent. the washed out look and feel of the flick reminded me a lot of Dead Man. and also that both are westerns. ok, back to work.

hmm, haven't been around for a while. some crazy hazy changes with ole blogger.com - sigh. I have been pumping some goodness into this hotel property I've been telling everyone about: Lido Beach Resort in Sarasota, Florida. I was there last week/weekend and it was awesome as always. the last time I stayed at the hotel it was pretty much just all business (they do have some cool meeting space; we were in the Bamboo Room). but this time I actually got out to see some things and area attractions. Sarasota beach area around Lido Key definitely is a great destination for families with kids. my biz partner had his family down so we took in a few sites like Mote Aquarium and Sarasota Jungle Gardens.

Mote was really nice. the setup is really geared towards kids too. shark tank was cool since we were there during feeding time. petting the stingrays was my favorite thing. I also enjoyed watching the enormous manatees. sadly the Pelican Bird Sanctuary which is next to Mote was closed down due to lack of funding. I really wanted to visit that place too. Both nights I took the hotel shuttle to St Armand's Circle to take in the sights and stores and watch the people coming and going. the weather was gorgeous so the nights were very nice breezy next to the ocean. I'm hoping to make it back soon while the summer rates are low. they are running a summer special offer has rooms for ridiculously low rates compared to normal. if you want a great hotel in Sarasota, check out their summer hotel deal on their website. this hotel really is a hidden gem since i had never heard about it until i actually stayed there last year. now it's the only place i want to stay in Sarasota.

well, you're right; I'm not really doing much with my blog as of late. however, I did just update the current music links for December. that's something, right? also, I'm going to do a bit of shameless promotion for my blog schlacker, phixed, and his newest creation: Local Hotel Directory. it's a site he and another blog compadre, sdriver, created to promote hotels in their local market. the map feature is way cool. overall, it's a cool site that's just getting off the ground (it launched yesterday!). so check it out.

I should really post something here someday...

so strange... today I weighed in at the lowest weight of the year (165lb), which is also the lowest weight I've been in at least the last 5 years. maybe longer. sad.

why am I posting this? so I don't forget after my weight shoots back up a couple dimes.

my friend pAT (aka raydeen aka krazykat) sent me this Katamari article:

Video Game 'Katamari Damacy' Has Fans Knitting Hats And Baking Cakes

my response:
That was a good article. I'm actually surprised that Katamari is only at a quarter million sold. I would've thought it to be a greatest hit by now. there's so much fan fervor online I just assumed everyone has the game...

I understand being resistent to doing the sequel. but I'm actually hoping they continue the series even further. I think they made enough changes in the new game to make it different yet the same... 'course, some of the changes I'm not so keen on but whatever. I'd like to see in the next game that the prince/cousins actually visit other planets/satellites and roll up weird items on those. different terrains/different items. it would be cool to port the planets from WLK to the next installment, then roll on those. now I'm talking out my ass b/c there prolly won't be another sequel. ah well.

I discovered last night that I've only attained 3 comets so far. I have a LONG way to go! I did find yet another damn present in the flower level. I must have 25 presents so far. And I have only 950,000 roses left to collect. woohoo!

so this is why my Yahoo bulk mail has been filling up w/German emails lately! I was beginning to wonder...
Your E-mail Suddenly Filled with German Hate Messages? Here's Why

"robust" would be how I'd describe the past weekend that started w/me falling asleep at 9:30PM Friday and not waking until 12 hours later. call it needed b/c I needed it. so Saturday became the home improvement day I had been looking forward to and I did accomplish some things and felt damn good about it. as evening approached I started thinking about the PINE*am show I was headed to around the 10 O'clock hour. then it dawned on me that I had forgotten about the Japan Girl Nite tour!

JGN by Benton Label occurs around the same time as SXSW. I checked the site and sure enough I missed the damn thing (obviously, since SXSW is in March). I was seriously deflated since last years event was so incredibly cool and entertaining. this year the line-up of Japanese girl punk bands were new to the tour ('cept the headliner, Petty Booka) so it would've been an opportunity to catch these acts and buy merch otherwise difficult or impossible to get. yeah, I was not in a great mood upon realizing this major oversight. and I'm still not over it.

so anyways I pick myself up and head to Wicker Park to see the 3 Japanese girls known as PINE*am. I'm dreading the trip b/c according to the posted tourdates they are not performing in any typical club or venue; they playing in someone's fucking apartment! this was new to me and I'm not real cool w/the unknown factor shit. so I drive around looking for parking and realize it's not doing on a Saturday nite in the heart of Wicker Park teeming w/all sorts, coming and going. I'm really not a people person so naturally that insect of reservation buzzed around my ears and I began thinking about turning back and just saying, 'fuck it'.

fortunately rationality took hold and I parked the car farther than I wanted and hoofed down to six corners looking for the "apartment". turns out it's only a few doors down from the Double Door so I follow a couple up the stairs to the 2nd floor, where my identity was questioned (the couple in front of me had "recognized" faces). after paying my six dollar donation, the strange man in the chair opens the door and everything I imagined the place to be became a reality.

sure enough it was an apartment cum art space (RE: shithole). it was cleared out save for a few ratty old couches and walls covered with prints and photocopies and whatever else these kids call art. the kids inhabiting the joint were what I expected; self-important dirtball artist types in their ironic urbanware about half my age sucking on Newcastle, Camels and cloves. my kind of fun. rrrright.

luckily I arrived only a few minutes before PINE*am started so I didn't suffer thru too much awkwardness beforehand. watched the band finish soundchecking. then they fired it up to wild snotnosed cheers. the audio was hurting due to the live amps and lack of decent PA in the apartment. I felt sorry for their sound man who was trying to make the best of it. despite the poor conditions, PINE*am rocked it and most of the 100 or so that crowded the room really got into the music. that was nice to see. after edging my way up to the front I took a few photos to share here.



PINE*am gave about 40 minutes of electro-pop goodness, then packed up and tended to the merch table. of course I made it over there in a beeline and eventually Tsugumi, the lead singer/bassist, came over. it was humorous b/c she kinda understands English but not quite everything. so we played that game for a while as I picked up their earlier CDs, some stickers, buttons and a shirt. Tsugumi cut me a deal on the CDs so I figured I'd keep buying crap.



as the primary English speaker of the group, Chiz (who translated for Tsugumi during the performance) , came over to man the table I spent the time chatting w/Tsugumi, who as it turned out could hold a decent conversation in English. I asked her how they ended up playing in the apartment at which point their sound tech looked at me with a muddled expression; with short pauses between each word he said, "I... have... no... idea." I gave him a sympathy laugh and continued talking w/Tsugumi who seemed genuinely excited to just be there.

when I pointed out some guy's kanji tattoo of "Nihon" (Japan) she asked if I read kanji and spoke Japanese. during the ignasecond before my reply of "chotto" (a little), I realized that was a mistake. Tsugumi smiles then suddenly starts rattling off Japanese a mile a minute all thrilled to speak in her native tongue. I, on the hand, just watched, listened, nodded and smiled. ^_^

after getting a photo taken w/the girls, I thanked them and wished them luck on the rest of tour (quipping that I hope they get better venues the rest of the way). said "bye bye" and split... right behind the guy w/the Nihon kanji tattooed on his arm. turned out to be a rather enjoyable evening despite the adverse conditions. hell, if PINE*am could light up that 2nd floor shithole apt, they could do wonders in a small club with the right audience. hopefully they come back to chicago for a better gig.

after that I went home and snagged Latios on my first attempt then stayed up late to read HUSH vol 1. Sunday I was up and going early again to do more work around the home. caught the first matinee of Unleashed, which might be the best Jet Li movie I've seen (and I've seen a hella lot of them). but not b/c of Jet Li. cool flick so go see it. picked up lunch at Amitabul and soaked in the rest of evening organizing and such. so nice to not have Japanese homework to do on a Sunday night! ~sigh~