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| Weekend of culture and not-so-cultured | |
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3.03.2010
7:19 AM | Link0 comments |
 My weekends are either relaxing or completely packed, and this last one was definitely busy! On Friday, I played a fun show with The Greatest American Heroes at the Carousel Lounge, and we had a great crowd and made it through some of our newer material (such as the infamous Good Times/Bob Newhart/Alice medley) with fewer mistakes than usual! On Saturday night, I went to see the Austin Symphony with Matt, and then Sunday was the busiest of all. After church, I had my annual tax appointment with my accountant, then grabbed some quick lunch just in time to make it to a Japanese dance recital with Matt & Kumiko. The performances were really interesting and the little girl dances were super cute, but the best part was seeing Kumiko's friend Midori fully transformed as she did her dance. It was truly beautiful and amazing! Finally, Sunday evening ended with a combo birthday party for my pals Chris and Jonathan, and we all had dinner at the Clay Pit (Indian food is one of the few cuisines that I don't touch, but I was full from lunch so my martini was enough for me!). It was lots of fun talking with everyone and playing with my fake-nephew Emiliano (who says "Mikey" really well now!), but the highlight of the party was my crazy birthday present for Chris! His favorite comedy sitcom is It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (I like it, too), and he loves the episode where they design a product called a Dick Towel. Of course, someone really makes it now, so I had to buy one for Chris, and it was hilarious watching everyone try it on! View photos: Japanese Dance Recital View photos: Combo Birthday Party 2010 (semi-adult content)
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| Birthday bonanza weekend | |
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2.01.2010
5:32 PM | Link0 comments |
 Considering all my birthday gifts and events, I think I should turn 43 more often! Mom & Dad started things off by getting me an LG BD390 Blu-ray player (which I enjoyed all weekend!), plus my new RedOctane Ignition dance pad that I have been dancing away on. They also sent me two cool cards, including a giant Star Wars card that plays the theme when you open it - it's so big that the music is loud with actual bass! On Friday at the office they treated me to healthy yogurt parfaits with all kinds of berries and granola, and that evening I got a package from my pal Dae with two excellent books to add to my "read soon" shelf. On Saturday I went to the opera with my pal Melinda, and afterward we went out for cake, where she gave me a huge pile of presents, including a new LEGO set, a Wii workout game, and other goodies! And finally on Sunday, several of my pals took me to Ruth's Chris for a spectacular, delicious, and expensive steak dinner, and on top of that there were more gifts. Matt & Kumiko got me a cool Mickey Mouse shirt and some unique beer, and Chris & Eliza loaded me up with iTunes Store credit. I am completely surrounded in birthday loot, and I can't thank everyone enough for their incredible friendship! (Be sure to check out Matt's photos of the steakhouse fun as well!) View photos: Mikey's Birthday 2010 View photos: Matt's Steakhouse Dinner
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| Five guys hit Los Angeles | |
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1.22.2010
11:36 AM | Link0 comments |
 For the past few days I've been in Los Angeles vacationing with my pals Jonathan, Matt, Dae and Ernesto! It's pretty rare for all of us to be together, but it worked out this time since I was taking Jonathan on his first Disneyland visit, and Matt received his plane ticket to come along as a Christmas gift! Even though there was some pretty awful rain during the trip, we still had plenty of nice weather, too, and nothing could stop us from having a fantastic time.We started off by browsing the Farmers Market and having a nice breakfast, then headed to Will Rogers State Historic Park to tour the ranch house and hike up to Inspiration Point (great view of the city). After stopping on PCH for a nice sunset, the drunken debauchery began with beer, martinis at Musso & Franks (where we had a great time talking with Manny the legendary bartender), whiskey, and eventually ended up with flaming margaritas and Mexican food. The next morning we were in hangover recovery mode, but we had enough energy for a cool tour of the Egyptian, a classic movie palace that Grauman built before the famous Chinese Theater. After the tour it started raining a little, so I talked the guys into seeing Dumbo at the El Capitan (we loved the organist and of course I cried during Baby Mine). That night we gorged on incredible sushi in Little Tokyo, and we got to drive through the iconic 2nd Street Tunnel used in Blade Runner! The next day we had lunch in Pasadena at the Pie'n Burger (Ernesto's all-time favorite) and tried to see some horse racing at Santa Anita, but it was rained out. Luckily, Ernesto's sister Eileen who works at the Los Angeles Cathedral offered to give us a tour, which was a perfect thing to do on a rainy day! The cathedral was amazing (she even took us inside the organ works), and when we finished the sun was out again. Finally, we had a quick dinner and then rented a rehearsal studio for three hours of jazz jamming, using Ernesto's beautiful horn arrangements that he had written for the occasion. The last day was reserved for Disneyland, and I had lots of fun spouting trivia to enhance Jonathan's first visit. The weather was great for the morning and evening, but in the middle of the day there was a downpour that flooded Frontierland and even overflowed the Jungle Cruise. We got to ride the Matterhorn twice in a row in the rain, which is a surreal experience, and for the rest of the day, the lines were totally non-existent. I had never seen absolutely zero wait for Space Mountain before! We had an amazing Disney day ending with Filet Mignon at Blue Bayou and then drinks by the Grand Californian fireplace. It took forever to decide which of my 400 photos to share, but I think I picked a good selection in three Flickr sets. In addition, Matt has started to post lots of great shots as well (including the timer shot on this post), so enjoy! View photos: Los Angeles 2010 View photos: Los Angeles Cathedral View photos: Disneyland 2010 View photos: Matt's Los Angeles
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| Ikkicon goings-on | |
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1.03.2010
9:33 AM | Link2 comments |
 This weekend I started off the new year with a bang by going to Ikkicon, an anime convention right here in Austin! Matt & Kumiko went with me, and we met Kimberly (fellow manga/anime maniac) & Mark to enjoy the craziness together. The convention was a first for Matt & Kumiko, and I had a great time watching their reactions, plus it was fun to see Matt so excited about taking photos of all the costumes. (Check out his totally professional shots, much better than mine!) Speaking of cosplay, I was amazed at the ratio of costumed to non-costumed fans - it almost made plain-clothes fans like us seem out of place. There were fantastic costumes from so many genres (anime, manga, video games, and other animated films like 9, which were my favorite costumes of all), and since Kimberly is much more of an expert than I am, it was great having her around to tell us who all the characters were. I ended up buying a total of six Godzilla figures in the dealers room (I even haggled a tiny bit for a better price!), we checked out the lame Maid Cafe (pretty disappointing), watched the Ikki Idol competition (which would have been great with a little organization), and enjoyed the big cosplay competition, which was thankfully structured as a quick-moving fashion show. Though Ikkicon was nothing like A-Kon or Anime Expo, it was still tons of fun, especially since it's great seeing geeks like me of all ages reveling in their common obsessions and enjoying being all together! View photos: Ikkicon 2010
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| Pasta for Christmas | |
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12.14.2009
12:42 PM | Link0 comments |
 I feel extremely lucky to have so many wonderful friends in my life, so I decided it would be fun to get everyone together and buy them all dinner for Christmas! Since we're all growing up and there are several kiddies in the bunch now, we don't often get to all be in the same room together, so it was a really special night for me, and I think everyone had fun. We ate at Buca di Beppo, and there were 24 of us to completely fill the Velvet Room, which made for a nice semi-private atmosphere where we could be loud and crazy. The tables were overflowing with food and desserts, as well as six liters of Chianti! I got several surprise Christmas presents, but the real gift was just seeing everyone together having a good time! View photos: Christmas Dinner Party
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| Petting piglets, popping pies | |
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12.07.2009
7:27 AM | Link0 comments |
 My weekends usually include some kind of event or get-together with friends, but this Saturday was jam-packed with three big ones! I started the day by seeing a sneak preview of Disney's new animated feature The Princess and the Frog (completely gushing review coming soon) with my pal Melinda, then grabbed some lunch and a nap before heading to Emiliano's second birthday party! Chris & Eliza hired a petting zoo for their front yard, so there were all kinds of bunnies, goats, pigs, chickens, and even a baby cow, horse and burro! Everyone totally loved it (adults as well as kids), and had fun playing with all the cute, fluffy animals. Of course we sang Happy Birthday and Emiliano got to devour a birthday cupcake, while everyone else snacked on pizza and other delicious foods with coffee. After another quick break at home, it was time for the third event, Jonathan & Anne-Marie's annual Pie Party! Their newly remodeled kitchen was put to good use, since everyone filled it to overflowing with pies, including non-sweets like quiche and Frito pie. Jonathan was an amazing host, providing awesome booze and cigars, which we enjoyed by the outdoor fire. It was so much fun to talk with everyone and we even sang Christmas carols! Around 2:00 AM reality caught up with me (so to speak), but Sunday was a nice recovery day. I feel pretty lucky that my pals throw such unique and awesome parties for me to enjoy! View photos: Emiliano's Birthday 2009 View photos: Pie Party 2009
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| Thanksgiving 2009 | |
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11.27.2009
5:46 PM | Link0 comments |
 Happy post-Thanksgiving everyone! I had a fantastic holiday, starting with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade as usual. I really enjoyed the new Sailor Mickey balloon, as well as the cool Spider-Man balloon (excellent pose!) and Santa's new float! The rest of the day was spent with the King and Queen of Thanksgiving, Chris & Eliza (I guess that makes Emiliano the Prince of Thanksgiving), along with other good friends (it was nice that Matt & Kumiko could join the fun this year). As always, the food was delicious, and I did a good job health-wise by only eating one plate (however, there were no restrictions on champagne and wine!). It was a smaller crowd this year, but it was nice to see friends I hadn't seen in a while, including Tom, Kristin & Carlos, and Eliza's sister Laura. I had fun giving Chris & Eliza a little poster I made of some previous years' "basting shots" (I always take the same picture of Eliza basting the turkey in the oven), and it was great to play with the kids Emiliano, Sofia and Bella. I extended my holiday to Friday also, watching anime and building my LEGO Star Wars Tantive IV (a truly exquisite design from Episode IV, one of my favorite ships). It's been a great couple of days, and now the weekend is here! View photos: Thanksgiving 2009
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| Whiz kid Emiliano | |
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10.14.2009
5:11 PM | Link0 comments |
 Every few weeks or so I get to spend some time (and eat a free dinner) with my pals Chris & Eliza, which means I get to visit with their almost two-year-old, Emiliano! He was the first (and only) newborn I've ever held, so I really like playing with him and watching him grow up. I get to be his pretend-Uncle Mikey, and I'm glad he's my pretend-nephew! Last night he was pretty impressive, and Chris took every opportunity to show off his son. We played with dinosaurs (Emiliano can do a great roar), then banged on the drums for a while (it's amazing when he gets alternating hands going). Next Chris got out these alphabet letters, and Emiliano can actually make the sounds just by looking at them! Hold up a B, and he says "Ba!" Hold up a G, and he says "Ga!" He can also recite the last word of every sentence in one of his favorite books. Later he had a bath and I was watching TV by myself, and suddenly Emiliano ran into the room pantsless. I just laughed and said "You're naked!", so he decided to prove his nakedness by taking a whiz on the carpet (after kicking his toys out of the line of fire). It was hilarious! I haven't taken a photo of Emiliano in a few months, so check out Chris & Eliza's Flickr photostream for more recent pictures of my pretend-nephew.Labels: pals |
| State Fair weekend | |
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10.13.2009
5:52 PM | Link0 comments |
 This past weekend was packed with three events for me, starting with the symphony, then a gig with the Greatest American Heroes, and finally my first ever trip to the State Fair of Texas! The Heroes played at the MS Walkathon at the Dell Diamond, and it was a great experience (nice and chilly outside, but we could play as loud as we wanted!), plus it was fun to hang out for free lunch (and a free T-shirt). Super-early the next morning, my pals Matt & Kumiko and Jonathan & Anne-Marie squeezed into Matt's car to drive to Dallas, and we made it to the fair by 10:00 AM (the ride was fun since we all made different mix CDs)! Matt was the tour guide for the day, so I had a blast not worrying about a thing, wandering around and soaking it all in. We tried lots of snack samples in the Food & Fiber pavilion, then did some browsing for Arts & Crafts (where we almost saw Oprah, who was filming at the fair, but we didn't care enough to keep waiting). Next we "met" Big Tex, who was huge and bizarro looking (but cool and historic, too)! After some nachos for lunch (this was not a day for healthy eating!), we saw the Birds of the World show, which was definitely the highlight of the entire fair. I couldn't believe they could let birds go from all the way at the top of the Ferris Wheel, where they would swoop right down over the audience to the trainers on stage! The next show was "dog dancing", which was cute and especially cool when we saw one dog walk on his front legs like a handstand! Then we looked at a million chickens, ate a delicious corn dog (necessity of the day), and finally saw the US Marine Drum & Bugle Corps perform. They were so precise and the sound quality was amazing, so we were all blown away and enjoyed it! Soon we were getting tired, so we started heading back to the car, and the timing could not have been better since the rain started coming down. We had a nice wet ride home (thanks to Matt's skillful driving), ending a really fun day with wonderful friends! View photos: State Fair of Texas 2009
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| Parents visit and birthday fun | |
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8.21.2009
6:28 PM | Link0 comments |
 Last weekend my parents made their yearly trip to Austin to visit me, and we had a wonderful four days together! When I was planning our time I thought we might be a little bored, but the hours flew by and we always had something to do. One night we saw Esther's Follies, which was as hilarious as ever, and another night we saw the Broadway touring production of Wicked, which was incredible. We also drove to Lake Travis for lunch at Carlos & Charlie's (Mom and I really like their margaritas), and we were stunned by how dried up everything is because of the lack of rain (tons of formerly floating docks sitting on dry land). We also did lots of shopping, Wii playing (now Dad wants one!), and some successful MacBook and iPhone maintenance. Since Dad's birthday fell on the same weekend, I took them to Fleming's for a nice steak dinner. I had never been to Fleming's before, but it turned out to be fantastic - Dad enjoyed it so much! The Chocolate Lava Cake dessert was totally amazing! As usual, I was a little bummed when these goof-off and good-eating days were over, but I think I'm adjusted now.Just before my parents' visit, a few of my pals got together to celebrate Kumiko's birthday, which was a lot of fun! Kumiko got lots of nice gifts (I had a good time making a Godzilla birthday card in Japanese) and the food at the original Kerbey Lane was great! View photos: Kumiko's Birthday 2009
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| Puzzle fun with Square Scramble | |
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7.12.2009
10:09 AM | Link0 comments |
 Now that I've finished up my Los Angeles trip posts, it's time to mention some other cool news about my pal Dae. A while back he released his first iPhone application on the App Store called Easy Finance, which does all kinds of cool calculations and what-if scenarios, but now he's breaking into the puzzle game market with Square Scramble! The game actually became available while I was in LA, so I got to be his first sale, and it's a really challenging game to play. Square Scramble is easy to learn, but it takes quite a while to develop a strategy, and there are so many levels that I'll never finish them all. My favorite thing about the game is it's totally original - I love how Dae came up with something so classic, yet totally new! It was fun talking with him about the coding and internal details, and I like how he created his own sound effects and everything. It was also cool giving demos of the game at the 4th of July party - judging from people's reactions, it definitely has that puzzle quality that makes you want to figure it out. I can't wait to see what he comes up with next, so keep an eye on his website and check out these apps!
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| More fun in Los Angeles | |
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7.10.2009
6:17 PM | Link0 comments |
 I have a few more memories to write about the Los Angeles trip, mostly not Anime Expo related, except for this first one! The Toshiyuki Morikawa panel (which I saw by "accident" while waiting for the Morning Musume panel) was thoroughly excellent, and Dae and I both enjoyed it. Morikawa is a tremendously famous Japanese voice actor, who has hundreds of credits to his name, not only in the anime field, but also live-action dubbing (he is even the voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi in the dubbed Star Wars films). He is best known as the voice of Sephiroth, the ultimate evil villain in the Final Fantasy series of video games, and he definitely has a huge fan base! The crowd was absolutely enamored with everything he had to say (one girl sitting next to me was so excited that she felt she needed to translate everything to me as he said it, even though there was a professional translator doing the same thing). The fan questions were great, since they were mostly requests to do voices. My favorite was a girl named Daphne who asked him to use the voice of Sephiroth and ask her to marry him. Morikawa loved the request, and did his evil laugh with a sinister "Daphne! Kekkon shite kuru!" It was pretty awesome!In addition to all the time with Dae in Anime Expo lines, we had a fun time in Little Tokyo after the concert. We got to shop around a bit (I bought a cheap Godzilla toy) and listen to a live sax/keyboard combo, then we had some great sushi (including some incredible hamachi sashimi with shiso leaf, plus plenty of sake!). Also during the trip we got to hang out with Ernesto two nights, and had a wonderful time drinking and catching up! On the 4th of July, Ernesto got us into a super-fancy party in a neighborhood near Hollywood, since his sister's friend is married to a rich (and generous) lawyer. The house was built in 1935, and the interior decorating looks like a magazine (I should have taken photos inside, but I didn't want to snoop!). The backyard has a beautiful pool, tons of Adventureland style plants, and the place was buzzing with caterers delivering hors d'ouvres, as well as serving a full dinner and dessert, and of course an open bar with expensive Balvenie scotch! I got to talk with Ernesto's dad and sister, and we all had a blast watching the fireworks (from a nearby country club). I always have so much fun with my LA friends - it's no wonder I'm always ready to make the trip! View photos: Los Angeles Pals 2009
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| Annual baseball adventure | |
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6.17.2009
5:33 PM | Link0 comments |
 Last weekend my pal Barron and I drove to Arlington for our yearly Major League Baseball game, and this time we took along Barron's oldest son, Bay. The weather was beautiful and Barron's Prius was super-comfortable, so the trip was a breeze. The game was the Texas Rangers versus the Los Angeles Dodgers, and we were both rooting for the Dodgers (they are Barron's favorite team, and I wanted the Rangers to lose since that helps the Angels!). It was fun to see Bay's reactions to the ball park, since this was his first time to see a pro game, and I tried to enjoy watching everyone eat awesome junk food, since I kept my diet intact (I actually limited myself to one peanut per inning!). There was some nice action in the game, but there were also some incredibly slow sections, which gave me time to do exciting experiments with Bay like watching cotton candy dissolve in Sprite! The Dodgers ended up winning 6-3, and we all went home happy. I was pretty tired from sitting outside in 95 degrees so long (thankfully we had shade!), but it was so worth it. I wonder who we'll go see play next year?
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| Memorial Day starving | |
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5.31.2009
1:52 PM | Link0 comments |
 On Memorial Day my pals Jonathan & Anne-Marie had a fantastic cookout at their house, which was a lot of fun! Amazing looking food was everywhere, but believe it or not, I didn't eat a bite of it since I'm dieting right now. Of course, I still had some wonderful drinks (the bar was setup for mix-your-own Mint Juleps and Mohitos), and Jonathan bought a couple nice cigars for us to enjoy. It was a simple, relaxed, and peaceful time with friends, followed by a great Memorial Day nap! View photos: Memorial Day 2009
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| Grand Canyon adventure | |
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5.12.2009
9:10 PM | Link0 comments |
 Last weekend I took a four-day vacation to visit my pals Ryan & Jennifer in Phoenix, which included an incredible adventure to the one-and-only Grand Canyon! After I arrived, Ryan and I spent the first day enjoying the Phoenix Zoo, which was so unusual since I've never seen a zoo in the middle of the desert before. Even though most of the animals were hiding from the hot sun, they have a fantastic giraffe habitat and a cool enclosure were you can hang out with squirrel monkeys. The next morning we got up early to drive to the canyon, and on the way we found a crazy Flintstones RV park, plus an aviation museum with an old Constellation (Dad navigated on this plane in the Air Force, and I had never seen one in person)! After checking out our hotel, we entered Grand Canyon National Park and saw the canyon itself. It was the first time Ryan and I had been there, and the sight completely blew me away - it's just so huge and expansive that I could hardly believe it was real! At Grand Canyon Village we took a look at all the buildings there, then had lunch at the El Tovar (and got a window table!). After that, we started driving east along the South Rim and stopped at every observation point. Each one was different and beautiful, and we had a great time taking photos at each one! Speaking of photos, Ryan got a new digital SLR and really gave it a workout (with three cameras going, we actually took over 1,000 pictures!). The famous Watchtower was the feature of the last point, and it's a really interesting (if somewhat strange) structure. We ended the day by watching the sunset (incredible!), then went back to the hotel for drinks, which made it hard to get up the next morning to catch the sunrise, but we made it! Even the drive back to Phoenix was fun, and we stopped in Flagstaff to check out the downtown area. The trip was really amazing, and it was great to share such an incredible nature experience with my pals Ryan & Jennifer! View photos: Phoenix Zoo View photos: Drive to the Grand Canyon View photos: Grand Canyon View photos: Flagstaff
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| Music Moments 4.09 | |
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4.09.2009
5:44 PM | Link0 comments |
 Catalina by Air / Landing on the Rock: I'll start off these quick music reviews with a couple completely biased opinions. My pals Dae and Ernesto got together to form a new music project called Catalina by Air, and their first album is now available on iTunes! Dae and Ernesto have been my friends and band mates since the Day Jobs days, and their new music has a wonderfully relaxed 20s-30s jazz feel. There are original songs by both Dae (who sings and plays guitars, as well as most other instruments) and Ernesto (who blows some sweet sax), as well as classic standards that everyone knows. I love their music, and encourage everyone to check it out!Dave Clupper / Letting Go: When in lived in Tulsa, the Cluppers were like a second family to me, and we always had fun making music together. Dave Clupper has continued to become an incredible songwriter, and now he has two albums available on iTunes! His latest is Letting Go, which features both live and studio cuts, and includes many songs that are very dear to me (since I sung them with the Cluppers so many times). Sunset Train will always be the most uplifting and comforting song about leaving this world that I'll ever hear, and the version on this album is wonderful! If you're in the mood for some Tulsa folk music, you'll love Dave Clupper. Morning Musume / Naichau Kamo: It's time to get back to the usual Jpop that I'm always listening to, which of course includes Morning Musume's latest single Naichau Kamo (which is already available on their recent full album, but I'm saving that for another review). When I first heard this song, I wasn't too happy they used a cut-time feel in a sad song, but now I'm totally into it. Everyone (including Sayumi) gets some good lines, and they all look stylish in the video (not everyone enjoys watching Jpop idols cry, but I think it's moving). I'm also super-psyched about the B-side Yowamushi, which is a Risa and Sayumi duet! Risa sounds effortlessly awesome, and Sayumi tries her best not to sound like a hamster (and mostly succeeds). Berryz Koubou / Special Best Vol 1: I haven't mentioned Berryz Koubou much on WEBmikey, but of course I listen to them (since every Morning Musume fan automatically becomes a semi-fan of all Hello! Project groups), and since I'm a sucker for compilations, I really enjoyed this album. I was excited that their recent singles are included (I love Madayade and yes, even Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance), but I can't believe that my absolute favorite Berryz song, Kokuhaku no Funsui Hiroba, is missing! High School Musical 3 / Original Soundtrack: Finally, I had to complete my High School Musical collection with the third soundtrack (which I was able to get for free as an Amazon promotion), and even though I'd rank it last among all three, I still think it's great. I don't really like the longer tracks (like the full Spring Musical, which gets a little boring), but the duets like Right Here, RIght Now and Zac's solo Scream are pretty cool songs! Labels: cds, disney, jpop, morning musume, pals |
| Kodomo no ranchi | |
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3.24.2009
6:00 PM | Link0 comments |
 About a week ago, I was having dinner with my pals Matt & Kumiko, and I mentioned that I had often seen tako-san wieners in anime and manga and on Japanese cooking shows, and I always wanted to eat some. (Tako is octopus in Japanese, so if you cut part of a little wiener to make "legs", it looks like a little octopus.) Kumiko started thinking about all of the typical foods that Japanese kids eat for lunch, and soon Matt & Kumiko invited me over for a kiddie feast! Kumiko and her friend Naoko made 11 different items, and Matt and I got to help out, too. It was really fun to eat lots of new things, and afterwards Matt made everyone a giant ice cream parfait (another common Japanese thing you see all the time in anime)! It was a delicious afternoon, and I'm really touched that Matt & Kumiko would do such a nice thing to satisfy my tako-san curiosity! View photos: Japanese Kids Lunch
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| Dae & Mikey's Disneyland Day | |
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3.15.2009
3:58 PM | Link0 comments |
 I took my Kodak Zi6 that I got for Christmas with me on my recent trip to Los Angeles, so I could experiment a little with shooting in HD at Disneyland! It was super convenient to have it in my pocket ready to go, and it was really fun to think about how to compose shots in a 16:9 frame. But mostly, my pal Dae and I used it to pass the time in line for rides (even though we had such short wait times) by interviewing each other. I used my Zi6, and Dae used the movie mode on his Canon camera, and by the end of the day we had about 20 minutes of the most lame and silly video ever shot. But it was still a blast to edit them together, add a little music, insert some effects and titles, and create my first HD work in iMovie (although the clips from Dae's camera are still SD). For some reason, YouTube messed up the first five seconds (it's gray when it should be black), but it takes forever to upload so I'm just living with it. I also decided to try Vimeo since they kind of specialize in HD. There's nothing particularly funny or interesting about this video (unless you know Dae or me, which will make it kind of hilarious), but it reminded me that editing is fun and I need to do more of it! Watch video: Disneyland Day on YouTube Watch video: Disneyland Day on Vimeo
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| Fun times last weekend | |
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3.07.2009
7:38 AM | Link2 comments |
 It's already the weekend, but I haven't mentioned all the fun things that happened last weekend! Casa del Swanko played two gigs, which strangely enough were both our worst and best ever. The first one was the bad one, because not only did Steve's keyboard electronically freak-out and go out of key every two seconds, but I forgot my hi-hat clutch, so my poor left leg was just working all night doing nothing. But the next gig was somehow magical, and we played our very best - I had recently tuned my kit and got to enjoy the new richer sound! I also got to see a cool program of traditional Japanese dance, emceed by my pal Kumiko! She did a great job describing each of the dances, which included everything from small girls to beautiful geisha style numbers. Finally, Anne-Marie threw a surprise birthday party for Jonathan, and it was a blast to hang out with everyone to celebrate our pal! I spent a little too much time taking pictures of Emiliano, but how can you resist a one-year old playing drums? View photos: Jonathan's Birthday 2009
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| Mondays rule at Disneyland | |
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2.27.2009
6:25 PM | Link2 comments |
 The third day of my recent Los Angeles trip was spent at Disneyland (what a surprise)! After the great experience I had going on a Monday last year, Dae and I decided to try it again, and it was amazing how light the crowds were. In fact, the only FastPass we used was for Space Mountain, and we even rode Splash Mountain using the regular line (the first time I had ever been through that queue!). Speaking of Splash Mountain, Dae did the impossible again by getting an awesome picture of us during the 50-foot drop! We ate at the Carnation Cafe on Main Street (for the first time), discovered an animatronic fish on Big Thunder Trail, and enjoyed the new Sleeping Beauty Castle walk-through (so nostalgic). It was also fun to beat Dae on the Buzz Lightyear ride - my second victory in a row! The changes to It's a Small World seemed OK to me, as long as you think of it as the original children playing "Disney dress-up". The only thing I didn't like was the new Ariel singing solo - it was just too jarring from the rest of the soundtrack. After riding almost everything in the park (including the major rides twice!), we left the park and hit Downtown Disney for coconut mohitos - a great end to a fantastic day! The next day I had to fly home, so that was really the end of the trip. As always, the best part of visiting Los Angeles is hanging out with Dae and Ernesto, but of course Disneyland is the second best thing! View photos: Los Angeles 2009 Day 3
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| Quick stops to Japan and China | |
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2.26.2009
6:11 PM | Link0 comments |
 I didn't really have any plans for the second day of my Los Angeles visit, so Dae suggested we check out the Huntington Library. This is actually a huge complex which is a combination historical document library, art museum, and series of massive botanical gardens! First we took a look at the library, where we saw an exhibit of original hand-written documents by Abraham Lincoln, as well as cool medieval manuscripts and even early Shakespeare folios. The art museum is primarily filled with portraits, including the original George Washington pose that everyone knows, as well as the famous Blue Boy and Pinkie. Next we walked around the gardens, focusing mainly on the Japanese and Chinese sections, both of which were huge, with tons of appropriate architecture. We stayed as long as we could, but we didn't even touch over half of the gardens available to see (we skipped the tropical stuff completely). After a glorious lunch at In-N-Out (so delicious), we stopped by a fancy grocery store to buy tons of snacks for our mini-Oscars party. Ernesto joined us at Dae's condo, and we watched the show, ate a ton, drank most of a bottle of scotch, and talked with Matt & Kumiko (who had their own party in Austin) on the speaker phone. After the awards, Ernesto and I fell asleep on Dae's couches pretty quick (while Dae was watching his favorite Korean TV shows). Stay tuned for the next day at Disneyland! View photos: Los Angeles 2009 Day 2
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| Gorn hunting in Los Angeles | |
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2.25.2009
8:40 PM | Link0 comments |
 I'm back from my fantastic Los Angeles trip, and I had an incredible time! Of course, I took several hundred photos (and so did my pal Dae), so I'm going to have to break down the adventures into individual days and Flickr sets. Dae, Ernesto and I started the first day with breakfast at a classic Bob's Big Boy (built in 1949), then hit the road to Vasquez Rocks! I was totally amazed by the rocks - not only were they beautiful and fun to climb around on, but it really had a Star Trek feeling, and it was cool thinking about the original episodes that were shot there (which I commemorated by photographing my Captain Kirk retro Mego action figure!). After that we went to Hollywood for martinis at Musso & Frank's, which was built in 1919, making it one of the oldest bars in Hollywood. The drinks were great, and it was amazing to walk around during all the bustle of the Academy Awards red carpet and bleachers at the Kodak Theater (we were there the day before the show). Finally, Dae and I enjoyed a huge dinner of Korean BBQ (with plenty of soju, which knocked me out quickly!). It was an awesome day, and that was only the beginning! Enjoy the photos, with thanks to Dae for all the really good ones! View photos: Los Angeles 2009 Day 1
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