my junk
- photos (current)
- photo archive
- misc file download
- 英語教育
- student
english portal NEW!
-
student download page
-
international communication class
- us and them
- archive (the
old website, ca. 2006; many links still unfixed, sorry!)
- mixi
- myspace
- facebook
- TWITTER
better in theory
- Ripping up a parking ticket*
- Bjork*
- Riding your bike to work*
- One more
- Topless beaches
- Couscous
- Forgiveness
- Revenge. No, I take that back.
- Martini bars
- Blue Man Group
- Quentin Tarantino
- Crossover vehicles. Including the Cayenne. Please.
- Low-fat
- "Mission Accomplished"
- Harleys
- Audiobooks
- Room service
- Indoor pools
- Showing him/her/them who's boss....OK, maybe not.
- Pretty good for the price.
*Stolen from Esquire
Quotes
(coming soon!)
June 30, 2009
Time flying, saying goodbye to the official rainy season just as the rain arrives - along with the usual heat and humidity that makes Kansai a living hell in the late summer months. We survive only by believing that someday, perhaps around October 1, we will be dry again.
Just remembering when "attitude" was a problem, and when ignorance wasn't something to be proud of. Too, musing on the rants of various "pro-pedestrian anti-automobile" types...who do they think is inside those cars, Borgs? Does getting behind the wheel make one a second class citizen? Oh, and BTW, dying doesn't make one a better person.
May 25, 2009
To those who have served and those who still serve, we salute you. Our thanks.
May 21, 2009
While one hates to find joy in he misfortunes of others (well...there are cases...), the arrival of pork pox in Kansai translates to a solid week of canceled classes and V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N for yours truly, and I can’t help but be ecstatic. It’s also amusing to see the proliferation of face masks brought out to ward off the dread foreign scourge - this in a place where a hand placed over a cough or sneeze is rare, and barehand snot mining is common. I wish I were exaggerating.
Every minute of the week off is being used well, especially the few stolen moments quaffing cocktails on the balcony with the Wifus™. Catching up on classes, trying to get a step ahead, housework...but it doesn’t look as if I’m going to be getting to my U.S. taxes just yet. The time is flying by, though, and as much as I love my job (and I do), it will be a long haul from here to the end of the semester.
Manwhile, it's time for steaks on the grill.
May 4, 2009
Happy Golden Week - and by some fluke, I'm actually having a full one. Or, would, if it weren't for the care-taking duties taking up most of my time. But, the weather has been OK; more clouds and wind than ideal, but so much better than what will follow later in the season.
Managed to finish a (first) article for Macworld, a review of ten in-ear-canal type headphones. It was difficult writing - keeping the details of all ten phones had me questioning my own ears and sanity, but the writing discipline was good exercise, and the entire experience quite educational. I have rewarded myself by pre-spending the proceeds on a VERY nice pair of phones my own use. Had I been able to keep the test headphones, I’d have kept the Westone UM2s for myself, given the Klipsch Image X10s to Wifus™, and divvied up the rest among friends. As it is, the phones will be shipped back to Macworld - and later today I will take delivery of what promise to be an exquisite pair of Westone 3s. Google a search for reviews of these phones. The UM2s were great, and these promise to be even better. Looking for some good music to pump through them, and Rita Man '71 Irv Pavlik has already sent some of his fine Neil Young covers, so I’m building my own Irv playlist already.
Trying to put off school work for the remainder of the break, and hope to get to a little story I started back in February: two bakeries, two grandma’ houses, two cultures...more tales from the ‘hood, growing up.
Friends and acquaintances from the wacko end of the political spectrum continue to confound and perplex with some of the stuff they say and write, but I derive some comfort from watching the country slowly start to correct its course from the madness of the past eight years. Too old and cynical to expect miracles, but there is something definitely wrong anyone who doesn’t feel better with Barack Obama at the wheel than with the previous head of state. There.
OK, I’m going to grab something nice to drink and audition these Westone phones the KuroNeko man was nice enough to deliver, holiday or no.
April 3, 2009
Happy birthday Apple, 33 years old. No April Fool pranks this year, as the universe has been playing some havoc of its own with me/us. Got back to Japan a bit earlier than expected in order to begin my stint as Wifus™ Caregiver. Seems Alison managed to place her left tibia in the direct path of a flying cobblestone, shot from a wheel of a speeding ambulance passing by. On her first day of vacation in Milan. An ambulance of her own then whisked her to a primitive mystery hospital that required the assistance of the American consulate in Milan to locate. She has a metal plate holding the bone together that will need removal in a year or so. No fun. We're both home in Japan now, and, aside from her obvious discomfort and the inconvenience of immobility, settling into a new, fortunately temporary lifestyle.
Otherwise, the Chicago visit was a gas, seeing lots of old friends, enjoying good food, and helping the bro with odds and ends on his house. Didn't need to shovel any snow until the very last day, when 5 inches threatened to delay my flight back. Got off only 40 minutes late or so. The rental Prius was a big disappointment – a fine gas-saving appliance, but as a car, um, no. If gas economy is your big priority, it's a solid, comfortable conveyance, but it's quirky, no fun at all to drive, and I'm not sold on the overall environmental or economic benefits. Great trips to Indiana to see old X1/9 (now THERE'S a car!) buddy John and his family and to Wisconsin for a great auto museum. Connected with old friends that I haven't spoken with in 20 years or more. Great to see Marianne recovering nicely from surgery despite some new drama of the sort that seems always to find her, as well as hearing travel tales from Linda (Caribbean) and Susan (Uruguay). Got the entire dojjo crowd together, a real rarity, and great time...minus, of course, our recently departed Sempai Harry. Auditioned some great speakers and had some real (i.e., Chicago) hot dogs with Rick, too.
Highlight for me, and pardon me while I pat myself on the back, is being chosen to do a review of in-ear headphones (canalbuds?) for Macworld. Yes, that Macworld. Very pleasantly surprised that, despite this being my first assignment, the ten pairs sent to me were not the bargain basement stuff I'd expected, but real near-audiophile level goodies. The article probably won't be out until summer, but I'll post the link here when available, obviously.
This is being written on NeoOffice Writer, part of the free (donation requested) MSOffice alternative suite. First one I've tried that I can recommend as a real alternative. Lots of interesting features – just missing the editing/proofreading tools many of us depend on. Not ready to become my one word processor – but, then neither is Word, Nisus, or Pages, either. Your input welcome.
OK, break's over.
February 27, 2009
New Student English Portal up at http://tonysensei.net .
February 26, 2009
Truly savoring the satisfaction of having a real President, capital P, again. Wonderful address, Mr. President. I love ya. I hope your boyz got their numbers right, though.
Another academic year down, grades in, and preliminary planning for 2009-2010 begun. Only the big clean-up remains to put the year to rest. Funny typing that 2010; I remember as a kid wondering what I’d be like when 1999 became 2000, and now it’s almost ten years after that. And I’m still wondering what it’ll be like when I get old. Ain’t that sweet?
Odd calendar glitch, courtesy of the Wifus™ and the MIL™, puts me in Chicago later than usual, and that’s not a bad thing, as my absence from the Chicago winter has not made the heart grow fonder. Hoping I can maybe soak up some of the Chicago appreciation of the coming of spring. That’ll be nice. But it is ALWAYS nice to get back home among real people, misguided anachronistic Republicans notwithstanding.
Digging the shit out of Twitter. Selective with folks I follow, and the near-real-time reporting of critical events from various news outlets is wonderful, especially when away from home via the iPhone. Cooking up a storm - red beans and rice for Fat Tuesday, plus some cheater gumbo on the next day (still Fat Tuesday in the US...)...and pics on TwitPic.
Mac users: Safari 4 = yes.
Happy belated birthday Steve Jobs.
To all my ailing & recovering friends, so sadly increasing in number, hang tough, get well, beat this shit. No excuses.
BIG recommendation for this one, don’t pass it up.
February 1,2009
One month, and so much has happened. Of course, the biggest change is obvious. Goodbye W and welcome Barack, we've never needed you more than now, and we look forward to you repairing the damage done to our country and the world in the last eight years.
Another school year winding down for us here in Japan, and that little smudge of #333 in the distance has got to be the light at the end of the tunnel. I've landed a pretty fat proofreading job and already spent most of the proceeds on a new Apple Display; yes, it's beautiful. aiting for custom-fit ear buds for my M-Audio IE-30s while my warranty-replaced Klipsch Cstom 3s wait for me at friend Bill's in Chicago. No matter what kind of i-ear phones you listn to, I ighly recommend these sound-isolating tips; a good seal is everything when it comes to bass response, and the less noise coming into your ears, the less you'll need to crank it up to hear your music. New iLife and iWork out, but no time to play, yet. Adobe CS4 looks pretty interesting, too, but yes, I'll say it - with the prices Adobe charges, no one can be blamed for pirating their stuff. The suite costs more than many people's computers. Yet, having said that, Photoshop Elements is a very good deal.
Spending and enjoying more and more time on Twitter, both on the Mac and on the iPhone. Once you get your balance of appropriate followers and followees, it's really a nice addition to your computer life. Have cooked some KILLER meals in the last week; nothing special, just very lucky with the results. Good eatin'. Of course, can't lay claim to a Bacon Explosion. Yet. Looking fiorward to revamping and combining some of my student sites over the break. Haven't locked on any must-have new toys, though. Ideas?
In spite of it being the home of our new President, Illinois continues to embarrass itself with the likes of Blagojevich, Petersen, and self-parody John Kass. Looks like I need to back there and kick some ass. When it wams up a bit, of course.
Meanwhile, happy 25th birthday, Macintosh.
January 5, 2009
Another year begins. Five days into it, seemingly weeks behind already. The weather back home has been pretty rough this winter, but nothing here to complain about. You’ll find new pictures of trips to Miyajima/Hiroshima and Koya-san on the photo page.
Have scrubbed a semi-planned trip to Cambodia in February, and trying hard to justify using that money on a new Apple 24” LED display. Not doing as well as I’d hoped, though. With some luck, the 20” Samsung display will help with a timely demise. Have the brightness up at 100% just to help the cause.
Incredibly busy (what else is new?) with the end of the academic year, the beginning of a new one looming, and all the incredible work that means for me. On the plus side, I have so far been relatively unscathed by the world-wide economic meltdown. Some stock losses, sure, but am heading into the 2009-2010 (2010?!) academic year with the same number of classes as last year. Fortunate and grateful. But not undeserving, if I do say so myself.
By the way, you’ll find previous years posts linked below. Obvious now, but not so as the year goes on. Speaking of looking back, the Mac will turn 25 on January 24 this year. Treat your Mac to something special - clear the logs, delete the caches, maybe even get the crumbs out from the keyboard.
Macworld Expo beginning really soon, and I hope we have some new toys to dream and argue about. Sorry to on like this, but the freedom from the 140 character Twitter limit is quite exhilarating!
Congrats to brother Dave, who seems to be successfully quitting smoking, and good luck to Dave in Nishinomiya, who will soon again be spending more time with his surgeon than he'd like. Finally, let us all celebrate the end of a very dark era on January 20.
Best wishes for a wonderful 2009.
Archive of 2008 entries
Archive of 2007 entries
Archive of 2006 entries
hey,
where are you?
take a couple of minutes to let me know
friends' sites (in no particular order):
John
Dean Blog
Hirose先輩
/Miura Dojo
David Stepanczuk
Davina
Robinson
Kunio
Kise
Natsuki
Yamamoto
Greg Lowndes
if you were i (just some stuff I find
interesting):
a&l
daily
dilbert blog
the pour
japanese study
それから、もっと日本語
boing boing
joy
of tech
geoffrey chaucer
blog
worth1000
tour chicago
on my iPhone (music
& words):
Blue Cheer
(!!!!)
Bottle Rockets
Guy Clark
Marc Cohn
Sam Cooke
Cracker
Steve Earle
Howlin' Wolf
Junior Kimbraugh
Robert Earl Kean
MC5 (!!!!)
Michael McDermott
Low Millions
The National
Irv Pavlik!
Poco
PIL
Rita Men playlist
Sisters of Mercy
Joe Strummer/Mescaleros/The Clash
Summer Songs
Townes Van Zandt
Jr. Walker & the All Stars
Warren Zevon
ZZ Top
This American Life Podcast
Japanese lessons
Lin's Bin WXRT Podcast
MacBreak Weekly Podcast
Mac Observer's Mac Geek Gab Podcast
NPR CarTalk Podcast
Spanish lessons
Slate Podcast
Quicksilver, Neal Stephenson
books being read or I wished were:
Chronicles Vol. 1, Bob Dylan
The Coast of Chicago, Stuart Dybek
Kings of Infinite Space, James Hynes
Quicksilver,
Neal Stephenson (yes,
still...)
Mind Hacks, Stafford & Webb
Mexico, DK Eyewitness Travel Guides
The Book of Five Rings, Miyamoto Musashi
Working, Studs Terkel
Various Historical Chicago Photograph Collections
amazon.com