Pyramid Power Toilet

Behold! The mysteries that lie within the pyramid power toilet are now revealed.

Hit the jump for bubbly goodness.

Update: I've pulled this video down in favor of remixing the ending. Look for the new mix soon!

Kyushu Pictures Up

Just posted some pictures from the recent trip to Kyushu. Engrish pics to come separately.

Hit the jump for the album (facebook).

jFrisbee Golf

Today: hot, sunny, light winds. Can't think of better conditions than to go throw a game of disc golf!

Headed out to the local course, which is all of 7 minutes away from where I'm staying. Closer than I've ever been to a course back in Cincy! Anyway, this one's located at a really nice park, Shiki no mori (The forest of 4 seasons). In addition to the disc golf, they also have a regular golf course, animal petting zoo, snow sledding zone, huge flower gardens, and more!

A few things different about disc golf back home:
1) Discs are free upon paying the 200 yen ($2) to play. Great, since I didn't bring a disc with me.
2) The courses are netted as to prevent your disc from going out of bounds. I still managed to go over on two shots, one of them into a deep bamboo forest! (And I did manage to find it, as well as another park disc!)
3) The regulars of the course are mostly middle aged ladies. No military men or ex-marines, etc.
4) The course has hazards like ponds (dry) and sand bunkers.

All in all, I started off poorly, but brought myself back, making a few birdies and parring a lot of the others. Good times!

One final note: this is the course where I got my only hole-in-one up until now. Did this the first time I played the course back in October '02. Hole 9.

Meet the Family

Got back a bit ago from our trip to Kyushu. This was my first time down there, went with my fiancee and her parents to her mom's home. Met the extended family too, really cool family indeed. Very, very welcoming and I felt right at home.

About Kyushu: Quite a different place from the rest of Japan! Huge rolling hills with lots of trees, beautiful mountains, and hot springs everywhere you look. Even got to get up to the top of a large active volcano, Mt. Aso. We did a lot of traveling there, pretty non-stop visits from one place to the next (short list is below!).

The biggest difference about going there was no access to the internet. Something almost unavoidable in my daily life, it's an interesting feeling for me to be so disconnected. My only point of communication for 4 days was my fiancee's cell phone, and I don't even think my parent's know how to reach me there. (Maybe they do?) Anyway, always nice to be removed from the constant (over)flow of information I sort through on a daily basis that comes to me via an internet connection.

And now for the good stuff: what we did!
- Took a domestic flight from Nagoya Airport (Komaki, the old airport) to Kumamoto city
- Watched kids sledding with no snow
- Saw the inside of the largest active volcano in Japan, Mt. Aso (it was green, from the water inside)
- Went to a black pork specialty butcher
- Met my fiancee's extended family: aunts and uncles, cousins
- Ate basashi, raw horse meat (good!)
- Visited the hot springs hell of Beppu (Bouzu, Umi, and Chi - buddhist monk, sea, and blood, literally)
- Went to a monkey park on Mt. Takasaki that had literally hundreds of monkeys running around
- Saw a walrus show. Yes, a walrus show. Those guys are funny!
- Saw a Japanese neo-Nazi supporter demonstrating via a jet ski
- Saw the Pacific Ocean via Beppu Bay
- Had a shabu shabu party with Matsuzakaya beef (a type of wagyu, expensive Japanese beef!)
- Walked across the most famous bridge in Japan, the Yume (dream), Ohtsurihashi of Kokonoe
- Had an excellent pre-wedding dinner at a local izakaya
- Visited the hot spring village of Kurokawa

It's late. Like 8pm dinner time late. More pics to follow in the next day or so.

Man, it was busy. Non-stop! But great to do, and everything I had hoped it would be and more!

Off to the Hills of Kyushu!

Short post today. Getting ready to catch a plane to Kyushu to go visit the fiancee's relatives, enjoy the mountains, and travel to places I've never been before. Exciting! Pictures to follow~

And now for the week in review:

Bamboo shoots are in!
I took a trip last weekend to the mountains.
I went surfing in the neighborhood.
Some guy my age gets the Death Penalty.
American Junk Stores in Japan are a happening place.

Have a good weekend!

American Junk Stores in Japan

Yesterday, I happened to pop my head in what could be considered an American junk store. The place was lined with clothes (mostly shirts, jackets, and meshback hats), pop-culture toys (think happy meal or cereal box toys), and then assorted random stuff like street signs, beer clocks, a giant captain D's pirate, stuff like that. Talk about nostalgia. That, and I could totally provide them with a new collection.

I ended up talking with the guy behind the counter for a long time. Interestingly, the clerk actually recognized us: my girlfriend's brother frequents these kinds of places in his free time, and I guess had told this guy about us. The clerk, who's actually my age, travels twice a year to Oregon to stock up. Has an American back in the states who goes around garage sales, rummage sales, etc. finding stuff that would otherwise appeal to the Japanese. And makes a good living off of doing it too!

The Death Penalty

Big in the news this week was the sentencing of a man accused of killing a 23-year old mother and her 11-month old daughter back in 1999. The case has flipped and flopped back and forth now for 9 years, going as far to the Supreme Court, who then gave the case back to the Hiroshima High Court for sentencing. The verdict? Death by hanging. Yes, even in Japan, capital crime has its highest forms of punishment.

Interestingly, they do not reveal the murderer's name. He was nineteen at the time of the crime, making him a minor then, but quickly became of age as the case dragged on. Two days ago, when the verdict came, they showed videos of him balling in court, proclaiming to be a worthless human and all that.

Just found it interesting that they still have the death penalty here, in a land that's all about peace and tranquility.

More after the jump (via Japan Today)

Gettin' Around

Japan's all about public transportation: all the cities are interlinked by a massive system of trains, subways, and bus lines. Riding them around? Pedestrian! Why ride those when you can go in style?

So today, I decided to go surfing in Japan. Much more entertaining! And with all the hills around here, plenty of places to do that. Catch the jump for my clip.

Going Surfin'

A Trip to the Mountains

One of my main reasons of waiting until April to come to Japan this year was to enjoy the sakura (cherry blossoms) in bloom. It's a great season where everyone comes out to hold picnics with friends under the trees, drink some beer, and enjoy the scenery. Sounds great! But! This year it started early, and by the time I arrived in Nagoya... the flowers were mostly gone.

So! We decided to take a trip to the mountains of Nagano. Nagano is like the Colorado of Japan. It's a beautiful prefecture completely found within the mountains of Honshu (the main island). Since the weather's a bit colder there, the sakura are just now at their peak. Absolutely beautiful!

The first place on our stop was Zenkoji, and old Buddhist temple upon which the city of Nagano was founded. And what a huge temple! It's considered one of the national treasures of Japan. And the day we arrived, the place was under police investigation. Someone had decided to spray paint it, most likely in protest of Zenkoji's declination to be the starting point of the Beijing Olympic's relay race. (Due to the pressure put on by the whole free tibet thing).

Hit the jump for the graffiti news.

Next on our list was Garyu Koen, one of the country's most famous hanami (flower viewing) parks. There are literally hundreds of cherry trees all over, and the day we got there was their big sakura festival. Totally awesome. Basically, the trees outline a small lake, with festival booths offering food, drinks, and games along one side. We got there around 4pm, and saw several groups that had been going at it all day long. Passed out or otherwise drunk people all over (including a gal dressed as a frog... yeah!)

That night, we headed to an Ryokan, a traditional Japanese style hotel with an onsen (hot spring) attached to it. Very different kind of hotel! First of all, you eat in your room, sitting on the tatami (straw mat) floor. No showers or anything in the room either! For bathing, you go public, old school! The water itself is fresh hot spring water rich in minerals that are good for the skin. Dinner and breakfast come included, and are of more of the traditional Japanese many many dishes flavor. (I unfortunately got very sick and couldn't eat dinner... more on that later!)

Anyway, other than the getting sick portion, it was a great two day trip. Shot a lot of video and photos, too.

Check out the photos here.

In Season: Bamboo Shoots!

Around here, it's bamboo shoots (take no ko) season! They're all over! Madness in the streets! You'll find them lined up at grocery stores, on the menus at restaurants, and brought to life in the ads. Here, they're like the Beatles: bigger than Jesus!

The locals flock to the hills to dig them up. I too am hoping to make the trek with my fiancee's parents. Never done it before! This is the land of bamboo after all, seems like a great thing to do.

They're good, too. We had some of the steamed variety last night, served with a bit of salt and pepper. Really soft and have an excellent texture! Never seen them back in the states, not a lot of bamboo there. For shame!

More Engrish Up

New batch in. Some awards have been given!

Facebook gallery after the jump.

Food In Japan: This week in review

So what do you eat during a week in Japan? Been asked that quite a few times now, so here's a quick briefing!

Breakfast:
Japanese bread. Is so much. better. So I do! Japanese bacon is also quite different, so I start my day with a combination of the two. I know: not very traditional at all! That's ok, it gets me going, and that's the goal of breakfast anyway.

On with the meals!

Saturday:
Lunch: Katsudon (pork cutlets served over rice)
Dinner: Izakaya visit #1. Included grilled chicken / green onions, grilled chicken wings, salad, grilled potatoes, fish.

Sunday:
Lunch: Salmon onigiri from the local convenient store (conbini!)
Dinner: Curry rice.

Monday:
Lunch: Yakisoba.
Dinner: Kare mirin (grilled fish), miso soup, rice.

Tuesday:
Lunch: Shaka shaka chicken. Fried Rice.
Dinner: Hoikoro (miso flavored vegetables) and fried rice (takikomi).

Wednesday:
Lunch: Soy sauce, ramen.
Dinner: Karaage (Japanese fried chicken!) and spinach sautee, salad.

Thursday:
Lunch: Rice onigiri (rice balls). Of the takikomi flavor (mixed veggies!)
Dinner: Izakaya visit #2, with grilled chicken / green onions, daikon salad, grilled mini-green peppers and shiitake mushrooms, grilled chicken liver. The place we went to had a drink special, draft beers until 7pm were like 280 yen ($2.75!)

Friday:
Lunch: Gyudon @ Yoshinoya. Thin sliced beef with a sweet sauce served over rice. With a side of miso soup!
Dinner: Shabu Shabu. Think of it as a magic stew where fresh vegetables and meat (thin sliced pork) are dropped in, cooked for a minute or two, then pulled out and dipped in sauce, eaten there. Cooked right at the table!

Week in review!

Been in Japan for a whole week now, had a lot of free time on my hands. Seen quite a bit, posted some of. Never an easy thing to sum up, especially when I'm trying to preserve some of the more classic moments with video. Which are not complete at this time and thus not here!

As for the blogging: Yep, I'm new to this, but do keep posted to several each day. In particular, the Gawker media sites. In some regards, I've borrowed some of their features. If it ain't broke, why try to fix it, right?

Thus, onto a great feature from Kotaku: the week in review! Always a good way to catch a breather, ponder the happenings over the past week, and enjoy a beer at the same time. The links aren't all there, but I'll fill them in.

- Arrived in Japan (wow, a week ago?)
- Moved my fiancee out of her apartment and rewarded myself to some good pork.
- Shot a short film about getting the dog a drink
- Visited some home goods and novelty stores to make a video about Japanese toys.
- Made some good progress on my game project
- Started a new collection of Engrish photos.
- Tossed the 'bee with Patrick Miller of OU fame.
- Assembled a Maxass video from an old show
- Got hit by some rain from Japan's first Typhoon of 2008
- Tried a Mc Shaka Shaka chicken mixer at McDonald's (video link coming soon)
- Went to downtown Nagoya to meet one of Reiko's friends and drank on the bus.

And more! Shot a lot of video at this point but have yet to edit a lot of it. All in good time...

Drinkin' On The Bus

One thing that will never get old in my book is being able to drink in public. So different! So great! Yesterday we were waiting for a bus to come back from meeting a friend and dinner... what a great time for a beer! Go to the store, grab a beer (always available in individual cans!). Get on the bus and enjoy the beer.

Storm's A-brewin': Here Comes the Typhoon

It's coming. Oh yes, it couldn't be avoided: right on the horizon is the first typhoon of the year around here. Tomorrow? Rain day! And the day after as well. Sounds like we're getting the outside of it here, so we won't see the crazy rain or winds, but will still get a nice little dumping.

Never heard for sure if Japanese folks do anything special for typhoons (my girlfriend's brother suggests not!) Though! That's not going to keep me from celebrating it with a beer and teriyaki burger!

Any suggestions for what to do during a typhoon? The first typhoon of the year?

Who's That?

Ah, the joy's of having a new mini DV cam: busting out the old tapes!

I've shot a lot of footage over the past few years in mini DV (digital video), and have quite a collection of tapes now, covering all different kinds of things. Trips to Japan, welding videos, reckless driving, you name it, we've tried to capture it. Then! All the cameras went away. Somewhere, and I have no idea how this happened, my brother's suddenly went missing. Then our camera at work broke down. All this great media, no way to play it.

Until now! Mini DV cameras are being phased out, but that doesn't mean they're a bad product. No! They're quite great, taking great videos with great audio, all at a very affordable price. Case in point: before coming to Japan, I decided to get a better camera to eliminate the issues I was having with my personal digital camera. Managed to pick up a really nice Sony model for $215 after discounts at a local Circuit City. Not too shabby!

So today I offer a brown present from summer 2006: a totally brown Maxass live performance at the Pearl nightclub in Dayton. One of our finer performances, despite the fact we were down a member: our bassist got sick as a dog and had to be picked up by his folks prior to playing. We played anyway, and our old man even drove up from Cincy for the show.

Hit the jump for the song.
Who's that? Bu duba duba doo!

JFrisbee Night Note

Got to toss the ol' frisbee around today with the director of the OPELT program at Chubu. First time on astro turf! Made it seem like you could really set yourself up for some crazy catches that you could totally land wrong on and still walk away. Also, despite the fact that it wouldn't work in a real game, you could get a good skip-bounce shot off without having to worry about scratching the hell of the frisbee, or it coming back up covered in mud.

We were later joined by a member of the girl's only Chubu ultimate team. They're one of the leaders of the local circuit. Every shot was spot on. Never played with anyone that precise! Gotta work on my throws now... needless to say I was impressed.

Viva Chubu sports!

Engrish.

Engrish. The love of flawed attempts at my own messed up language I can't seem to escape. In Japan, they're a dime a dozen. Impossible not to find them! Check out my latest collection on facebook.

Engrish in Japan!: Keep 'em comin'

Japanese Wonder Omocha

And now for something completely different: Toys in Japan.

Japanese Wonder Omocha

Tables Turned, Lessons Learned...

Kotaku posted a story about a game called Sadness currently in development for the Wii. They write, "Is Gamebryo the most powerful game engine available for the Wii? Polish developer Nibris seems to think so. They've tapped Gamebryo to power their upcoming black and white adventure game Sadness, and they're saying the engine lets them achieve the impossible on Nintendo's plucky little."

The most powerful Wii development set... the Gamebryo.

What kills me is that I missed a great opportunity to hear all the nitty-gritty about the Gamebryo toolset at GDC back in February. At the time, I didn't fully understand what the Emergent Technology was providing, which were basically private presentations on their development suites for console systems, including the Gamebryo Wii development set.

I did have time to play their Wii tech demo, a FPS shooter controlled with those snazzy Nyko Perfect Shot guns. Very surprised to hear that the game was only a tech demo - it had the look and feel of a fully fleshed game, at least the level I played.

I found Emergent Technology's booth time schedule sheet when i was cleaning out my suitcase for packing for Japan. That's when I really saw how many free demos they had... and i about shit myself. All of this free of course. I had just gotten so caught up in the non-stop energy of GDC that I had failed to process the significance at the time until now.

Lesson learned.

I Watched the News Today, Oh Boy...

Big in the news this morning was an investigative report following the death of a tourism bus driver that happened on Friday. According to the reports, one of the truck’s 12 wheels came off, jumped a center divider of the expressway and smashed through the window shield into the driver’s seat, killing the driver on impact.

Apparently, the driver of the truck didn't get his regular 1-year point inspection of the truck and failed to realize the significance of the odd noise coming from the back of the truck. By the time he looked up in the rear view mirror to see the tire go flying off, it was too late.

What struck me interesting was that on the program they had the actual wheel sitting there in the open for people to see. I can't think of a news program in the US that would show this. Also interesting was they were talking at length as to how to prevent this - another thing we would rarely see on the news back home.

Hit the jump for the more (Japan News)

Get the Dog a Drink!

Shot this one around the 'hood today. My fiancee's parents have these sweet security gates on their house, which I've always wanted to do something with. And some driving scenes, just love doing those. The end result is a sporadic look around the block for a not-so-common task: getting the dog something to drink!

The best part was how far the lady in the store went along with it. Like it's practically expected to just put a dog on the counter there! She even petted him and said goodbye. Hey, at least she gets it! Gotta give that dog a drink!

Also, I managed to shoot a fair amount of smaller random clips for some other sequences I'm working on right now. Just trying to get as much material as possible to make some more random music videos. Coming to Japan gives me all kinds of material AND ideas I couldn't find elsewhere, which is a pretty nice bonus considering the costs involved in getting here.

Hit the jump for the youtube version.
Get the dog a drink (via youtube)

XBOX 360: It ain't popular here

Yesterday, I popped into a large toy store down in Osu Kanon. The first floor is completely filled with video games, with large kiosks setup right in front for the Wii, PSP, PS3, and DS.
But wait: where's the XBOX 360? Back in a corner, with its back to everyone. With nobody around. It just ain't popular here!

My thoughts? It never will be. With Playstation 3 fever on the rise (Metal Gear Solid's launch isn't far off), hard core gamers here have already decided which system is the winner. 360 sales here remain a joke week after week, and there's no signs that this will change anytime soon.

Haven't seen a single 360 commercial here yet, either, and I watched a lot of tv yesterday, too. Will keep you updated!

Yabaton Magic Pork Building

Yabaton. Home of the giant pig with a big red skirt. I had seen this place before, finally went for the first time yesterday. To all those that frequent Nagoya: this place is the real deal.

Located right outside of Osu Kanon on Osu Dori en route to Sakae, you can't miss the building with its huge 5-story pig spread outside. They want your business! There was actually a line out the door when we got there yesterday, but didn't wait for more than 10 minutes. This particular location is the home location, with another half a dozen spread across the country.

So I mentioned the pork here. At it's heart, it's a tonkatsu shop (fried pork cutlets), covered in the local favorite miso sauce. Oodles of it! My first impression is they might just have it piped in from a local miso processing factory. The taste? Magical. Definitely a Nagoya classic, with lots of signed jerseys hanging on the walls from famous players from the Chunichi Dragons (Nagoya's baseball team).

If you're in the area, stop by and get your pork on!

And I'm Outta Here... But Not Without a Snag

At the airport, waiting to get on the big aluminum tube that will carry me to my next world for the coming weeks. Almost there!

But not without a problem first! Sitting in an online cafe right now, connected via Boingo, an online service for connecting me anywhere in this concourse. Logged into Skype to make a quick call to the lady, and saw I had no credits. 10 more Euros, please. Then I get an error: cannot process this request since I do not have an active internet connection. Say what? I'm logged in, fool! So I tried again, same message. Can not purchase.

Then! All my requests all kick in, and I've got 40 Euros ($63 USD) of credit I just bought. WTF! I don't want that much. Tried to contact their customer service, so the best I could do was fill out a service request form and now get to play the waiting game.

I guess I'll find out how great this company truly is...

The Last Day ...

Short post today. Too much to do before I leave! I just love how right when I'm about to get out, everybody suddenly realizes how many things really need to get done, so they task me with them. As if! Haven't even really started packing either!

Great time last night at Hinder's, thanks to all that made it out for the sendoff. Beer, wings, and stories of rabbit ears were enjoyed by all! Tonight, I'm off to the Nati after work, and tomorrow is the big flight across Canadia and Alaska en route to Japan.

New zany videos to come soon!

Don't Lose Track of those Bugs

Whew! It's been non-stop around here getting ready for my leave for Japan. From preparing to move, getting stuff into storage, seeing friends I will not see for a while, and taking care of my contingency plan for work, I've been busier than ever. This is all good, and especially great that I've been able to spend time with friends I don't see as often as I'd like. The downside of this is that I've had very little time to play the hermit and get in some good work on my game project.

This is killer to the progress of a programmer. When I'm at my peak, I can program for hours. I get inside the code, and understand everything that's going on. If there's a bug in the code, I can generally trap it quickly enough and address the issues there. Not so true when I can barely squeeze in an hour at a time! Since I'm doing all the programming and testing, I'll find that I'm fixing one thing, but without the proper time to check other related items, I've found that this can let leaks and breaks and all the other nightmares of programming out of the bag.

This is all part of the normal programming schedule of the novice: finding out the hard way that your plan wasn't as well thought out as it should have been. Squirrel Eiserloh, technical director at Mumbo Jumbo (Dallas) was quoted on the hiring pamphlet at this year's GDC saying that extra time spent reworking and debugging is a just a result of poor planning. Couldn't agree more! This will become the new mantra for me as I continue to push forward into this field.

More news on the game project will be revealed here over the next few months.

Busy Busy Weekend!

Wow, busy times this past weekend. Cheers to all who came out Friday and Saturday to celebrate my pre-departure bachelor events. Completely made up for last weekend's movefest which rendered me tired and stressed.

Amongst other things, we hit up bars, made a huge barrel fire, blew up lighters, had a pasta party at 3 in the AM, sequenced a self-portrait video, saw some awesome live rock music, saw the Reds destroy the Phillies, grilled pork, bought a new video camera, and still had time to catch my breath too.

This week's going to be busy with finalizing the leftovers before I leave Thursday for Japan.

As for the video, hit the jump!
Self-Portrait 1: RDJ Throwdown

The Fallen

Just heard the news of the fire yesterday in Cincinnati where two firefighters didn't make it out alive. What a tragedy, I don't know even know these folks but its terrible to hear. These people gave their lives to save others! I have infinite respect for anyone that would go into a burning building, especially one with an unstable structure.

Hit the jump for the full story (via Cincinnati Enquirer)

'Mayday' Turns to Mourning

The Attraction to Vinyl

I had some free time on my way home today, and decided to pop into Gem City Records to find a gift for Reiko's brother (who spins in his free time). Sure enough! I found a cool beats record, Ape Beats vol. 5, and decided that would be a good start. Then, the eye catcher: a reissue of an old Big Black album from Touch And Go records.

But it was the name that got me on this one: "Big Black Songs About F*cking". Pure explicit blasphemy! CDs, I typically buy because I've heard of the band or know who produced it or what label its on. But vinyl? The cover art and or verbage! This, I knew right away, pushed some peoples buttons when it came out. Let's have a listen then!

As for the sound, man does it rock. Sounds kinda like of crossover between The Wipers, Mudhoney, and Ministry circa Psalm 69-era. Then I read up and found out this was one of Steve Albini's many older projects. Q Magazine's August 2007 issue named it as the fifth loudest album of all time. Right up my alley.

Big Black (wikipedia)

What's With All The Monkey Hate?

Just got back from Cold Beer & Cheeseburgers, a local chain that offers quality bar drinks at great prices and less than stellar burgers for outlandish prices. Last time I checked, they were using JTM patties (or lesser quality beef-corn mix). Though! The wings were decent and filling tonight, and would definitely go back for those.

After eating, Paul and I perchanced to notice a plethora of free credits on one of the touch-screen Megatouch bar game machines. After an epic bout of erotic photo hunt, we decided to move onto to some of the other games. Monkey Bash! Office Bash! Chug Monkey! All of these involved some form of either physical or psychological beating of monkeys! Great games all with good design, if not ripping off ideas from other games (Monkey Bash is the bar version of the flash hit Kitten Cannon). Nice credit find, yes. The monkeys? Sucks to be them, because our high scores meant they're inevitable beating.

And Just Like That, I Became Homeless!

I just finished 3 days of moving hell, leaving my house of the past 3 years. My roommate Adam, along with the semi-house mascot, Splints, preempted me in moving out at the beginning of the month, and there's no way I could afford the place on my own. As the lease was month-to-month, I could afford to pay for one month's rent by myself... barely. Anyway, I paid it, and now my time was up. And out I went!

As I'm a bit unsure about where I want to live next, I figured the best thing I could do was to temporarily move stuff into storage, stay with some friends with a bit, and finally, a rescue mission (Where else but Japan!?). Got a lot on my mind right now and need to get some stuff worked out.

I would like to thank all of those who have helped me throughout the moving process. Special thanks to Paul and Eli for their willingness to lend a hand in the inevitable ending of my bachelor pad. I really don't know how I could have done it otherwise. Thanks a million!


Where'd my room go?