the Digital symptom

Hello all. It has been a long while.

In dealing with nearly 2 months without internet access and several comuter OS re-installs (plus hardware upgrade) there has been considerable delay in blogging.

I long for the glory days of blogging: when the firewall at work let me post and I could while away the long nightshifts by posting here and there.

I will be posting soon. There have been many more pictures as I am trying out my newest toy: a Sigma f1.4 30mm lens.

Updates as soon as I get my photo program installed. (2meg pictures are a bit large for the web...)

Cat!

I was going to take pictures of fireworks today, but it rained.

Meow.

That is all.

Eat up!

I finally got to go to my first firework show of the season yesterday. This one was a big one too! We made a BarBQ out of it.

Here in Japan, regular BBQ sauce (American style) simply doesn't exist. So, on trips to America I am always sure to pick up a few bottles. So yesterday, we carry all this stuff out (2 small grills, chicken wings and legs, pork ribs, marinated beef, family recipe kababs, a hell of a lot of drinks...) and set up. We got there at about 11am and my girlfriend and I sit in the sun with no shade for a few hours waiting for people to show up. Eventually they do. We set up the grill and an official comes over and says, "Your cooler is far too small, so you will have to dispose of my body by some other means." (What he really said is, "You can't BBQ here.") This is after hand carrying about one hundred pounds of stuff by hand over bus, train, and a heck of a lot of walking.

So, we go over the hill and set up there. News comes that this is no good too. So, we pull out the secret weapon: E. Her name is longer, but we will identify her as agent E. E has the ultimate weapon combination: a killer look and a sexy voice. She talks to the official a minute or too and says we have no where else to go. Permission is granted! (She's just got a weird voodoo power. She doesn't have to do anything, it's just a mind job. Space like: The female of the species is more deadly than the male...)

So, the BarBQ goes off great. Many of the Japanese had never had American style BarBQ before. The two kids (three and five) really liked it. I ended up giving the extra bottle to the father. (To make it sound dramatic, preceed the previous sentence with "In a drunken rage".) Since I was cooking, sadly, I did not bring my camera. One of the guys (the father actually) had his Pentax digital SLR and I got to try it out. Nice feel to it! I hope he will send me some of the pictures I took of the fireworks. The fireworks are wonderful and the show was about 1 hour long.

One thing I should remember for next time though... Since it was going to be very hot, I work a tighter fitting running shirt. But, regularly wearing T-shirts outside has given me a nice farmers tan. Some of my shock white upper arm was exposed. Though lathered in spf 50, it just didn't stand up to the sun. Now, I have Neapolitan arms brownish on the bottom, pink in the middle, white on top. Strawberry stings a bit, but mostly it's just funny looking. Maybe I should find one of my long sleeves...

Back... without a witty title

I am back from America, but since I got back I have had almost no time for anything. Since I took all that time off, now I get to make it all back up. Fun.

Anyway, quiz time. (And, incidentally, picture time.) Three historic places, each getting progressively more difficult to guess. One hint each. When you want to know the answer, check the picture's name. Good luck!



Number one:



Giveaway hint : This picture is worth five pennies.



Number Two:



Hint: Mamie has quite a beautiful home!



Number Three:



Hint : Though on the Northern side, this picture is taken from the Southern side of the field.

checking in

I'm in the US now and am just checking in. No time to write and I can't upload new pictures from here anyway. I am having a good time!

On the previous post, someone (who will not be identified!) left me an e-mail address. I have hidden comments on that entry to protect your e-mail from robots. They are stalking you. Buy an EMP cannon today.

Talk to everyone soon!

on the move

It's been busy lately! I am finally able to write for my blog more. I figured if they are going to block the firewall at work, then when it is slow, I am just going to compose an entry and e-mail it to myself. Though, I find that yahoo mail like to break my links...

Even with this new technique, work has been busy! Though, I am working a lot of extra hours too. I am going to the US in a few weeks, so I am making up the time now.

I am looking forward to eating! It's funny that when you go how, one of the things you most look forward to is food. Home food is always different. I don't know the exact science behind this, but it's true: there is no food like home. (Some say no place, but they have never seen suburbia. Everywhere is like home. Well, sort of...)

I am also looking forward to testing my camera. I was hoping to get a lens or two because they are bound to be cheaper in America... except that they don't exist. Every place I have called doesn't stock fourth thirds lenses! I can sometimes find the Zuikos, but I can almost never find the Sigmas. Especially not the new Sigmas... Like the 30mm F1.4 HSM. hang on... OK, drool is safely tissued. Maybe they just haven't hit the shelves yet.

For those of you who come here for the photos, the above shot is fairly easy to take, you just need to set your camera for late shutter flash. On my Olympus, that is "Slow 2". The flash fires just before the shutter closes making everything "pause". You do have to have a long shutter time for this to work. Set your camera to a ISO of 100 in low light or manually set the shutter for maybe half a second, hold the camera steady and take a picture of a close by moving object. (Close enough that the flash will reflect off of it.) Try it on people and they look like ghosts! Have fun!

Guam to Tokyo

Hello everyone! I am back in Tokyo and just about to head to work, but I figure I owe you an update. Here it is in turbo speed. Step back behind the safety line and 3. 2. 1. Go!

Guam was wonderful, but I wish we had hand a little more time. We arrived at night on the first day and just had time for dinner. Friday's was across the street and still open so they got the business.

The next day was snorkeling. Lots and lots of snorkeling. A break was taken for picture taking when the sun got low in the sky. Dinner at Outback. (I wanted a -big- piece of steak. That's hard to find in Japan!) Drinks at the hotel bar. Watery pina colada. No second drink, but nice view.

Day 3 was scuba in the morning and driving in the afternoon. Scuba was really fun and deserves its own entry, but for now it can be turbo speeded as (learn to dive, feed fish hotdogs, watch your fingers!) Driving in turbo speed is (about 3 hours to loop the south of the island not including U-turns, dogs and chickens in the road, Jeff's Pirate Cove, or other sight seeing.)

Day 4 was me forgetting where the rental place was and a fantastic "good gosh we have 5 minutes to be back at the hotel!" drive and then rush to the airport.

Heck of a great time!

Oops! I am late for work!

(PS: I am going to be opening a economic/political/social psychology blog apart from this one. Seems keeping politics away from polite company is the old rule. Any ideas on names???)