Airport Airport

This post and the last sponsored by KIX wireless networks. I know that wireless is old news & i should be less excited about it, but my inner geek can't help it. Airports rule.

Mike

Osaka Aquarium

Last week between computer repairs and cell phone delegations, we managed to make a stop at the very awesome Osaka Aquarium:

Bad. Good. Better. Worst. Best.

Bad news: after a year of hobbling along on its last crippled leg, the ibook harddrive died once and for all last week. Even the Apple staff declared it D.O.A. I'd been pushing it hard in preparation for some shows in New York and don't know what I was thinking. No major data loss this time. Just some audio projects I had worked on, many of which are still on Minidiscs anyway.

Good news: I got a new harddrive and it seems to be working fine.

Better news: While we were at the Apple Store I got a new Mac so i could work easier without beating the tar out of the ibook. We are now a two-laptop household again. (Colleen's Thinkpad has theoretically worked the whole time, but does it really count?)

Worst news: Artistically and technologically satisfied, I am now broke as a joke. Possibly broker.

Best news: built-in WEB CAM!!!! oh boy...

Bonus Craziest (old) news: USA in 5 days. Holla.

Mike


PS (from Colleen): This webcam has inspired me to start a Skype campaign. Loved ones, a year is too long. The blog is great, but I need to talk to y'all. at least some of the time. So who's down for this? Who's up for the latest inaka updates straight outta ichi-no-miya ?? Let's get Skype!

Wooden dolls and draft beer from a vending machine

Do you like our dolls? Mike, Grace, Osaki-sensei, and I visited an artist's workshop to make these dolls. Disclaimer: It was our first time, and none of us had used wood-burning tools this way before. The teacher used to teach kimono painting in Kyoto, now she is teaching woodworking and painting, plus doing plenty on her own as well. I wish we had taken pictures of her dolls, so you could see how beautiful and professional the "real" ones are.

In the meantime, can you guess which one is Mike's ??? How about Osaki-sensei's (it wasn't her 1st!) ??


Anyhoo, a funny thing happened tonight in Kobe. First of all, we were bummed to find out that the show Mike wanted to see had happened the night before, and tonight they were in Osaka. That was sad. It was our whole reason to be in Kobe. Ah well. We decided to wander around looking for a great place to have dinner, and fill our empty bellies. We found a fashionable Italian restaurant, and ordered pasta, pizza, and 2 draft beers. A couple mintues later, Mike noticed one of the chefs open the register, take out some coins, and leave. He came back with 2 cans of beer, went behind the bar, poured, and served ?!?! They weren't even discreet about it. Pretty funny.

-Colleen