Month: March 2003

I’ve become sick of the site as it is now and I’m presently thinking of ways to redesign it. Add to that the fact that I would like to post my pics in a larger format (probably 600×450), and I haven’t found a way in the past to do it with the site as it looks now in a way that I like. I’m thinking of giving the site a more traditional blog look, with easier access to everything from sidebars. Also, I want everything to be done with CSS (now it’s sort of a mix). I’m not saying when the change will be done, as it could be this week or next month, but be warned that change is coming.

Change is good.

What you see today (030307) is the JR station at Ochanomizu. It was taken Sunday night on my way back from the Edo-Tokyo museum.

Today is cold and rainy. It’s a miserable day. I don’t want to go to work.

Today’s pic (030305) is of one of those miniature sets I was telling you about at the Edo-Tokyo museum. It represents an area of the city where people would gather to hang out and have fun. To the left you see structures that were set up to host kabuki shows.

Today’s another nice sunny day, but the wind is still keeping things really cold. I remember that last year I was able to go out without a jacket around the end of February, but this year is different. This should mean that the cherry blossoms should only appear around the end of March, as they should (last year, because of early warm weather, they were all in bloom around mid-March). The sakura (cherry blossom) season is definitely the nicest time in Japan, and it’s something I look forward to every year.

As I was passing through Takadanobaba station today on the way to work, I was very pleasantly surprised to hear that they had changed the music that usually plays when a train is about to leave to the theme song of Astro Boy. For those who don’t know, according to the original storyline Astro Boy was “born” April 7th 2003 in Takadanobaba. They will also be launching a new animated series on that date. They showed a preview of the pilot on January 1st, and it was quite good.

What you see pictured today (030303) is the Edo-Tokyo Museum, which I had the pleasure of visiting on Sunday. I’d heard of it before, but never really felt like going until I saw it featured on a TV show (SmaSTATION, which had a segment with Shingo Katori taking a bus tour of Tokyo with foreigners). The place is massive, and it feels like you’re walking into a huge warehouse (and the thing is up in the air, like you see in the pic). Inside you get lifesize reconstructions of certain monuments, as well as tons of cool things to see, including lots of miniatures (which I really enjoy). Even though we were there for 3 hours, I still didn’t have time to completely see everything, rushing through the whole Tokyo period, because the place was closing. I’ll definitely go again, and at only 600 yen, it’s a steal.

The other day I realized that I can now put my hair in a pony tail. I haven’t had hair that long since my first year of university (1991-92). It isn’t even something I was planning, but I’m just really lazy when it comes to getting haircuts. Some friends of mine from back home wanted photographic evidence, which is what you’re getting in tomorrow’s pic (030304).

The online games at the Orisinal website are simply gorgeous (and fun too).

Derek Kirk Kim is a wonderful comic creator who has a whole bunch of online comics at his website, Small Stories. I just read his Same Difference story, which was really good.