Japan's hero of ROCK!

They love him so much that they named a drink after him!

My favourite Jack Black youtube video...

Mormon cult video

this is a pretty...er...how do you describe it? Chillingly beautiful video about an interview with three mormon wives. Currently there`s a major court case about under-age sex at the "ranch" in Texas.

the next craze

This is the best video ever! So funny!

the next craze!

check this out!

sanity check!

Other new things:

I bought new glasses,
Joined a tea ceremony class,
Saved Tibet (single-handedly!),
Planted 50 sunflowers,
Drew up a zombie-emergency plan,
Walked in the mountains,
Spent all my money this month...

gundam

Ok, I know it's dorky. But recently I have rediscovered arcade games at the age of 28. One of my students is an acoustician researching emotional impact of music in multi-media. He told me about how video games are breaching virtual reality. And when I saw the Gundam pods for the first time, I fell in love.
You climb into a POD (Pilot Operating Device) and control a giant robot, along with any of your friends who are in other pods. You communicate through head sets and fight people in other game centres in far off places.
This is the inside of the pods. It's impossible to take a decent picture of it without a fisheye lense, since it is literally a 180 degree sphere. There are better pictures of it here at the official site.

Every week there is a different map. This one was in the Himalayas.

For those who don't know, Gundam is a very popular series in Japan. It is about giant robots, space ships, a civil war, and has some cool animation.

Outside of the pods there is a game screen where others can watch the battle. It is also where you upgrade your mech and get new ranks.

This is a bad shot of the battle.

There are two sides. The the rebels, who fight in transformer-looking bots, and the 'principality of Zeon', who are kind of the bad guys.

My robot is one of the bad guys. The type is called a Domu and it fights with a giant laser katana.

It truly is an immersive experience...and kind of addictive.

Sakura

'Hanami' is the custom of going cherry blossom viewing. This is an important part of all Japanese people's lives. The cherry blossoms are so fragile and they arrive spontaneously and disappear within a week or two. During this time schools, businesses and friends have cherry blossom viewing parties. It is against the backdrop of the pale pink sakura that people meet their new schoolmates, co-workers, as well as say goodbye to old friends. Although they fall off the trees in a matter of days, the beauty of the blossoms never fade. I mean, I have seen the same scene for 3 years now and I have never gotten sick of it. I still take the same pictures every year! And you may never be able to show the true beauty in a photograph, but still somehow you can't stop taking pictures. This year I took some new pictures, as well as some of the same ones as before. And I too have said goodbye to many students under the pink trees. (Bye bye Chizuko! I'll miss you!)

Along one of the many canals in Kanazawa. I think this one used to be part of the castle moat.

This is the first tree to open in Kanazawa every year. It is part of a private garden in of an old samurai house.

An old favourite.

Sunset at the castle

Night time in the park looks like you are walking through the milky way, especially if the blossoms are reflected in the black water.

Relaxing along the Sai river. Some pigeons were also enjoying the cherry blossoms.

A road with a sakura canopy.

best misprint ever!!!

The New York Times misprinted the CERN Large Hadron Collider as 'The Large HARDON collider". Considering all the controversy recently (A lawsuit has been filed with a US court about the possibility of destroying the universe by creating a black hole or by splitting time/space to create a new dimension), this is the best picture ever: Still laughing about it...