Door to Door

I hope the paper given is not as rough as the paper he is trying to sell!!!!!

jjc

Da Blooze......

Hey folks whats up? I know its been a while since my last post but a lot of sudden and not so encouraging news came my way in the last weeks..... So I have been a bit to myself and contemplating about all kinds of things. Sometimes when hearing about things that are not too positive in life, your head tends to spin with imaginative ideas of what could be, or what should have been.... Not to ramble on in this blog though, I have been thinking of my family these days and what makes my heart a bit sore these days is that my Aunt Millie passed away. She is one of the last of the kind of people who had a heart of gold. One of the things that I clearly remember, was Thanksgiving!!!! When I was young and living in Los Angeles, it was every year that ALL of us in the family would get together at her house. It didn't matter how you were, who you were, if you were family or even a close friend there was always room. What made it so special was that it was like how you saw it on TV, lets say the Lifetime channel for the folks who know about that channel. It was always warm and fuzzy and the togetherness we had at the time, especially discovering new additions to the family that remained hidden until that time -- something that has not been the same from the time that my father passed away...... I always tried to live in that moment as much as I can especially during the holidays and make them that special, just the way I remembered them with my Aunt. Things are definitely not the same anymore I understand that, and folks do get old including myself but, its those moments in time that last in my soul.
Just something I wanted to express these days. Relating on such a level from where I am makes it difficult at times.

I promise my next blog will bring a brighter note.......

She and others are in my prayers.

jjc

A new way to peel a banana!!!!

I couldnt resist!!!!!!






jjc

Japanese Wedding

Hey!!!! Another post another day. A past weekend ago I was invited to a Japanese Wedding. One of my coworkers, which is also a great hanging buddy of mine finally tied the knot! I was flattered and humbled to be included to support and participate in this exciting time for him. The newlyweds Takeuchi-San and Mizue Hashmito were officially married April 5, 2007. Their wedding style was more of a modern (Westernized) type, as how we would know, with a traditional white dress and the guys in tux and suits. The dinner party was also great which the invitation was for as pictured above. I know they went all out for the wedding it looked dreamy! What was great was that they even had bingo with, several prizes from wine, to tickets to Tokyo Disneyland! I won a bottle of Japanese rice wine. HHOOORRRAAAYY!!

The style of the dinner party was in context the same as the ones I have been to in America, except that there isn't any dancing or some kind of DJ spinning records in the background. It was more of a family style dinner, it reminds me a lot of how my family gets together sometimes and we just chat and are reminded of funny stories of the past with lots of jokes in between phrases. The dinner party had taken place at a restaurant, and was closed to the public for the night. We were served several types of food from Japanese traditional food to some Hawaiian dishes and I saw a couple plates that seemed a bit on the Chinese side of things too. Interestingly enough after the dinner the after party had taken place at a karaoke box. Personally I never thought I would still end up back in karoake for a wedding night party but it was fun anyway. One thing I did notice that caught me by surprise is that the professional wedding video and family photo picture movie, was already on display by the evening with the sad sappy music to go with it! Also lets not talk about the pictures. I was little dumbfounded that the videos and the pictures were in the groom and bride's hands before the night was up, that is what I call service......

All in all I had a wonderful time and I just wanted to say again congratulations to you both for a new life together full of love and bliss, and hopefully with lots of juniors running around!!!!!!!

jjc

(at the time of this writing I didnt have any pics to show but I will try and get some.)

Kyoto Fall ==> 2007 Part Two

So many pictures so many places so these will be just a highlight of the trip. The best of the best!!!!!!

Stone Garden which is kept in order on a daily basis from the time this temple was established hundreds of years ago.
Ni-Jo Jo Castle, very very big and spread out, unfortuneately there was a lot of stuff on the inside that cameras were not allowed so this and the the outside grounds area was as much as I can show......darn!!!!!



Click on the picture above to see the intricate detail I tried to capture on camera. Amazing!!! All wood by the way.

This is the bullet train we had taken to and from the city of Kyoto. Very slick fast and smooth, it was unbelievable. Overall the trip was great and I have never seen such diversity that Japan had especially all in one place!!!!

What trip!!!!!

jjc

Kyoto Fall ==> 2007

The last big trip of 2007 was Kyoto. A very beautiful and historic city full of Japan's culture. The trip covered three days however here is a snapshot of the trip with video's. Takeuchi-San and Furiki-San lead the way on this expedition over five hours away from our home to this end of the country to explore.

Kyoto Train Station. Very big and very Hi-Tech looking. In a way it was kind of strange see this style of a building when the entire city focuses on preserving an "Old Style Japan" look.

Raccon dogs and Me!!!!!

A very deep and tall bamboo forest in the Kyoto area. Very beautiful and never know that bamboo can be so tall and big!!!!







The weather was superb and surprisingly warm for this season. The famous Kyoto Tower Hotel pictured above, usually a classic icon of the Kyoto Area and have been seen on many sites and postcards about Japan.












to be cont.......

jjc

Tokyo International Anime Fair 2008 Part Two

After finally making it inside there was a lot of eye popping characters and bright colors for every booth presented at this convention. It was quite a surprise how crowded everything was. In the beginning it wasn't so bad to move around , so I had taken the opportunity to take as many photos as I could.

Who remember's this classic, in the picture above???????

No Anime convention could be complete without "PlayBoy Bunnies" hosting the Anime Casino within the convention. They were actually using real money to gamble on the slots, Pachinko and a host of other table games!!! I wanted to join in on the fun but the line was very long and there was still so much more to see.

The Tweety bird of the future. You guys saw it here first!!!! This collectible retails for more than 20,000Yen ($200US).


Anime heroines, these types of characters (female mainly) are the most popular and sexually provacative. Unbeknownst to a lot of people there is even underground X-Rated Anime with the same types of characters doing things that I cant mention on here!!!!

Transformers making a come back especially with a modernized Transformer movie recently released in Japan robotic characters will be back in style!!!!

Well thats all folks!!!! There was so much more to see, but a few hours into the convention, taking pictures was pretty difficult. People kept coming in through the doors and had gotten soooooo crazy and crowded, people began pushing to get through, so by that time, it was my que to leave the building!!!!!!

The feeling and energy from this convention was very exciting and bright, the essence of it was quite different from other animation conventions, this one felt charged up and electrifying!!!!