tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40814012010-03-08T02:26:38.245-06:00"He sat down on a grassy bank and looked at the city that surrounded him, and thought, one day he would have to go home. And one day he would have to make a home to go back to." -- Neil Gaiman, "American Gods"Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03439434026067990024noreply@blogger.comBlogger457125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081401.post-8598892188350127102010-03-08T02:23:00.001-06:002010-03-08T02:25:46.277-06:00

Big changes are coming to Blogger. Not sure what I'm going to do about it.FTP publishing will no longer be available after May 1, 2010You currently have blogs that are published using FTP. You must migrate your blogs to a new custom domain URL or a blogspot URL.

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03439434026067990024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081401.post-66490453845666681672010-02-25T00:14:00.004-06:002010-02-25T01:28:50.775-06:00

I spent a lot of money on manga before I went to Japan. Back then, the manga I was buying was usually between $12-$15 a volume. I ended up selling a bunch of those to the used books dept. at Barnes & Noble before I left...and most of the rest during my first visit home.Ranma 1/2, Gunsmith Cats, Maison Ikkoku, Blade of the Immortal, Vagabond, You're Under Arrest, Battle Angel Alita, Inu Yasha,

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03439434026067990024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081401.post-19632658615882839042010-02-22T21:55:00.003-06:002010-02-22T22:09:55.863-06:00

Every morning, I would walk to work at the town hall in Higashiichiki. One railroad crossing, one stoplight-controlled intersection, one small shop owned by an old lady who laughed (at me) a lot. It took maybe 15 minutes to get to work, provided I wasn't distracted by wildflowers, small shiny lizards, or freakin' huge spiders, to name a few things.There were no sidewalks on the road for most of

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03439434026067990024noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081401.post-24914862844833593712010-02-13T00:47:00.003-06:002010-02-13T00:52:44.003-06:00

Conversation at work tonight:"Rob, what is that song you're singing?" (Sometimes, when it's late and I'm tired, I start singing quietly to keep myself awake. There is no logical connection there, but hey.)"It's a very very old song.""Bruce Springsteen? I really like Springsteen...""Older.""Bob Dylan?""Sinatra.""?!?"

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03439434026067990024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081401.post-44973331439883736652010-02-02T02:03:00.003-06:002010-02-02T02:12:01.271-06:00

A few 下敷(pencil boards):First: Belldandy.Front:Back:Second: Skuld.(only one side)And finally, some UFO catcher dolls...Click pictures for enlarged versions...if you dare.It's probably a good thing that I don't have easy access to anime toys memorabilia anymore.

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03439434026067990024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081401.post-11392596869921528852010-01-19T12:23:00.003-06:002010-01-19T12:28:38.921-06:00

That money from the Japan National Pension Fund arrived a few days ago. I actually debated the merits of paying off my credit card in one fell swoop for about thirty seconds or so."Well, if I pay off half now, or a third now, I could buy -- AAAAGH! STUPID!! PAY IT ALL OFF NOW NOW NOW NOW!"So, as of today, I am DEBT-FREE for the first time since, oh, college. Wow.

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03439434026067990024noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081401.post-91637966513542089922010-01-18T22:07:00.000-06:002010-01-18T22:08:19.561-06:00

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03439434026067990024noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081401.post-42400408506885384872010-01-16T23:26:00.003-06:002010-01-16T23:29:14.234-06:00

Calvin & Hobbes, the Norwegian version

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03439434026067990024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081401.post-29676902824994268792010-01-16T20:08:00.002-06:002010-01-16T20:23:49.851-06:00

Know what I could go for right now?Ramen.No, not this:I want ramen.No, DEFINITELY not this:I want ramen.You know...THIS:味噌チャーシューラーメン。mmmmMMMMMmmmm.

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03439434026067990024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081401.post-45162981543047601972010-01-14T19:57:00.000-06:002010-01-14T19:58:36.895-06:00

I get my money from the Japanese pension fund in the near future. Yaaaay!

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03439434026067990024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081401.post-32222557088801347642010-01-13T23:27:00.003-06:002010-01-13T23:36:06.117-06:00

...but I've been tired and grumpy lately, which doesn't make for good blog posts.A while ago, I thought about stockpiling some draft posts for exactly this kind of situation, but I got through just one of them before I gave up the idea. (This isn't it, by the way.) It was just...blah. Actually more boring than this post.Been working the day shift at work this week...it's so weird seeing

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03439434026067990024noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081401.post-63313569806837943312010-01-10T23:17:00.005-06:002010-01-11T02:03:42.534-06:00

Somewhere in the mid 1990s, I became interested in Japanese animation and comic books -- anime and manga. I became a fan during the last of the VHS age, and the introduction of the DVD age. Back then, getting anime in its original language, subtitled, was far more expensive -- one or two episodes per tape, for $30-$40. Even dubbed anime was around $20-$30 for a couple of episodes.I was still a

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03439434026067990024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081401.post-12138162873805534682010-01-08T12:31:00.002-06:002010-01-08T12:33:52.529-06:00

They say this is all CGI. All of it. Color me impressed. (^_^) (Watch it fullscreen, if you can)The Third & The Seventh from Alex Roman on Vimeo.

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03439434026067990024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081401.post-41020339861752735072010-01-07T00:28:00.001-06:002010-01-07T00:39:00.860-06:00

...and the first thought that comes to my head is, "What's with George's neck?"The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10cGeorge Lucaswww.thedailyshow.comDaily Show Full EpisodesPolitical HumorHealth Care Crisis

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03439434026067990024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081401.post-34648315469501845632010-01-05T23:07:00.002-06:002010-01-05T23:29:34.545-06:00

Back when I was on the JET Programme, the powers-that-be would sometimes have conferences/meetings/training seminars in various places...and if said places were far enough away, we'd have to get hotel space somewhere. Sometimes, the school board would supply the money, and other times not.I never stayed in one of these places myself, but I know of a couple of ALTs from the hinterlands of

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03439434026067990024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081401.post-12301941499712359562010-01-04T00:04:00.001-06:002010-01-04T00:07:18.206-06:00

One thing that's very different here than in Japan: I am no longer the tallest guy in the room. Occasionally in Japan, I felt like I was the tallest guy in the city...I was going to put up some photographs of me looming over the average Japanese people, but Blogger/ftp doesn't seem to be cooperating. We'll try that again later...

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03439434026067990024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081401.post-60566963865352098042010-01-02T23:55:00.000-06:002010-01-03T00:57:08.374-06:00

The end of the holiday season means two things to an average retail employee:1. Less stress -- No more last minute shoppers, less crowding in stores, more time to get other work done.2. Less money -- reduced customer load leads to cutbacks in everyone's hours...

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03439434026067990024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081401.post-14488641944946059842010-01-01T22:24:00.002-06:002010-01-01T22:33:03.581-06:00

Work today was kind of dead in the morning...go figure. (-_^) We were moving over the remnants of our Christmas stuff when one of the supervisors started doing...karaoke in the style of Billy Mays.Mays doing Hurt by Nine Inch Nails...***Brain Explodes***I've been spending my scant amounts of free time re-reading books that I haven't had a chance to look at in years. I had quite the library back

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03439434026067990024noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081401.post-28139550466326325442009-12-31T17:48:00.002-06:002009-12-31T17:50:54.099-06:00

I didn't get to watch the 紅白歌合戦 this year. First New Year's Eve in a long time where that didn't happen.On the other hand, this is the first year I get to go to Kim's New Year's party...Happy New Year, all!新年明けましておめでとうございます

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03439434026067990024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081401.post-87729718112971849562009-12-29T23:17:00.001-06:002009-12-29T23:19:27.937-06:00

...and other cultural opposites. Via sivers.org.

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03439434026067990024noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081401.post-29498929336034075122009-12-29T21:41:00.003-06:002009-12-29T21:52:05.573-06:00

For Black Friday this year, Target set up a lot of displays of merchandise that they don't normally carry. One of the displays was of Hello Kitty housewares; the Hello Kitty clock radio, the HK toaster, the HK water cooler, the HK sandwich maker, and the HK gumball machine, if I recall correctly. (A far cry from what is available in Japan, of course. Hello Kitty body-fat monitor, anyone?)

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03439434026067990024noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081401.post-52387283672420879322009-12-28T21:43:00.004-06:002009-12-28T22:05:15.065-06:00

Here are some scans of the first ever Macintosh game, released at around the same time the 128K Macintosh was introduced in 1984: "Through the Looking Glass", by Steve Capps.The game was something of a chess-based twitch game.(Click picture for larger, readable version)After clicking on what piece you'd like to move as, it's you as Alice against all sixteen of the opposition. Capture them

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03439434026067990024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081401.post-87567571194540430472009-12-27T20:44:00.003-06:002009-12-27T20:46:29.972-06:00

I recall reading somewhere a while back that one of the first things that happens after a plane crash is that someone is tasked to come along and scrape the name of the airline off the wreckage.I note that all reports of the terrorist incident this week refer to the flight as a "Northwest Airlines" flight...even though Northwest Airlines no longer exists in any meaningful fashion.Hmm.(^_^)

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03439434026067990024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081401.post-8194518540134474622009-12-26T16:24:00.002-06:002009-12-26T16:29:09.060-06:00

It's more than a little disconcerting to show up for work before 7:00 AM only to see a Fox 9 News truck parked squarely in front of the employee entrance. First thought: "That can't be a good sign. I wonder what happened...?"Turns out it was a "human interest" piece about returns the day after Christmas. This was forced to morph into something else when the anticipated crowd of people at the

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03439434026067990024noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4081401.post-30893971674483849672009-12-25T21:37:00.004-06:002009-12-25T21:41:36.703-06:00

Nope.b(^_^)dBonus weird Wikipedia link of the day: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_Jesus_theft

Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03439434026067990024noreply@blogger.com0