sunrise

Great news, Markie, thanks for letting us know. Tell him we were all rooting for him.... Hmmm, I guess he won't go back to work in the SARs ward... Why won't he ever be 100% again?

Glad to hear Hong Kong is slowing down.... Hope your friend recovers well. As for your sick mind.... hmmm.... maybe there's nothing anyone can do for that. I assume it's not contagious, but at any rate I may wear a mask if or when I finally meet you one day.....

Hi Markie, Sounds like you had a great trip, and yes, hopefully I'll be around next time you come this way. How's your friend doing?

I was thinking about inline skating myself and would be curious to know more about 'rules'. There must be somewhere you can do it aside from roads. Where were you trying to skate when you were 'informed' by your cop, Fattwins? Hmmm, I guess there's always Sendagaya ice rink in Tokyo for the ice option.

Quote: Originally posted by Ocean11: http://www.drawright.com/gallery.htm In many of these before and afters, I prefer the before - greater immediacy, purity of line, and more confident handling. The after just has a patina of art-school 'fill the paper' shading. Ah, but that's just the beginning..... it gets much better from there on..... I've seen some fantastic works produced by people who've continued on after the basic course. I have to agree that that page you found wasn't as impressive as others that I've seen. The ones I've seen in Japan were better.

I hope your friend is okay, Markie. Glad to hear that you're okay.... How was your trip to Japan by the way?

Probably better to be sent home than to stay very long in prison (or detention). That's not a place you want to wind up. A friend was kept in detention for 7 days for some stupid thing once. 3rd worldish. You can wash once a day, bath once a week, but except for the bath you're not allowed to wash your underarms or genitals (mind f*ck). Lights are on 24 hours. No privacy - guards patrol the 'cages' from above. Detention you can have visitors once a day, but in jail I think it's something like once a month or even less and then it's only allowed to be family. They can hold you in det

Hi there db, greetings from rainy England, Painting: Shinobazu pond at the bottom of Ueno park is filled to the overflowing with lotuses in the summer. They start to flower in July and the peak is really August. It's so peaceful there, by the water. One year I was there a lot and it didn't feel like I was in Tokyo at all. If you want to paint them the best time to get the fully open blossoms is before midday when they start to close up a little. The leaves are pretty amazing as well. I spent a couple of days working on the leaves, but you have to get the flowers quickly. I w

Bic Camera? Boy, they really do sell them everywhere now. Thanks, I'll check it out. For anyone interested, Tempur products mould themselves to the contours of your shape. The original product was developed by NASA. http://www.tempurpedic.com

As for Tempur slippers, I didn't know they had those! I'll have to check them out. I also have the back rest and cushion, though I found I prefer a harder base to sit on, so I don't use the cushion much. The back rest is great for driving.

Quote: Originally posted by Goemon: : I have a Tempur contour pillow and I highly recommend it. Although I'm not a slipper man per se, I'm even considering getting the Tempur slippers; Like walking on clouds. And if you really want to spoil yourself, there is a full size Tempur bed available too; I got to test-drive one at a furniture show last year. Not sure how supportive it is for bumping uglies though. Yes! Tempur pillows! They're heaven. Don't hesitate. Go out and get one. You won't regret it. I've been sleeping on them for 6 years now. I even got the travel pillow for

Yes, take care with that one. Must be a bit scary out your way right now......

Hi Markie, How are you? Yep, off to the UK in 10 days to mix the last 3 songs and then it'll be finished. Finally.... whew - it took a lot longer than I thought. By the way, to get even more off topic, I'm sorry to tell you that I never received the egg rolls or the sheet music. On his return to Rusutsu after my departure Carl assumed that I had left the rolls behind because I didn't want them. He'd left some gear behind while I was there and for some reason thought it was being stored in my room, but it wasn't. So the egg rolls disappeared - thrown out. I'm upset because

Lo, O Danz, What doth thou do with the shaven Sacred Mane every year? Does it get put on display in a sacred temple? Do the masses come in droves to see and worship it? Do the Great Priests take donations for it? Does it get burned at the beginning of each new season when the new Beardeth begins to emerge on the Holy One's face? These questions and many more hath been plaguing me.

Ender, you've got to stop posting pics without saying who they are. (asides from Danz of course, who, while he still has his wonderful beard, is a dead giveaway.....!) Thanks Zwelly. I knew that guy was gonna be db.... You have gorgeous eyes, by the way.... (I mean Zwelgen, not db, not that I'm saying anything against your eyes, db...)

But Ender, if you're going to post photos you have to tell us who everyone is......... it's rude not to....

Hey SJ, how do you choose the winners? I can't imagine you put all the names in a hat and do the lucky draw that way.....

I love Thailand. Kho Pa-Ngan is definitely the place to go for seclusion. Just go northwest and stay away from the rave party area and you'll find bliss. But yes, probably any of the islands are nice.

so when are the blossoms due? I think I heard not as early as last year, but this was awhile back....

If anyone's interested, in Tokyo this month: This Friday I'm playing/singing with a good and very funny sax player, Koran Daniels at the Keio Plaza Hotel in the lounge. Laid back, supposed to be mainly jazz. Requests and lots of laughs. 2nd Thursday of every month I'm often playing keyboards for the Tokyo Comedy Store's Improv Group at Bar Isn't It in Roppongi. Info on their website (they have stand up comedy first, but the imrov group comes on at around 9pm. These guys are funny. 20th March I'm playing keys, some vocals, with a really hot band of mainly black musicians, cal

Get hair extensions for a year while the hair's growing out.

It looks like a lot of fun. I don't know if i can make it or not yet. When do you have to know by (for the party at least, that is)?

It is? Strange. Oh, I just looked out the window - yes, it's starting to snow here in Itabashi-ku. Anyone know how long it's supposed to snow for?

Hey kamoshika, I wrote a bit about it on the rusutsu thread after I got back, but just to fill you in, I hooked up with Higuma's guys at ICI in Sapporo (still eternally grateful for that as the Tokyo guys had me terribly confused due to my lack of experience in boot buying), I even got to meet Higuma for about 5-10 minutes cos he popped into the shop while I was there. I wound up getting a pair of Rexxam Z95s - mens boots as they seemed to be the best compromise out of the choices I had. The guys in the shop felt that both types of Head boots I tried on were too small (shell wasn't

Is that why it's so cold today? Man, I have to work tonite and I don't finish till midnite. I hope the trains won't get caught before I get back home.