sunrise
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Posts posted by sunrise
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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.....
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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?
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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.
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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.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.
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?
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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 detention for no reason whatsoever for 20 days without charging you and seeing that the prosecutors tend to win 98% of their cases it's really a kangaroo court here. It's also not so easy to get a lawyer when you're first arrested.
I recommend calling the Japan Help Line ASAP, who were extremely helpful to us in the previously mentioned incident. If we had known about them earlier on, they could have gotten my friend out before the first 48 hours were up and she was sent to the prosecutor's office (by then it gets caught up in paperwork).
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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 was painting in gouache that year, but I'd like to try and get down there again with oils, which I'm still getting the hang of.
Actually, now that my recording project is almost finished I plan to spend a lot of time getting out painting, so if you're interested in doing some plein air with me (or us - sometimes there's a couple of us) let me know. I'll be back in town at the end of Golden Week.
Also, if you're interested in growing your drawing and painting skills, I recommend checking out the Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, and the subsequent Colour (painting) course. They're two 5 day courses run here by an American woman, Kristin Newton, who studied for about 11 years with Betty Edwards the author of the book of the same name (which has been translated into 20 different languages). The course teaches you artist's perceptual skills so in 5 days your drawing skills take amazing quantum leaps because you learn to see differently. This includes the many people who say they can't draw. All those before and after pictures are real, I can attest. The painting Colour course takes it all further and you'll find yourself being able to mix whatever colour you see from that one (5 day course also). Other options are buying Betty Edwards' video and workbook with all the little tools etc, but if you ever wanted to draw better and are interested, I'd definitely recommend taking the class over the video or the book. Kristin's a great teacher. The courses are always run on weekends and holidays. Check out
Go here for more info on Tokyo courses, and this link for Betty Edwards' website.
Also, Korakoen (not so far from the Tokyo Dome have wonderful irises during the iris season (not sure when that is, maybe June).
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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.
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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.
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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 travelling. You can get them from Tokyu Hands, probably Loft and I've seen them in other smaller and larger department stores. You can test them out at Tokyu Hands to find the right size and shape for you. I like both models - the one with the extra neck indentation as well as the original one (without).Quote:Originally posted by Goemon:
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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.
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Yes, take care with that one. Must be a bit scary out your way right now......
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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 I was dying to try them and I know you're probably upset because you undoubtedly would have eaten them yourself if you had known their ultimate fate. And Enderzero's probably upset to hear that too, because he wanted to eat them instead of boot. As for the sheet music, it seems that one of the staff who's a budding pianist wound up with it. Carl hadnt realised that you had wanted him to give it to me.
Sorry that Carl inadvertantly trashed your gifts......
And now, to get back on topic -
I also stayed a couple of times on a small island 20 mins by boat south of Phuket, called Maiton Island. It used to be privately owned and run, now I think it's in disuse. We went to Phuket for a day, riding around on motorcycles, took a swim at one of the beaches there -not so nice - there was no gradation from shallow to deep, the waves basically crashed straight onto the shore in nasty sand-filled long dumpers. I heard that there are beaches on Phuket that are dangerous because the sand underwater gets marsh-like and can suck people under.
We also tried waterskiing at a 'mechanical lake' - like what they have ((for Sydneysiders) out at Panthers in Penrith. It was a bit of a novelty, but not recommended - the rope tow was so slow that the drag on your arms going around the bends was horrendous! Maybe not so bad if you were on 2 skis, but skiing on 1 ski was quite a workout. Hmmm, methinks speedboats are definitely the way to go.
We also considered an elephant ride, but there wasn't time.
I found the main area of Phuket to be a little too upmarket touristy for my liking.
The tiny island we stayed on was wonderful. Great snorkelling, dolphins abounded, and just magical.
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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.
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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...)
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But Ender, if you're going to post photos you have to tell us who everyone is......... it's rude not to....
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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.....
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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.
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so when are the blossoms due? I think I heard not as early as last year, but this was awhile back....
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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, called Fuse at Shibuya Crocodile.
If you come down make sure you say hi.
If you want further info, email me.
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Get hair extensions for a year while the hair's growing out.
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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)?
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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?
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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, but liner seemed to be as my toes were sticking out the front of the liner), and the Technicas were just too wide.
After all that, the Rexxams turned out to be a tad big. Extremely snug when trying them on, but on the snow in the colder temperatures there was small movement in them, widthwise, and also in the heel and upper foot. After a week I went back to Sapporo and got them tweaked with extra padding, and this was a vast improvement, but still not perfect and especially in the last 10 or so days I had to unbuckle my boots everytime I got on the lift because I had to have them done up so damned tight while skiing. I was able to still enjoy myself and have a great time and make some good strides with my skiing - the boots were advanced skier's boots, but for sure I want to get properly fitted for a good pair of women's boots next time I buy, which will probably be next time I'm outside japan, since I've not seen any advanced womens' boots here in the shops (let alone finding them in my size here). In retrospect, now that I've learnt just how much more expanded your foot is in the ski shop compared to out in the cold on the slopes, I might have been more inclined to give the Head FR (mens) boots a go, or even the Head Edge's (womens), which were my other choices. But I'm kinda glad I didn't get the Edges because the flex was a fair bit softer and I found out that I definitely prefer a harder flexing boot (after trying out the hard and soft options on the Rexxams).
It's so hard to tell what's going to work on the slopes while you're in the shop. Especially since I just don't have enough experience with this, though I'm sure I know have slightly more of a clue than I did before. I also got new footbeds and these were definitely a big improvement over the old ones, but I'd like to have a full-on alignment done next time like you seem to be able to do in the States, but doesn't seem to be available here.
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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.
SARS-10 day incubation period
in General off-topic discussions
Posted
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?