June 30, 2004

Moving... again

It's official. This weekend I'm packing up my things and relocating. The lease has run out in the current location and the lease holders are leaving. That means I am, too. Sometimes, I feel like I'm in one of those old-school, side-scrolling video games, running along a platform that is quickly collapsing behind me. There's no time to think much in situations like these, but I will try.

First, there's that impermanence that moving always reminds me of. That one's obvious. I've found that the closer the date comes for the move, the more anxious and ready I am for it. I think this is just part of my nature. I recognize that something's coming to an end, and this means that there's something else about to begin. And rather than concentrate too much on the ending stuff, I look forward to the beginning stuff. This is optimism at its best, right? Enthusiasm for something new? I want to hold off any naive-notions that it'll be just like/even better than last time. Like when you're dating someone new, it's not fair to compare them to your ex?

Of course, that's not really humanly possible. Or it's really hard, anyway. So for now, I'll let me childish (or is that child-like?) enthusiasm guide me towards a happy, different, and new living situation.

Posted by kenji at 11:51 AM | Comments (3)

June 30, 2004

What will we dream up next?

Chris Freed sent me this article on CNN.com. I don't really know what to say about it, except that it's really bizarre, yet really inticing.

Please save your tentacle porn jokes... you know who you are.

Posted by kenji at 11:28 AM

June 28, 2004

Portland, the day after

Riding the Metro in this morning has put my whole trip to Portland into an interesting perspective, and I’m still trying to wrap my head around it right now. I have these vague impressions of quaintness, maybe; definitely West Coast-ness; some thoughts on a “small city playing at being a larger one;” smart growth at its best, so like a park, yet so like a city, too! But on top of it all, a whole bunch of “I like this” and “I like that.” Nothing constructive right now. Nothing to write a blog about. Not right now.

For now, I’ll leave you with my un-official survey of Portland coffee. All these shops were found within a few blocks of one another, and all are different shops. Even the four Starbucks. For such a small city, there sure are variety of ways to get yourself caffeinated.

Posted by kenji at 09:52 AM | Comments (1)

June 17, 2004

More like "bureaucrazy"

I just had a really strange conversation with a lady from FedEx. As some of you know, they lost Cyndi’s iPod mini about month ago (spoiling what was going to be a wonderful birthday surprise, I might add). Every week or so, I get a call from someone over there at FedEx (always a different person) explaining the “status” of my “inquiry.” Today’s conversation went something like this:

FedEx lady: I’m just calling to tell you that the invoice hasn’t dropped on your claim made on May 18, but when it does, I can start working on it.
Me: What does it mean for an “invoice to drop.”
FedEx lady (slightly annoyed): It means I haven’t received payment [whatever that means].
Me: Okay, and when this happens, what are you going to do?
FedEx lady (now really annoyed): I’m going to start working on your inquiry.
Me: And what does that mean?
FedEx lady (as though I'm an idiot): I’m going to send you a letter telling you that work has begun on your inquiry.
Me: Okay, thank you. Bye!

Yeah, I know…

Posted by kenji at 12:36 PM

June 17, 2004

Beta Patch 3 and PvP

Blizzard is moving into its third phase of beta testing, adding the much anticipated player vs. player aspects of the game in this revision. You can read about new additions here.

Sadly, Hunters haven't been added in this patch.

Posted by kenji at 09:12 AM

June 16, 2004

G-mail

After getting five more invites, a probably not-so-original thought occurred to me: G-mail invites are all part of very devious trick! The G-mail "beta" has become a marketing tool aimed at developing a large customer base where there was none, and all of this is created before public release. By labeling something "invite only" or "beta test," there's an implied exclusivity. We like exclusivity. We want to be part of something special. We'll sign up, even if we wouldn't have, otherwise, to be part of something "special." In my previous post, I mentioned the "virus-like" spread of the e-mail client. I'm now patting myself on the back for such an apt metaphor.

Only in this case, the virus isn't all that bad. In fact, I'd say for an e-mail program, it's pretty revolutionary in concept and design. If we're not actually special, then maybe this e-mail service is. Google has taken the idea of e-mail out of that proverbial box and redefined the way we think and use our electronic mail.

There's always a "but" in these things, of course, and for G-mail, that "but" resides in one of the worst Address Boxes I've ever seen. Sure, it lists all your contacts, name and e-mail. Yes, it even allows for a notes section so you can remember that X uses Y e-mail for work and Z e-mail for home. And boy, that Outlook-like effect of filling in a person's full contact information with only a few key clicks sure is cool. But man, does it do nothing else. Group e-mail? Don't even think about it. Want to add a few others to your To: field? Sorry, no help there. If you look at all the little improvements that add up to such a great product, it's hard to imagine that Google could have overlooked such a basic e-mail element, but overlook it they did.

Here's my proposal: all of you who now have a G-mail account (and as far as I can tell, this is pretty much everyone I know), click "Help" in the top right, then click "Send Feedback" in the top left, and tell them to get their Address Book act together. I've done it twice. Eventually they'll figure it out...

Posted by kenji at 11:39 PM | Comments (2)

June 16, 2004

How many blades did you say?

Returning from Japan, I somehow misplaced my trusty Gillette Mach3 razor that I'd been using for the majority of the whisker-growing portion of my life. Since I'd so recently decided not to be overly sentimental about the materials of life (a conclusion I came to in Japan after acruing, then throwing away, seemingly hundreds of slips of paper: ticket stubs, train passes, receipts, flyers, handkerchief packets), I decided not to worry too much about my lost razor and went out to buy another. Seeing the variety at my disposal, I hesitated grabbing another Gillette, even the brand new Mach3 Power, eyeing the infamous Schick Quatro.

Four blades! I know, right?

I bought the Quatro, seduced not only by that fourth blade, but also by the medicating strip it professed. Yup, the blades were slightly more expensive than the Gillette ones, but if I could achieve a superior shaving experience, then maybe I wouldn't need to shave as often.

Well, shortly thereafter, I found my original Mach3, and this, in turn, prompted an experiment: I'd alternate razor blades and determine, in my own little way, which I thought was, indeed, the best a man could get. After three weeks of experimentation, the results are in. Whether it's a long term bias or the heart-wrenching determination of James M. Kilts, CEO and President of Gillette Company in an article I read (see below), I've found that the Gillette razor really does give me a better shave. Whether four blades is just too much for my face to handle, or Schick just hasn't figured out the ideal configuration, the Quatro was always sub-par.

The Onion produced an article back in February about how Gillette was considering leap-frogging the four-blade trend, heading right for five blades (Fuck Everything, We're Doing Five Blades). He explains, "If two blades is good, and three blades is better, obviously five blades would make us the best fucking razor that ever existed." Well, James M. Kilts, five blades or not, I, at least, will not be switching brands any time soon.

Posted by kenji at 09:26 AM | Comments (5)

June 15, 2004

O-namae wa

Okay, so this is a repeat of an LJ post, but I think it's funny enough to repost here. Yes, my "Japanese" name is different from my Japanese name.

My japanese name is ?? Saruwatari (monkey on a crossing bridge) ?? Kaito (big dipper of the ocean).
Take your real japanese name generator! today!
Created with Rum and Monkey's Name Generator Generator.

I'd also like you to meet my brother, Pat, or as we like to call him, "healthy and plump."

My japanese name is ?? Saruwatari (monkey on a crossing bridge) ?? Kenta (healthy and plump).
Take your real japanese name generator! today!
Created with Rum and Monkey's Name Generator Generator.

Posted by kenji at 11:11 PM | Comments (3)

June 14, 2004

Europa

Thanks goes out to kwc for posting world66.com's latest travel map generator.

Note that these are countries I've traveled through. Slovakia is a bit of a stretch—the time spent in Slovakia was occupied on a slab-like bed on a train, rattling its way through the cold night.



create your personalized map of europe
or write about it on the open travel guide

Posted by kenji at 03:47 PM | Comments (2)

June 12, 2004

Sometimes, what happens in Vegas...

...comes home in the form of pictures. Sometimes, those pictures take forever to make their way to the internet. Sometimes, those pictures never do.

But not this time!

This picture is one of my favorites.

Enjoy.

Posted by kenji at 10:20 AM

June 10, 2004

Movie Review: The Twilight Samurai

Tasogare Seibei, or The Twilight Samurai, is a samurai anti-epic. Rather than romanticizing the last days of the samurai culture—just before the Meiji Restoration circa 1865—it paints a realistic portrait of the hard life of a low-level samurai named Seibei Iguchi (Hiroyuki Sanada), and how honor and duty do not always mix well with happiness and the content life. Going into the movie with Tom Cruise’s The Last Samurai in mind, it was interesting to see how two stories that share so many things in common—same time period, same themes of love, honor, and self-discipline, even the same actor—could be so different. Where The Last Samurai handles everything with a Hollywood flourish, a “meaningful” ending, and an epic-style simplicity, Yoji Yamada’s quieter story focuses on the characters and the realistic way they must go about their daily lives in those changing times.

There’s not much action in this movie, despite its “samurai movie” tag, so don’t go into this one thinking you’ll find decapitated heads and gouts of blood. What you’ll find instead is a touching story that won’t leave you with an implanted feeling of nostalgia for the samurai reign. The Twilight Samurai is told with wonderful characters, a subtle narrative voice, and yes, a sword fight or two in there somewhere.

Posted by kenji at 10:44 AM

June 04, 2004

Movie Review: Coffee and Cigarettes

Coffee and Cigarettes is not for everyone. Featuring a handful of (dis)connected skits of actors and musicians playing themselves, Jarmusch’s latest moves at an almost painstakingly slow pace, hurling ever so leisurely towards… something? I saw this movie a couple weeks ago with Dre, Cyndi, and Little Tighe, and in the end, we left the Shirlington theatre happy to have seen it, but not quite sure why. We struggled to make sense of it, and in the end, decided to throw out that fruitless quest and talk about the things we liked.

Some of the vignettes are wonderful. Some I could have done without. In particular, I was pretty disappointed with the Iggy Pop and Tom Waits skit. Two great musicians meet in a bar over coffee and cigarettes (surprise, surprise) and have a very awkward conversation about… not a whole lot, really. Could have been great. Wasn’t. I’d say half of the miniature acts fall into this category: awkward, slow, potentially interesting, but ultimately boring.

Still, there were a few skits that made it all worthwhile, and they were the ones that we kept talking about. The great Bill Murray runs into Wu-Tang’s RZA and GZA as he masquerades as a waiter in a chef’s hat. Jack and Meg White prove that they are much more than just musicians. And in my favorite sketch, beautiful Cate Blanchett has an uncomfortable conversation with her cousin, Shelby, played by Cate Blanchett.

I liked Coffee and Cigarettes and, like I said before, I don’t know why. Movies.com, if you’re unsure how to categorize me, I’m mixed, I suppose.

Posted by kenji at 11:24 PM

June 02, 2004

WoW: Newbie Impressions

I find myself playing WoW in a way different from any other video game. Normally, I enjoy a good story. I enjoy immersing myself in the carefully crafted dramatic arc, the rising action, the climax, the resolution (usually rendered in beautiful CG). MMORPGs do not have this. Sure, there's a story. From what I understand, WoW has a fairly good story, fleshed out, told in segments by different NPCs as you fulfill your various quests. But the reality of this format is that it never allows for a surpreme conflict between Good and Evil. There will be no Final Battle. There is no Final Boss.

And because of this reality, I play the game like it's a game, ever conscious of the next level, my amount of silver, my stats and my equipment. My immersion is different from the movie-theatre-like immersion of a Japanese RPG. In a more linear-based RPG, I am riveted by a crazy story that involves an evil queen trying to collapse time from her throne at the edge of the universe, my mouth salivating at the knowledge that before the credits roll, I'd be able to save all of existence from destruction. In an MMO, I get caught up in the expansiveness of the world, of trying to do well at my job (as healer), of trying to stay alive.

It's an interesting trade off. Before playing WoW, I'm not sure I would have said it was a good trade off. For now, I'll reserve my judgement and look forward to the next time I get to run through the world, hurling Holy Smites and Lesser Heals like a hack writer and his weather-based analogies.

Posted by kenji at 08:57 AM

June 01, 2004

That Kooky New England Accent

Last night I returned from New England having eaten more than I normally do in a week (thank you, Cyndi's mom and dad). We stayed in Portsmouth, the town just north of the quaint town of Newport. The out-of-towners, the New Yorkers, the Bostonians, the posh, were starting to make their summer migration up now that Memorial Day Weekend and white pants had finally arrived.

What a strange place all of New England is. It's so... white! Such a change from the black-hair dominated world of Tokyo and Kyoto. To me, Boston feels like a nicer version of Baltimore. Both are walkable. Both are working class. Both are port cities. I don't know if the facts support this feeling, but it is a feeling, after all.

Anyway, to make this potentially long post a shorter one, I've decided that New England is one of those places that falls into the category of "nice to visit" rather than "nice to live." Unlike so many other people, I can't really picture myself living in Boston. I'd like to. It's a nice idea. But for whatever reason, the place doesn't click for me.

Posted by kenji at 08:54 AM | Comments (1)