Japan's high-level, new diplomat is a cartoon cat

High-tech Japan was 21st century back when this new era
was still a mere science-fiction backdrop for dreamers in many other lands. This week, the Japanese government showed just how visionary it can be in the field of diplomacy, too: In a special ceremony conducted before a gathering of national and foreign reporters, and government officials, Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura appointed none other than Doraemon, one of Japan's most popular cartoon characters, the country's newest ambassador.

Itsuo Inouye/AP

This week, Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura (left) named Doraemon the country's new "anime ambassador"

The blue-and-white, futuristic feline's special mission will be to promote the enjoyment and appreciation of Japanese anime (animated films that are often associated with manga, or comics) around the world. This new emphasis on a Japanese "soft" export (as opposed to "hard" exports such as automobiles or big-ticket electronics) that is a major component of Japan's ever more globally successful pop culture reflects the government's recognition of the country's so-called soft power. Nowadays, in a world in which public relations often trumps ideology, and in which perception is reality, "soft" power, which emerges from social-cultural sources, can reflect a country or society's strength or influence - and affect how other people think about and regard it - more effectively than the old-fashioned, dangerous, carry-a-big-stick approach.

So it is that Doraemon, a 22nd-century, robotic-cat character who made his debut in the late 1960s in comics form has been assigned by Komura with "making friends" for Japan internationally. Komura told him: "Please work hard to let people around the world learn more about Japan and encourage people to foster friendships with each other." Doraemon (or, more precisely, a human actor hidden inside a giant Doraemon costume) replied: "It's an honor to do such an important job. I'll work as hard as I can."

In terms of both celebrity status and popularity, in Japan and much of East Asia, Doraemon's may well be bigger than those of Mickey Mouse, Homer Simpson, Charlie Brown and Snoopy, SpongeBob SquarePants, Barney, Tweety Bird and Winnie the Pooh combined. Created by Fujiko F. Fujio, the nom de plume of the late Hiroshi Fujimoto, Doraemon has become a pop-culture phenomenon at home and abroad through animated-cartoon TV series, countless toys and trinkets, video games and movies. His licensed image has been used to promote all sorts of goods and services.

In the Doraemon stories, the clever kitty is sent back from the future to live with and help his youthful master, Nobita, a helpless nerd who routinely avails himself of his pet's special powers. Doraemon normally reaches into his tummy-drawer, which is full of magical gizmos, to find something to help his pal out of each new jam - often stirring up new problems in the process. Doraemon stories often pack an educational or moralistic punch, offering lessons about honesty, perseverance, loyalty or history. In Japan, they have been collected in nearly 50 volumes that, to date, have sold some 80 million copies. Doreamon comics have also been translated into dozens of languages from the original Japanese.

Now, Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs will dispatch a "human-sized likeness of Doraemon" that will "participate in events hosted by overseas embassies and other diplomatic establishments to help introduce Japanese society and culture" to foreign audiences. The Guardian's Tokyo-based correspondent reports: "Doraemon's charm offensive will begin with the screening of his hit film, Nobita's Dinosaur 2006, at Japanese diplomatic offices in several countries, including China, France and Spain." At this week's press conference in the Japanese capital, the "feline envoy - whose voice was provided by an actress hidden behind a sliding paper screen - promised to use his roving role to convey 'what ordinary Japanese people think, our lifestyles and what kind of future we want to build.'"

Reported by Edward M. Gomez of SFGate.com

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=15&entry_id=25107

2008 = Best Year Ever

It's not even March and it's already the best year I've ever had. I'm not sure why this is but everything has been clicking this year. It all started with one of the best shows of 2007/2008, Von Iva at the Bottom of the Hill on New Year's Eve and just kept running on all cylinders.

I love my job. I've been given more responsibilities and the people I work with are great. Getting laid off from CSC was one of the best things to happen to me.

I love my cats and they are healthy... well, Lindsay is having a hard time adjusting to Venus and I'm afraid the mental damage is permanent. But who knows I haven't given up hope entirely. Let say in 3-5 years she'll warm up to her.

I love Von Iva. This is the hot band of 2008. Kori and I've been to six (!) of their shows including the NYE show and each time, it becomes the best show of the year. Other then them, I've seen Erase Errata, Lemonade, Thunder Thighs, et.al and they have all been great.

And of course I love my friends and family. I need to reach out a bit more without being annoying... Whatever that means.

The last would be the drinking and smoking... it's one part of my life that I need to cut but no luck yet. Still, I think this will be the year for moderation concerning this.

Room 641A

There's a really great article in sfgate about how an AT&T employee (now retired) discovered a surveillance program run by the NSA at the AT&T offices here in SF:


Former AT&T worker details federal Internet spying in S.F.

Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

(11-07) 04:00 PST Washington - --

His first inkling that something was amiss came in summer 2002 when he opened the door to admit a visitor from the National Security Agency to an office of AT&T in San Francisco.

"What the heck is the NSA doing here?" Mark Klein, a former AT&T technician, said he asked himself.

A year or so later, he stumbled upon documents that, he said, nearly caused him to fall out of his chair. The documents, he said, show that the NSA gained access to huge amounts of e-mail, Web search and other Internet records of more than a dozen global and regional telecom providers. AT&T allowed the agency to hook into its network at a facility in San Francisco and, according to Klein, many of the other telecom companies probably knew nothing about it.

Klein is in Washington this week to share his story in the hope that it will persuade lawmakers not to grant legal immunity to telecommunications firms that helped the government in its anti-terrorism efforts.

Klein, 62, said he may be the only person in the country in a position to discuss firsthand knowledge of an important aspect of the Bush administration's domestic surveillance. He is retired, so he isn't worried about losing his job. He carried no security clearance, and the documents in his possession were not classified, he said. He has no qualms about "turning in," as he put it, the company where he worked for 22 years, until he retired in 2004.

"If they've done something massively illegal and unconstitutional - well, they should suffer the consequences," Klein said. "It's not my place to feel bad for them. They made their bed. They have to lie in it. The ones who did (anything wrong), you can be sure, are high up in the company. Not the average Joes, who I enjoyed working with."

In an interview Tuesday, he said the NSA set up a system that vacuumed up Internet and phone-call data from ordinary Americans with the cooperation of AT&T. Contrary to the government's depiction of its surveillance program as aimed at overseas terrorists, Klein said, much of the data sent through AT&T to the NSA was purely domestic. Klein said he believes the NSA was analyzing the records for usage patterns as well as for content.

He said the NSA built a special room to receive data streamed through an AT&T Internet room containing "peering links," or major connections to other telecom providers. The largest of the links delivered 2.5 gigabits of data - the equivalent of one-quarter of the Encyclopedia Britannica's text - per second, said Klein, whose documents and eyewitness account form the basis of one of the first lawsuits filed against the telecom giants after the government's warrantless-surveillance program was reported in the New York Times in December 2005.

Claudia Jones, an AT&T spokeswoman, said she had no comment on Klein's allegations.

The NSA and the White House declined to comment on Klein's allegations.

Klein is urging Congress not to block Hepting vs. AT&T, a class-action suit pending in federal court in San Francisco, as well as 37 other lawsuits charging carriers with illegally collaborating with the NSA program. He was accompanied Tuesday by lawyers for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which filed Hepting vs. AT&T in 2006. Together, they are urging key senators to oppose a pending White House-endorsed immunity provision that would effectively wipe out the lawsuits. The Judiciary Committee is expected to take up the measure Thursday.

In summer 2002, Klein was working in a Geary Street office responsible for Internet equipment when an NSA representative arrived to interview a management-level technician for a special job whose details were secret.

"That's when my antennas started to go up," he said. He knew that the NSA was supposed to work on overseas signals intelligence.

The job entailed building a "secret room" in another AT&T office 10 blocks away on Folsom Street, he said. By coincidence, in October 2003, Klein was transferred to that office and assigned to the Internet room. He asked a technician there about the secret room on the 6th floor, and the technician told him it was connected to the Internet room a floor above. The technician, who was about to retire, handed him some wiring diagrams.

"That was my 'aha' moment," Klein said. "They're sending the entire Internet to the secret room."

The diagram showed splitters, glass prisms that split signals from each network into two identical copies. One copy fed into the secret room. The other proceeded to its destination, he said.

"This splitter was sweeping up everything, vacuum-cleaner-style," he said. "The NSA is getting everything. These are major pipes that carry not just AT&T's customers but everybody's."

Klein said he decided to go public after President Bush defended the NSA's surveillance program as limited to collecting phone calls between suspected terrorists overseas and people in the United States. Klein said the documents show that the scope was much broader.

The New York Times contributed to this report.

Link: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/07/MNIST7NS9.DTL

Here is a wiki entry on the room mentioned in the article including a few of the equipment in there:

Room 641A is an alleged intercept facility operated by AT&T for the U.S. National Security Agency, beginning in 2003. Room 641A is located in the SBC Communications building at 611 Folsom Street, San Francisco, three floors of which were occupied by AT&T before SBC purchased AT&T and changed its name to AT&T. The room was referred to in internal AT&T documents as the SG3 [Study Group 3] Secure Room. It is fed by fiber optic lines from beam splitters installed in fiber optic trunks carrying Internet backbone traffic and, therefore, presumably has access to all Internet traffic that passes through the building.

The room measures about 24 by 48 feet (8 by 16 meters) and contains several racks of equipment, including a Narus STA 6400, a device designed to analyze and intercept Internet communications at very high speeds.

The existence of the room was revealed by a former AT&T technician, Mark Klein, and is the subject of a 2006 class action lawsuit by the Electronic Frontier Foundation against AT&T. Klein claims he was told that similar black rooms are operated at other facilities around the country.

Room 641A and the controversies surrounding it were subjects of an episode of "Frontline," the current affairs documentary program on PBS. It was originally broadcast on May 15, 2007.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_641A

permanency

I finally got my job offer yesterday and signed it this morning. Whew! What a sigh of relief. Even though my manager verbally offered the job, it's been two months in the making. I am now a "senior corporate tech support engineer." Yikes, didn't realize how long that title is.

Eventually the plan is for me to oversee (not manage technically) two other techs and teach them the ropes and then hopefully as planned find opportunities in server management or system administration.

Life is really looking up these days: I got my two cats, a great job, seeing a lot of bands and being more "focused in general." I just need to quit smoking cigarettes and cut down on the drinking.

LMAO

Japan Officials Edited Wikipedia at Work
Friday, October 5, 2007

(10-05) 09:54 PDT TOKYO, Japan (AP) --
Japan's Agriculture Ministry reprimanded six bureaucrats after an internal probe found they spent work hours contributing to Wikipedia on topics unrelated to farm issues — including 260 entries about cartoon robots.

The six civil servants together made 408 entries on the popular Web site encyclopedia from ministry computers since 2003, an official said Friday.

One of the six focused solely on Gundam — the popular, long-running animated series about giant robots — to which he contributed 260 times. The series has spun off intricate toy robots popular among schoolchildren as well as adults known as "otaku" nerds.

"The Agriculture Ministry is not in charge of Gundam," said ministry official Tsutomu Shimomura.

The other five bureaucrats scolded for shirking their duties focused their contributions on movies, typographical mistakes on billboard signs and local politics, Shimomura said.
The ministry's internal probe followed recent media allegations that a growing number of Japanese public servants were contributing to the Web encyclopedia, which anyone can edit, often to reflect their views.

The ministry verbally reprimanded each of the six officials, and slapped a ministry-wide order to prohibit access to Wikipedia at work, while disabling access to the site from the ministry, Shimomura said.

The ministry, however, did not object to their limited contributions on the World Trade Organization and free trade agreements.

An Imperial Household Agency official was reprimanded last month for using an agency computer to delete references on Wikipedia that criticized imperial tombs.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/10/05/financial/f095400D06.DTL&tsp=1

Venus Williams Kim

Last Saturday Kori and I went to take a second look at a cat I met two weekends ago at the SPCA. The first time I saw Stella, she was very chatty and friendly, constantly rubbing her head against my hand. She is 11 months old and about 6 pounds. When I met her again, she was just as adorable and so I knew I had to adopt her. Her name now is Venus, after Venus Williams. Since Lindsay is named after Lindsay Davenport, I said to myself that the next cat I get would be Davenport's rival, Venus. Kind of a weird coincidence that Venus Kim and Venus Williams are black... er... Alecia took a video soon after she got home. Needless to say, Lindsay is NOT happy at all. Poor Linds. I have Venus confined to the bathroom until she can get adjusted.

a little MS Paint project

before:











after:

downtime at work

Here is a sample of what I wikied today at work. There is a lot of slow days that I've found myself wiki-ing many thing, anything, overheard conversations, news, et.al.

Monday, August 13th, 2007

bad girls (tv show)
Don Asmussen (comic artist)
Mark Cuban
system integration
tone deaf
absolute pitch
Rosie the Riveter
swap file
router
subnets
control plane
routing table
packet switch
RAND Corporation
ISP
Mary-Louise Parker
All Tomorrow's Parties
Portishead
coffee
Adrei Chikatilo (serial killer)
Sasha Spesitsev (serial killer)
Supergrass
Australia
land bridges
7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Stephen Covey (author of book above)

Pretty random, and I didn't count some minor stuff.

Network Engineer

Whew, I finally got a job. I started the day after the Fourth of July and it was my fourth day at work today. It's for a small company (about 60 employees) called Certain Software. I think the best part is that I have a new title but it's only because they don't have a help desk or a PC technician. Basically I along with three others do all of that as well as telecom, information security and hopefully, server administration.

The downside is that it's temporary with the possibility for a permanent position. Still, it pays much better than my previous job so I can't complain. Because of the uncertainty, I have to keep looking for a job but it would be ideal if I was offered a permanent position. It's close to home (about a 20 minute public transit commute), the people are nice (and hot), and again, it pays very well. I have to remain optimistic but at worse, now I'm up to the "market price" of my field which means more toys and shows.

450

It's week four since I got laid off. Time seems to go so fast especially when I haven't heard back from any companies I sent my resume to. I applied to Real Networks, Gap, Hotwire.com, the Federal Reserve Bank, Gymboree, Sephora and Ubisoft. I have to admit, I've enjoyed the time off but I can also see the money being drained from my bank account. I got my first unemployment check from California for $450, the maximum per week. I didn't think it was much until I made the deposit today.

unemployment

After eight years of working at the same job, I got the news last Friday that I am laid off. Although there was a bit of a heads up, it still hit me hard when the time came, mostly because I didn't realize how much time had passed. I came to realize all the little things that I had taken for granted like interacting with clients and mostly of all the friends I made with my co-workers in the IT and facilities department.

Still, I have to see it as nothing but a bitter-sweet ending and a new beginning for hopefully what I really want to do... which I'm still unsure of except to be a roadie for Erase Errata. :P

One thing I know for sure: I will never work for Computer Sciences Corporation, an outsourcing company that should never ever be trusted.

Like I said, bitter-sweet.

35

When I found out Erase Errata was playing in Portland on my birthday, I booked a flight up there. It was just too perfect since my brother lives up there, a city I would move to in an instant if it wasn't for my love of San Francisco. Since I was going to be up there and EE was playing the next night in Seattle, I figured, why not?

I got there the day before the show and met up at the airport with my mom who also decided to fly up for the occasion. We decided to stay home and have some of my mom's awesome Korean food which she lugged in a huge bag. By the time she left, there was nothing in the bag.

The next day, I really wanted to have some of the awesome crawfish at Jake's but eventually we had to settle for Outback Steakhouse. I've never been there and while it wasn't great, it wasn't bad either.

Incidentally my brother picked up a 50 inch plasma TV which is insanely huge and I thought was excessive but in the end I was convinced. We got to watch the Golden State Warriors beat the Dallas Mavericks in a nail biter. The clarity and detail of the plasma is incredible. We also spent a few hours oohing and ahhhing at the Discovery Channel's series called Planet Earth. It's a bit ironic that HD TV can make a convincing case for environmentalism. Again, the detail on the wildlife must be seen to be believed.

After dinner I drove to the venue and experienced one of the best Erase Errata shows ever. They even said happy birthday to me on stage! My blog of it can be read here. I got home and didn't sleep until 3AM cause I was so amped from the show.

The next morning we drove up to Seattle and what a long three hours it was. We stopped by McDonald's for a quick smoke/bathroom break and eventually got to our hotel. We went down to the fish market which happened to be THE tourist spot so it was packed with tourists. It was pretty cool to see all the giant fish and for some reason, equal amounts of flower vendors. I guess due to the climate Seattle is an ideal location for horticulture. It was absolutely beautiful green everywhere.

After a wacky lunch at a tourist restaurant where an Australian waitress kept messing up our order, we stopped by a French cafe staffed by French servers with delicious deserts and coffee. Then a quick unexpected stop at a Finnish DIY store.

That night my brother went to meet his friend and they dropped me off at the venue. What can I say, another amazing show which I'll blog soon.

The next day, we headed back down to Seattle and had some amazing Japanese food in Portland to finish off one of the best birthday weekends ever. "An interesting musical opportunity is in the future" indeed.

fortune cookie fortune

I got an awesome fortune tonight after a bowl of hot and sour soup and dry fried chicken wings:

"An interesting musical opportunity is in your near future."


Not since "Your role in life is in the driver's seat." has a fortune hit the mark at the perfect time in my life. If anything it's for something to strive.

Night owl

In other news, I couldn't go to sleep last night. I stayed up until 5:30AM and woke up at 9AM for work. There is nothing worse than the lack of sleep. Nothing. If I can have any one super power, it would the ability to not have to sleep.

LIMA, Peru - An extremely rare species of tiny owl has been seen in the wild for the first time, the American Bird Conservancy said Thursday. The long-whiskered owlet, one of the world's smallest owls, was discovered in 1976. Researchers have caught a few specimens in nets after dark but had not seen it in nature.

It was spotted in the wild in February by researchers monitoring a private conservation area in Peru's northern jungle.

The conservancy said in a news release that investigators encountered the owlet three times during daylight hours and recorded its calls frequently at night. The group said the sighting "is considered a holy grail of South American ornithology."

The owl is so distinct that it has been named in its own genus, "Xenoglaux," meaning "strange owl," due to the long wispy feathers around its reddish-orange eyes.

The owl inhabits the dense undergrowth of highland forests in a remote region of Peru.

"Seeing the long-whiskered owlet is a huge thrill," said David Geale of the Association of Andean Ecosystems, who was a member of the research team. "Its population is estimated to be less than 1,000 birds and possibly as few as 250."

He said the species is threatened by the rapid destruction of its forest habitat and its small range.

The researchers captured a bird in a mist-net and later released it onto a tree branch, where it was photographed before disappearing into the night. Photos provided by the conservancy show a bright-eyed bird not much bigger than the fist of the person holding it.

Source: Yahoo! news

Wait, can I have yr number?

For the first time ever, I asked a girl I met for her number... and got it!

I was at the Tussle show last week and during Old Time Religion, the third bands set, I noticed a girl sitting by herself at a table. We would casually look in each others direction and no one came by for about 10-15 minutes so I said to myself, "I'll get one more beer and if she is still there, I will walk up to her."

I'll leave out the details but it was a very nice conversation that lasted for the rest of the band's set, about 20 minutes. It turned out she was with her friends who are OTR fans but she didn't care for them. When the set ended she told me she had to go find her friends and as she got up I said, "wait, can I have yr number?" and to my surprise she gave it to me. I walked home completely psyched and happy. I was surprised at how easy it was.

A few days later I called but got her voicemail. At least she didn't give me a fake number. Then I texted her to see if she wanted to meet up again. Well, that was four days ago and... nothing.

Oh well, she was really cute and at least I tried.

Zodiac

I went to see David Fincher's new film, Zodiac, last night at the Metreon. I haven't been to a movie theater in probably six months but I just couldn't wait to see a movie about San Francisco in the 60's/70's.

The film was pretty good and better the more I think about it. Even though I read a few reviews and had some idea of what it was about, I didn't expect it to be more of a character-driven film focusing on the three main characters. The film is about how the three people's lives changed, even long after the case disappears from the media. I really liked Jake Gyllenhal's character. He obsesses over the case to the point of neglecting his family and self. It kind of reminded me of my obsessions...

Speaking of which, after the show was let out, the audience slowly filed out and I noticed from the corner of my eye a blonde woman with her hair covering her eyes. I did a double take and shouted out, "Ellie!" It was none other than Ellie Erickson of Erase Errata. She was with her boyfriend and we exchanged our views of the film really quickly. I didn't want to take up her space so we said our byes and I quickly walked off, perhaps a bit too quick so I probably looked awkward flying by all the other people. Anyways, she must think I'm really creepy now cause I went by myself to a screening of a film about serial killer... well, I like to think of it as a film about obsessives. :P

From a technical and formalist standpoint, the film is amazing. Fincher completely transforms the city to the way it was. I was constantly trying to recognize all the street shots. There is an amazing fly by shot approaching the Port of San Francisco, and all the cityscape looks accurate down to the construction, the freeway that was levelled after the earthquake, etc. He also has trick shots using text over film and helicopter shots that have to be seen to be believed.

Anyways, I thought it was pretty good, not Fincher's best, but now that I've slept on it, I'm liking it more. I would love to check it out again.

insomnia

Damn it. I developed a weird sleep schedule mainly with taking a very late night nap and waking up around midnight and going to sleep somewhere around three or four am. Alcohol plays a role and tonight might have been the height of it cause I woke up and threw up which I haven't done in some time. Made things much better but god that has to be one of the worst feelings in the world right next to lack of sleep, which I fear will happen tomorrow when I have to at work at 9:30 AM.

oh it also didn't help that I downed a 1/3lb. cheeseburger right before passing out and after not eating anything all day. :X

AHHH

a nightmare

I had a horrible nightmare last night. I went to a European country to catch Erase Errata and I saw Jenny, Ellie and Bianca but when they got on the huge and dark stage only Jenny played with the other instruments played by other people, one of them being a ex-co-worker of mine. I kept waiting for Ellie and Bianca to get on but they never did. Then I realized that I brought my cat with me but didn't bring him in a pet carrier and she was running outside on a lawn until she vanished. I panicked and tried to call my roommate but I couldn't get through anyone.

The whole time I should have known it was a dream since things were so unlike how they are in real life like taking Lindsay to Europe, different band members, etc. but I was just horrified from one event to another.

I finally woke up with Lindsay right beside me and I think she knew something was wrong cause she let me pet her for a long time and in a very affectionate way, more so than usual. I was just relieved to have her next to me.

Anyways, it looks like all kinds of wacky anxiety and events from the last few days caught up with me and scrambled my brain at night. Damn you!

Happy Valentines Day

weee!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/mid_/6321827.stm

New-born lambs' Rottweiler 'mum'

Rottweiler Molly showing her maternal instincts with lambs Lucky and Charm. Enlarge Image

They have a fearsome reputation, but one Rottweiler is proving that the breed has a softer side by helping to rear two lambs.

Molly has been using her maternal instincts after lambs Lucky and Charm were born with complications on a farm.

Her owner Maria Foster, 38, from Forden, near Welshpool in Powys, said Molly slept with the pair at night, and even protected them from other animals.

Lucky and Charm are recovering and will be placed in a field in about 10 days.

Ms Foster said the pair needed help to improve their circulation soon after they were born.

They were placed in an Aga oven for warmth and after being lifted out Molly took over and started licking them as a ewe would have done.

Molly protects the lambs and sleeps with them

"The first 12 to 24 hours for a lamb are absolutely crucial and if Molly hadn't been doing what she was doing, I would have had to have been there rubbing the lambs through most of the night to keep their circulation going," said Ms Foster.

"She could have ignored them but she didn't and it is quite comical to see."

Now 11-month-old Molly is like a mother to the two lambs, who stick closely to their unlikely guardian.

Ms Foster added: "The cat came into the kitchen the other day and walked over to the bucket where the lambs were sleeping, but Molly pushed her away as if to say: 'They are mine.'

"She will let the sheepdog have a look, but only for so long before she pushes him away as well."

Ms Foster said they cannot be returned to their mother because they would be rejected by her after so long apart.

A spokesman for the Kennel Club, which organises Crufts, said: "Rottweilers were originally bred as guard dogs in Germany, but in the right hands they should not pose a problem.

"They are not born aggressive, they learn it from us.

"Nonetheless, it's certainly the first time I've ever heard of a Rottweiler caring for lambs."

2007 progress report

How's it going?

So far this year I'm feeling a bit confident about things in life:

I'm about to start on my modelling hobby (!). I'm going to start a blog about it here. I got the go ahead to use my holiday present, an airbrush spray booth. This was the one big thing that I had to get to really get this hobby off the ground... or so I say. I do have a habit of buying things as a crutch to "get serious." Only time will tell but still I have a good feeling about it.

I want to get the Erase Errata fan page going. I've been thinking about writing down Ellie's bass tabs and it would be a great way to get this project going. OR Imagine: taking bass lessons from Ellie! eep! *dies*

Do I really want to get back into role playing games? I think so. I went to a minicon at the Endgame last weekend and it was surprisingly fun.

I have to dust off my telescope, more specifically, clean the lens and collimate it. I'm missing all the stuff that's going on in the universe.

The Fender Aerodyne Jazz bass is sadly on hold. I am in so much debt and really, I should be happy and grateful with the Ibanez that I have. Unfortunately, I heard this guy play one slap style at the Guitar Center over the holidays in LA and it was delicious. He was so funky he drew people while he played! I asked him about it and he handed it over and I played a meek and embarassed bassline to "Listen Up!" by the Gossip. But the bass was so smooth and so light. Drool.

oh and finally, maybe, perhaps, my career isn't with art. I know "art" is life in the chessiest sense but realistically, financially, maybe I should just make lots of money and pursue art as hobbies and by making the big bucks I will fund any art I want, myself, bands, childrens, et. al.

grade: B-