Category: Slice of Life

Japan Nite @ SXSW 2018

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"竹内アンナ Anna Takeuchi" Austin, 2018
“竹内アンナ Anna Takeuchi” Austin, 2018

こんばんは。How’s it going?

So at the last minute, I decided to go to SXSW to see Japan Nite 2018. It’s been many years since I’ve been to Japan Nite, so I was excited! There are two acts/bands I wanted to see: 竹内アンナ Anna Takeuchi and Chihiro Yamazaki+Route 14 Band. However, I only had time to see 竹内アンナ Anna Takeuchi because I didn’t want to get home too late. But I am planning on catching Chihiro Yamazaki+Route 15 Band on Sunday at Sa-tén!

I arrived at around 8 pm and watched the second half of hip-hop duo Rude-α’s set. It was pretty fun even though it’s not my favorite type of music. Still, a live show is a live show and they have so much positive energy, so you gotta love it!

"Rude-α" Austin, 2018
Photo info: Motorola Moto G (4), 3.64mm, f/2, 1/15 sec, ISO1250
 “Rude-α” Austin, 2018
"竹内アンナ Anna Takeuchi" Austin, 2018
Photo info: Motorola Moto G (4), 3.64mm, f/2, 1/15 sec, ISO1250
 “竹内アンナ Anna Takeuchi” Austin, 2018

Next up was singer/guitarist 竹内アンナ Anna Takeuchi. She was great. Lots of musical talent and at only 19-years-old she has a bright future! She played a few covers including songs from Lenny Kravitz and Guns N’ Roses, but the best songs, IMHO, was her originals “Alright” and “Tokyo Night”. Very cool! 🎸

After her set, I decided to head back home because Mariko is flying to Seattle super-early in the morning and I wanted to see her off… So, it’s 12:30 am and I should sleep. 😴

"SXSW" Austin, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/340 sec, ISO12800
 “SXSW” Austin, 2018

I hope you had a nice Friday!

おやすみ！

All Intensive Purposes

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So, another thing I finally realized… it’s “All intents and purposes”, not “All intensive purposes”. Only took me 49 years to figure that out. Never stop learning, I guess? 😛

Anyway, here’s a snapshot of a sleeping kitty.

"Sleepy" Cedar Park, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/125 sec, ISO5000
 “Sleepy” Cedar Park, 2018

Hope you had nice day!

またね～

Saké Tasting and Rating

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"Rating the Saké" Austin, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.2, 1/50 sec, ISO6400
 “Rating the Saké” Austin, 2018

こんばんは。

Tonight Mariko, Kumiko, Matt, and I attended a “blind” saké tasting at the Texas Saké Company. The folks from Yummysake were visiting from Japan for SXSW, where they had a booth at the tradeshow, and then they held a few tastings in the evening. It was a lot of fun!

Basically, we tasted 10 different saké, and rated each one. Depending on the ratings, the Yummysake app would give you a taste profile. The idea is that you can go to restaurants who use the profile system, and they can serve you the saké that most suits your palette. I’m not sure how useful it will be unless a lot of restaurants participate, but it was interesting to try it and get assigned a profile.

"Saké Profile" Austin, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.2, 1/105 sec, ISO6400
 “Saké Profile” Austin, 2018

Honestly, I don’t know what each profile means, but Matt and I were both “Shara-shara”, and Mariko and Kumiko were also paired up, although I don’t remember which profile they were.

It was a fun evening, and after the tasting, we enjoyed another glass of saké and chatted with the Yummysaké rep. Good times!

"Relaxing" Austin, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.2, 1/40 sec, ISO6400
 “Relaxing” Austin, 2018

I hope you had a nice Wednesday!

またね～

Converse Colors

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"Black & Black & White" Cedar Park, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/25 sec, ISO6400
 “Black & Black & White” Cedar Park, 2018

こんばんは。So, I’ve been wearing my black Converse a lot lately… like the past year or so. In fact, it’s the shoes I took to Morocco and Spain. And Stockholm before that. And Miami a while back. And to see SCANDAL, where I matched shoes with Rina! Everywhere. It got me thinking about the different colors of Converse again, and I am wanting a pair of red ones. It’s been a long time since I’ve owned a pair!

You know, I’m pretty sure that the type of converse you gravitate to can tell you a lot about your personality… but I don’t know exactly what those distinctions are.

However, here are a couple fun “analyses” for what Converse colors say about you. Enjoy!

I hope you had a nice Tuesday!

またね～

Automatic Time Adjustment

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"Timex and Seiko" Cedar Park, 2018
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/6.4, 1/40 sec, ISO6400
 “Timex and Seiko” Cedar Park, 2018

こんばんは。How’s it going?

The other day we had to change our clocks to Daylight Savings Time here in Texas. These days, some of our clocks update automatically, while others require manual adjustment. But I think it’s kind of fun to change the clocks! Especially my watches. 😝

But one clock was always a hassle to update, and that’s my car’s clock. For one thing, I’d only notice it was wrong when I started driving, and I couldn’t adjust it because it was unsafe to do so. The clock was my car stereo which (even after 14 years) was a puzzle to figure out. Then when I arrived at my destination, I’d forget to change it, so the next time I’d get in my car and drive, the cycle would repeat itself.

My new Subaru Crosstrek has a clock on the dash, and it has simple + and – buttons, but you have to go thru the minutes, instead of just adjusting an hour at a time. So, I rolled my eyes again. However, I was pleasantly surprised to notice that the clock automatically adjusted to the correct time! I guess it picked up the time from my phone’s Bluetooth connection or Android Auto. How cool! I thought that the dash clock was just a totally separate unit, but I guess not. Yay!

That reminds me of my Sony A77 camera with its built-in GPS which would automatically adjust the time and date. Such a great feature.

Anyways, today’s photo is of two of my watches: the Seiko SKX007 and the Timex Weekender. After taking the photo, I decided to take a little video to illustrate the different hand movements of the two watches. The Seiko uses an automatic movement, which is smoother, while the TImes uses a quartz movement, which is more accurate, but not quite as elegant as it clicks away.

Ok, that’s enough time nerdery for today! (By the way, did you enjoy the “time nerd” joke in The Big Sick? Fun movie!

I hope you had a nice day!

またね～