Catching a Ballgame

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"Kids at the Game" Arlington, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/1250 sec, ISO200
 “Kids at the Game” Arlington, 2016

こんばんは！

Today we drove up to watch the Texas Rangers play the Oakland A’s in Arlington. It’s a bit of a drive to get up there from Austin but it was fun because all six of us (my family plus our friends Matt and Kumiko) drove up in my mini-van. 🚐

The weather was blazing at the park ☀, and the seats that I had bought were in full sun… it was way too hot and we only sat there for an inning before relocating to a shadier part of the park. In fact, the women didn’t even venture down to the seats in the sun! I don’t blame them. 😩

Must remember to only buy covered seats for the day games!

"Spectators" Arlington, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/640 sec, ISO800
 “Spectators” Arlington, 2016

We then found some other seats in the shade, and watched the rest of the ballgame. Too bad the Rangers lost, but it was still fun!

After the game, it was time to head over to Kula Sushi for dinner. That was a great experience! Kula Sushi is a kaiten-zushi, or conveyor belt serving style. But Kula takes it even further, because you can order anything on the menu via a tablet, and it will be prepared and sent to the table via another conveyor belt which is above the main belt. It’s very hi-tech! Loved it!

"Sushi Time" Carrollton, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5, 1/90 sec, ISO3200
 “Sushi Time” Carrollton, 2016

Anyways, that is all for today. It was a long drive back home, and now it’s late. In fact, I need to cheat a little and set the posting time an hour back so that I can have a Sunday post. 😜

おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto

Slow Saturday

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"REI Marker" Austin, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4.5, 1/160 sec, ISO200
 “REI Marker” Austin, 2016

こんばんは！How’s it going? Did you have a nice Saturday?

Mine was pretty slow and relaxing. I spent the morning downtown drinking coffee and catching up on some YouTube videos and blogs and just generally relaxing.

I also took several photos of random things, one of which is above. Outside the door of the downtown Austin REI, there is a marker in the sidewalk that notes the date and elevation. I thought it was pretty cool. Reminds me of the USGS markers at the National Parks, which I’m guessing was the intention.

This afternoon I finished watching the Japanese dorama “Ie Uru Onna” which stars my favorite Japanese actress, Kitagawa Keiko. I was a bit disappointed that the final episodes didn’t really develop her character further. She was pretty much the same person from the first episode all the way til the finale. And she never once smiled! 😞

800px-ieuru_onna

But I still enjoyed the dorama and laughed quite a bit. I’d give this one a 7 out of 10 rating.

Continuing on my Kitagawa viewing odyssey, I am now watching an older dorama called “Tantei no Tantei” or Detectives vs Detectives. I’ve only watched the first episode of this mystery/thriller but it’s riveting! So far so good as far as the story goes, but Kitagawa’s character is again quite serious and somber. Will she ever smile? We’ll see! 😆

528px-tantei_no_tantei_main

Anyways, let’s have a nice Sunday!

おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto

Texas Wine Tasting

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"Round 2" Austin, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/100 sec, ISO1250
 “Round 2” Austin, 2016

こんばんは！How’s it going?

This evening my wife and I went to a two-hour “Texas Wine Talk & Tasting” by Texas Wine Journal held at Whole Foods. It was all about Texas wines, and we learned a lot about the different regions in Texas, the history of Texas wine, and how Texas wine saved the European wine industry. It was very interesting!

"Wine Class" Austin, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/8, 1/25 sec, ISO3200
 “Wine Class” Austin, 2016

And of course we sampled 8 different wines and were treated to talks by two Texas wineries – Llano Estacado Winery and Brennan Vineyards. Interesting, educational, and fun. Plus the wine! 🍷

I enjoyed it quite a bit. 😄

"Yummy" Austin, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/150 sec, ISO400
 “Yummy” Austin, 2016

After the tasting, Mariko and I visited the “Draft Shack Oyster Bar” inside the market and had a flight of beers and some oysters and jerk-chicken. It was a perfect meal after the wine-tasting.

"Oysters and Beer" Austin, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/55 sec, ISO3200
 “Oysters and Beer” Austin, 2016

A fantastic Friday evening, and now it’s time for the weekend!

おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto

Begging

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"Waiting for a Handout" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/50 sec, ISO3200
 “Waiting for a Handout” Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！How’s it going?

Today’s photo is of our dog, Lani, trying her best to look cute so that I’ll give her a treat. Normally as soon as the camera comes out, she’ll shy away, but this time I was holding a pita chip right above the lens. 😊

I hope you had a nice day!

おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto

In a Rut, or Obsessed?

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"Low" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/8, 1/1500 sec, ISO200
 “Low” Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！How’s it going?

So, I’ve been looking back at my Instagram feed and I noticed that half my photos lately have been of clouds. ☁ As you may know, I am taking part in a 365 project, which is where you take one photo 📸 per day for a whole year 🗓. So, there is a little bit of pressure to find a subject to shoot each day.

And clouds are an easy subject to capture, especially if there are really nice ones hanging around in the sky. Part of me is thinking that I am just not looking hard enough for other subjects to shoot, but another part of me thinks that clouds are so cool-looking, ever-changing, and fascinating that I need to make photos of them.

My kids know that I am kind of obsessed… when we are driving I might hand the camera to one of them and ask them to take a photo. Luckily for me, they haven’t been too annoyed. In fact, I think Koa might have gotten the cloud bug as well! This afternoon as we were driving home, he pulled out his phone to take a photo of the “cool” clouds. 😄

I think I’ve come to terms with taking cloud photos… I’ll continue without hesitation since I just love them. Why not?

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In other news, I saw this notification pop up in WordPress saying I have earned a new achievement:

1337

Pretty funny, huh! WordPress has its own social network of bloggers, and it’s fun to read and “like” posts. It’s similar to “liking” on Instagram, but instead of pictures, they are blog posts. Anyways, it was kind of fun to get this notification. ☺️

I hope you had a nice Wednesday!

おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto