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June 24,
2014 - 10-cm hailstorm strikes western Tokyo
Due to seriously unstable atmospheric conditions today that created
10-kilometer high cumulonimbus clouds, parts of western Tokyo
including Mitaka & Chofu were blanketed with accumulations of up
to 10 centimeters of hailstones, some up to 3-cm in diameter. Uh, it's
LATE JUNE, folks!! |
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May 19,
2014 - Garrett D'Aigle Ukulele Concert in Balboa Park: Part 1
I was SO delighted to see my dear buddy playing his ukulele in the
beautiful rose garden in Balboa Park in San Diego, California, as part
of the LaVon Wageman Show. I've known Garrett ever since our college
days at the University of Texas @ Austin, and that was a very LONG time
ago! 
Although Garrett took up the ukulele only about a year ago, he has always been an accomplished singer, guitarist, mandolinist, harmonicist, and pianist. In fact, the way we met was he was playing John Lennon's "Imagine" on the piano in the lobby of my campus dormitory one day while I was on my way back to my dorm room.
I've been a BIG fan of his thru the years and have enthusiastically promoted his music every chance I've had in diverse places like Port Aransas, Texas; Glacier National Park, Montana; Nova Scotia, Canada; Phoenix, Arizona; Mazatlan, Mexico; and even Tokyo when he visited me in Year 2000. Here is the flyer for the 2 gigs I booked for him while he was here, one @ Bobby's Bar in Ikebukuro and the other @ The Fiddler in Takadanobaba.
A big, hearty thanks to LaVon for her great show and the wonderful video below, which even includes numerous beautiful pics of the Balboa Park rose garden embedded in the video. You can view more of the videos from her show here.
The Part 2 video of Garrett's ukulele concert can be viewed here.
(If player above is not visible, you can view the Part 1 video @ YouTube here.)
0:00 "Here Comes the Sun," The Beatles
2:02 "Wonderful World," Sam Cooke
3:45 "My Girl," The Temptations
6:08 "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on my Head," B.J. Thomas
May 10,
2014 - Maria Lourdes & band, live @ Ihawan Philippine nightclub,
Tokyo, Japan
Jazz
vocalist Maria Lourdes performed tonight @ Ihawan Kabukicho with the
Kose Kikuchi jazz quartet, along with guest singer Carru Torreña, who
performed 2 songs beginning @ the 10:46 mark.Maria began singing when she was just 5 years old, and won a television singing contest in her native Philippines at age 8.
She's still passionate about singing and runs Maria's English and Singing (MES) School in Hamamatsu, Japan where she serves as a voice coach and cram school teacher.
Thank you, Maria, Kose, & Carru!!
More info:
http://www.ihawan.jp/
Maria Lourdes & band, live @ Ihawan Philippine nightclub
(If player above is not visible, you can view video @ YouTube here.)
May 5, 2014 - Dreams of Space Travel 「夢の宇宙」
Commercial space tourism envisioned by billionaire Sir Richard Branson (リチャード・ブランソン卿) is coming ever closer to reality as his spaceflight company Virgin Galactic (ヴァージン・ギャラクティック社) finalizes the testing of its suborbital space plane SpaceShipTwo, making it possible that its first commercial flight may occur as early as sometime later this year.A ride on SpaceShipTwo will cost $250,000 (２５００万円), and 18 of the 650 passengers who have already paid for their tickets are Japanese, including 68-year-old Kozo Hiramatsu (平松庚三), a Tokyo management consultant who signed up 10 years ago.
Sir Richard Branson, an amateur adventurer who is world-famous for his publicity stunts, has been interested in space since at least the Apollo era, and is expected to be aboard the maiden flight along with some members of his family.
SpaceShipTwo will carry 6 passengers at a time and launch from underneath its carrier aircraft called WhiteKnightTwo, separating and rocketing to more than 60 miles (100 kilometers) in altitude where passengers will experience 3.5 times the speed of sound, a few minutes of out-of-seat zero gravity, and be able to view Earth from the blackness of space.
For the return trip, the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo is designed so that it can move its rudders back to a configuration that allows for gliding, allowing it to land back on Earth on a normal runway.
Launches and landings will occur at SpacePort America in Upham, New Mexico, a taxpayer-funded $225 million facility offered to Virgin Galactic in December 2005. Spaceport America, the world's first purpose-built commercial spaceport, is located on 18,000 acres adjacent to the U.S. Army's White Sands Missile Range.
Sources: http://www.space.com/25608-virgin-galactic-land-rover-space-travel.html http://www.space.com/19021-spaceshiptwo.html http://www.space.com/15312-spaceport-america-rocket-launch-runway-addition.html
http://www.virgingalactic.com/
April 27, 2014 - 10 things Japan gets awesomely right
As a follow-up to their recent article on the 10 things they thought Japan gets terribly wrong, RocketNews24 has gathered the opinions of mostly foreigners on the top 10 things they truly love about living in Japan.| "Although Japan is not without its faults,
it is nevertheless an
incredibly efficient and easy-to-live-in country, and we’ve discovered
that there are numerous things
that the Japanese get not just right, but awesomely right." |
Here are the top 10 things they love about Japan:
1. Vending machines
2. Food
3. Removing your shoes when going indoors
4. Taxis
5. Convenience stores
6. Recycling and waste management
7. Punctuality
8. Customer service
9. Toilets
10. Drinking pretty much anywhere
Read the full article here: http://en.rocketnews24.com/2013/11/09/10-things-japan-gets-awesome-right
April 21, 2014 - 15-year-old Minami Katsu (勝みなみ) becomes youngest winner on Japan's women's LPGA tour
Minami Katsu (勝みなみ), a 15-year-old Japanese high schooler, has become the youngest winner in the history of the Japan LPGA tour by shooting a 4-under 68 on Sunday to win the Vantelin Ladies Open at the Kumamoto Airport Country Club.Minami, an amateur, finished the tourney at 11-under 205, one stroke ahead of South Korean Lee Bo-mee, and just this month became a first-year student at Kagoshima High School on Japan's southern main island of Kyushu.
Source: Associated Press
15-year-old Minami Katsu (勝みなみ), youngest ever winner
in the history of the Japan LPGA tour
(Photo credits: (L) - LPGA of Japan; (R) - sanspo.com)
April
14, 2014 - 1993 Xmas tape of Tokyo
In Dec. 1993 I bought a used Sony Handycam, my first ever movie camera,
and commenced to have a LOT of fun filming scenes from my everyday life
in Tokyo, including inside my Japanese apt., the neighborhood shopping
street, and even in my construction co. office. I subsequently then
made a tape & sent it to family & friends in the states as a
Xmas present. Recently I tried digitizing the 2-decade-old VCR tape and
have regrettably failed miserably (WAY too blurry), but maybe you can
still get a feel for those magic days in Tokyo. A couple of interesting observations are the McDonald's breakfast sets as cheap as ¥379 (~$3.45 at the time) and the train/subway staff still collecting tickets prior to the advent of IC card/ticket gate machines. But by far the most exciting part of this 2-hr. video is the 30-min. segment @ the famous Pub Elvis karaoke bar in Takadanobaba. And by all means, don't miss the amazing Aki/Tamura-san show that starts @ the 1:34:06 mark.
0:00 Window shopping in Shibuya
2:33 Gotenyama Park House Mansion, Apt. 204
17:25 Gotenyama Garden & Waterfalls
20:32 Kita Shinagawa Shopping Street
45:50 Morning commute to the office
48:07 Breakfast @ McDonald's
48:25 Very CROWDED Shinagawa Station & riding on the Yamanote Line (OMG!)
54:20 JR Shimbashi Station & riding on the Ginza subway line
56:06 Toranomon Station & Nishimatsu Construction
58:56 JR Shinjuku Station east exit & Higashi-Shinjuku shopping street
1:05:46 The FAMOUS Pub Elvis karaoke bar in Takadanobaba
1:42:22 Aaron Narakiyo, Elvis Impersonator
1:44:28 Gary's English class for Tokyo Metropolitan Government 23-ward employees
April 10, 2014 - "Sakurafubuki" (桜吹雪, cherry blossom blizzard)
The cherry blossoms normally peak in Tokyo around the beginning of April, when both the school year and business year begin in Japan, and so are symbolic of a fresh start. And from the time the blossoms first open until they start falling off the tree, they rarely last for more than 2 weeks, representing the fragility and shortness of life. Now you see them, now you don't.And by far one of the most stunning aspects of their demise, is the remarkable way the cherry blossoms fall off the tree and get blown around in the breeze, resembling a snowstorm. So it is no big surprise that the Japanese refer to this phenomenon as "sakurafubuki" (桜吹雪, cherry blossom blizzard).
In the past few days, I was able to catch 2 cherry blossom blizzards on film, one just outside my apartment and another on the university campus where I teach. Enjoy!
"Sakurafubuki" (桜吹雪, cherry blossom blizzard)
(If player above is not visible, you can view video @ YouTube here.)
April 8,
2014 - Billy Bob's Texas' 33-year anniversary
The following was last week's 1-minute radio broadcast entitled "This
Week in Texas
History,"
produced by the Save Texas History program of the Texas General Land
Office: ***********
TITLE: HONKY-TONK TEXAS
APRIL 1, 1981. FORT WORTH. SPURRED BY THE NATIONAL CRAZE FOLLOWING THE FILM URBAN COWBOY, BILLY BOB’S TEXAS OPENS TODAY AS THE WORLD’S LARGEST HONKY TONK.
NAMED AFTER OWNER BILLY BOB BARNETT, AN AGGIE AND PRO FOOTBALL PLAYER, THE CLUB HAS OVER 30 BARS AND CAN SEAT 6,000. WITH ALMOST THREE ACRES UNDER ROOF, IT EVEN HAS ITS OWN INDOOR ARENA FOR BULL RIDING!
BUILT IN 1910 AS A CATTLE BARN FOR THE NEARBY STOCKYARDS, AIRPLANES WERE BUILT HERE DURING THE WAR.
TONIGHT, THE GATLIN BROTHERS PERFORM, FOLLOWED THAT WEEK BY WAYLON AND WILLIE.
DESPITE SETBACKS AND A BRIEF CLOSURE IN 1988, THE CLUB REMAINS A TEXAS LEGEND.
BILLY BOB’S TEXAS LEFT THE CHUTE 33 YEARS AGO, THIS WEEK IN TEXAS HISTORY.
(Source: This Week in Texas History, April 2014, Week 1)
************
When I first heard this story on-air a few days ago, it practically brought tears to my eyes, 'cause I had the pleasure of working in Ft. Worth at the time. Billy Bob's Texas was in fact a favorite happy hour watering hole for my fellow City of Ft. Worth transportation department coworkers.
And in Dec. 2005, while I was briefly back in Ft. Worth as part of a Xmas holiday road trip to visit all of my former Texas abodes, I took the opportunity to swing by Billy Bob's to reminisce and to have my pic made (below) for my 2006 New Year's postcard, referred to in Japanese as a nengajo (年賀状).
Ft. Worth in the early 80s was quite an exciting place to be as it underwent a magical renaissance, including a massive redevelopment of the downtown area. There was a popular bumper sticker at the time that read "Foat Wuth, ah luv yew!" (Ft. Worth, I love you!). That message still touches my heart, 'cause yes, Ft. Worth, I still do!!
My 2006 New Year's Japanese postcard (nengajo, 年賀状)
Billy Bob's Texas, the world's largest honky tonk
April 7, 2014 - The stunning Moon/Jupiter April 6 sky show
Last night around 9:30 pm, I caught an amazing sight in the sky. The 6-day-old moon & Jupiter, the brightest and second-brightest objects in the April 2014 evening sky, were VERY close together. Wow.
Courtship of Moon & Jupiter, April 6, 2014
Interesting Jupiter facts:
- The largest planet in our solar system
- The 5th planet from the sun
- Located more than 5 times the Earth’s distance from the sun (483,800,000 miles (778,500,000 km))
- Rotates once around its axis in less than 10 hours
- Radius of 43,441 miles (69,911 km), about 11 times that of the Earth
April 5, 2014 - Disney's World of English videos
Back in the mid-90s, I had the opportunity for 3 years to sing and dance in children's English education stage shows by Disney's World of English. These shows, conducted in public halls throughout Japan, were a true joy. The beauty of this part-time weekend job is that it didn't interfere with my day jobs, and allowed me to see 44 of Japan's 47 prefectures. Without question, it was one of my most glorious experiences in Japan. The job also entailed telephone English speaking and singing lessons one evening a week for young Japanese children, requiring us to learn over 60 Disney songs.Below are videos of 3 of the shows I had the pleasure of "performing" in.
My pics are here: Disney
Kids World Family's Family College Show,
Hamamatsu, Japan, July 19, 1997:
I believe a couple of my favorite parts are starting from the 18:20
& 25:05 min. marks.World Family's Family College Show, Hamamatsu, Japan
(If player above is not visible, you can view video @ YouTube here.)
World Family's Family College Show,
Gifu, Japan, June 30, 1996
I believe one of my favorite parts is starting from the 19:45 min. mark.World Family's Family College Show, Gifu, Japan
(If player above is not visible, you can view video @ YouTube here.)
World Family's Puppet Show, Yamagata, Japan, Sept. 16, 1995
I believe a couple of my favorite parts are starting from the 9:35 & 19:40 min. marks.World Family's Puppet Show, Yamagata, Japan
(If player above is not visible, you can view video @ YouTube here.)
April 2,
2014 - Brown-eared bulbul (hiyodori, ヒヨドリ) feasts on the
fresh cherry
blossoms today just outside my apartment veranda
The cheery, cherry blossoms are now in their glorious full bloom in
Japan's capital.
Brown-eared bulbul
April 1,
2014 - Old
VCR tapes of Japanese TV acting gigs get digitized... sort of (not all
of the decade-old videos converted that well)
[Note: This is NOT an April Fool's joke!] New
Zealand ambassador & other diplomats at an Asian summit lose their
cool after falling under the spell of evil space ninjas
Nimpu Sentai Harikenja (忍風戦隊ハリケンジャー),
Channel 10, Sun. Mar. 24, 2002, 7:30 am
(Click image above to view video on my Acting and Modeling in Tokyo page)
Miscellaneous
Japanese TV acting gigs
0:00 Art Nature TV commercial (Don't blink at the very end of this commercial or you'll miss the handsome figure skating judge on the far left!)
0:27 "Brides from Abroad," Sunday Big Special, TV Tokyo, Jan. 13, 2002, 7:00 pm
1:16 Hollywood Documentary, BS-i, Dec. 2, 2001, 9:00 pm
1:50 Sma Station-2, Shingo's Hato Bus Tour w/ Gaijin, Feb. 22, 2003, 11:30 pm
More funny acting/modeling pics & videos can be found on this page: Acting and Modeling in Tokyo
Gary J. Wolff's Blog
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