NHL Free Agents
Tomorrow is the day clubs can sign unrestricted free agents. Let's see if the LA Kings pull off something big. Crossing my fingers
Canon 5D Out Of Commission
Out on a photoshoot tonight in Downey at Bob's Big Boy Broiler. My Canon 5D broke while shooting. I was lucky enough that Neira from Holland was staying with one of the Los Boulevardos guys and had her new Canon 5D with her. She offered it to me so I can shoot the rest of the night. Thank you Neira you are a lifesaver. Check out her website. www.neira.nl.
Gundam Cafe Akihabara
ガンダム・カフェ
The Japanese sci-fi animation, Mobile Suit Gundam, with its beginnings in the late 1970s is still alive (or at least still mobile) and kicking (?) in Japan after all these years.
There are Gundam toys, movies, comic books and games. There are also gundam cafes. However, in April, the very first official Gundam cafe opened, in Tokyo's Akihabara electronics district.
The cafe's sleek white armor-paneled facade gives way to an interior that is equally shiny and spaceship. The staff wear cute 1970s uniforms, there's lots of pink and icy blue neon, or "laser," there are Gundam toys for sale, of course there is food for sale, and there is even a special blend of coffee for sale, known as Jaburo Blend: a "whole bean coffee" that is also a "city roast."
Jaburo Blend comes with its own barely intelligible Gundam legend, about some massive Earth Federation Army being located in a hidden South American location, whereupon the till then secret Jaburo Blend also become known to earthlings in general, and can now be purchased by the curious at the Gundam Cafe, Akihabara.
When it comes to edible equivalents, there is the "1/144 Gunpla Yaki," a bean paste- or custard-filled confectionery in the shape of a Gundam mobile suit.
In the evening, Gundam Cafe becomes a bar.
1-1 Kandahanaoka-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Hours: 10am - 11pm. Closed Sundays.
Gundam Cafe website
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The Japanese sci-fi animation, Mobile Suit Gundam, with its beginnings in the late 1970s is still alive (or at least still mobile) and kicking (?) in Japan after all these years.
There are Gundam toys, movies, comic books and games. There are also gundam cafes. However, in April, the very first official Gundam cafe opened, in Tokyo's Akihabara electronics district.
The cafe's sleek white armor-paneled facade gives way to an interior that is equally shiny and spaceship. The staff wear cute 1970s uniforms, there's lots of pink and icy blue neon, or "laser," there are Gundam toys for sale, of course there is food for sale, and there is even a special blend of coffee for sale, known as Jaburo Blend: a "whole bean coffee" that is also a "city roast."
Jaburo Blend comes with its own barely intelligible Gundam legend, about some massive Earth Federation Army being located in a hidden South American location, whereupon the till then secret Jaburo Blend also become known to earthlings in general, and can now be purchased by the curious at the Gundam Cafe, Akihabara.
When it comes to edible equivalents, there is the "1/144 Gunpla Yaki," a bean paste- or custard-filled confectionery in the shape of a Gundam mobile suit.
In the evening, Gundam Cafe becomes a bar.
1-1 Kandahanaoka-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Hours: 10am - 11pm. Closed Sundays.
Gundam Cafe website
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Taketomi Island Images
竹富島
Taketomi Island ("Prosperous Bamboo") in the Yaeyama chain of islands in Okinawa attempts to preserve Ryukyu (Okinawan) culture. The 7km long by 2km wide island with a population of 300, one third of whom is over 70, has no need for convenience stores.
The inhabitants still sweep the streets outside their own homes keeping the beautiful island in pristine condition, despite the daily influx of hundreds of day-trippers from the mainland via nearby Ishigaki.
The main village of Taketomi has beautiful, walled bungalow-style homes with terracotta-tiled roofs, topped with the ubiquitous shisa. The rocky walls surrounding the houses are alive with colorful bougainvillea and hibiscus plants.
Taketomi-jima is known for its beautiful beaches, aquamarine sea, butterflies and the local minsa, an indigo fabric used in kimono obi (belts).
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Ryukyu
Taketomi Island ("Prosperous Bamboo") in the Yaeyama chain of islands in Okinawa attempts to preserve Ryukyu (Okinawan) culture. The 7km long by 2km wide island with a population of 300, one third of whom is over 70, has no need for convenience stores.
The inhabitants still sweep the streets outside their own homes keeping the beautiful island in pristine condition, despite the daily influx of hundreds of day-trippers from the mainland via nearby Ishigaki.
The main village of Taketomi has beautiful, walled bungalow-style homes with terracotta-tiled roofs, topped with the ubiquitous shisa. The rocky walls surrounding the houses are alive with colorful bougainvillea and hibiscus plants.
Taketomi-jima is known for its beautiful beaches, aquamarine sea, butterflies and the local minsa, an indigo fabric used in kimono obi (belts).
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The Hat In Alhambra
Last Friday night I drove out to The Hat in Alhambra to meet up with Eryk Frias to shoot his car club for an upcoming photo editorial. Going to be working on this assignment for the next few weeks.
Judo
柔道
Judo ("the way of gentleness") is a relatively new Japanese martial art, dating only from the Meiji Period. The sport was developed in 1882 by Dr Kano Jigoro (1860–1938), a weakling as a child who took up jujutsu training to strengthen himself during his studies at Tokyo University.
Kano developed and systemized judo as a martial art from the older jujutsu techniques, which had been formulated in a number of "schools" under various masters in the Edo Period (1603-1868) as a means of unarmed combat training for samurai warriors.
This systemization and rationalization of a previous feudal form was part of the general modernizing underway in Japanese society during the early Meiji Period, as people looked to transform samurai ethics into spiritual disciplines and practical self-help techniques more in tune with the prevailing Victorian zeitgeist of the day.
In 1882 Kano founded the Kodokan (at Eishoji, a Buddhist temple in Kamakura) to teach judo to others and as his new style increased in popularity, it evenually displaced jujutsu in Japan.
Judo is based on three major principles: throwing (nage waza), groundwork (katame waza) and striking (atemi waza).
Judo spread quickly overseas as Kano and his students actively promoted the sport in the USA and Europe. Gunji Koizumi (1885-1965) the "Father of British Judo" settled in London and founded the Budokwai. Mikonosuke Kawaishi (1899-1969) taught with Koizumi in England before moving on to Paris to set up a judo school.
In the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, judo became an Olympic sport for men and for women at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games.
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Japanese Judo
Judo ("the way of gentleness") is a relatively new Japanese martial art, dating only from the Meiji Period. The sport was developed in 1882 by Dr Kano Jigoro (1860–1938), a weakling as a child who took up jujutsu training to strengthen himself during his studies at Tokyo University.
Kano developed and systemized judo as a martial art from the older jujutsu techniques, which had been formulated in a number of "schools" under various masters in the Edo Period (1603-1868) as a means of unarmed combat training for samurai warriors.
This systemization and rationalization of a previous feudal form was part of the general modernizing underway in Japanese society during the early Meiji Period, as people looked to transform samurai ethics into spiritual disciplines and practical self-help techniques more in tune with the prevailing Victorian zeitgeist of the day.
In 1882 Kano founded the Kodokan (at Eishoji, a Buddhist temple in Kamakura) to teach judo to others and as his new style increased in popularity, it evenually displaced jujutsu in Japan.
Judo is based on three major principles: throwing (nage waza), groundwork (katame waza) and striking (atemi waza).
Judo spread quickly overseas as Kano and his students actively promoted the sport in the USA and Europe. Gunji Koizumi (1885-1965) the "Father of British Judo" settled in London and founded the Budokwai. Mikonosuke Kawaishi (1899-1969) taught with Koizumi in England before moving on to Paris to set up a judo school.
In the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, judo became an Olympic sport for men and for women at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games.
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Garage Company Saturday Night Ride
Mike Davis had sent me a email a while back telling me that Garage Co. was doing a show at the shop so I planned to ride down there and check it out. It was just going to be my buddy Jack Audiss and I but Jack called a couple of his friends and it turned into a pretty big group.
Gassed up and we were ready to roll. We jumped on the 405 Fwy and headed north towards Inglewood. It was a cool ride and awesome to see a pretty good group of bikes blasting down the freeway.
It was great weather again in Southern California for riding.
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