I came off the freeway this morning to find a bunch of Highway Patrol guys standing around a banged up KTM 950 motorcycle. The bike didn't look too trashed. The faring around the headlight was broken, as were the mirrors, but it was in otherwise good shape. The forks looked straight and the front end was mostly intact.
Then I went through the light on to 4th Street and saw what he hit:
Note that the whole back window is smashed out, the trunk is crunched, and even the roof took heavy damage. Guy must have been wearing a suit of armor or something.
Bernanke gave us $1,200 (Economic Stimulus Act of 2008) so that we bought Canon EOS 40D + Sigma 30mm F1.4 and we *loved* 'em. At the beginning of our research Rebel XSi (which called "EOS digital Kiss X2" in Japan) looks like enough for us which is a new cost effective entry-level dSLR camera. But I was thinking that buying a bit more expensive camera will make us more motivated. If we don't use it, we lose money. negative thinking though. Moreover, friends are using 40D. Those were good enough to decide what to buy. deal. Specially I liked its high speed shooting capability.
For the lens. Actually, I'm a big fun of shots on a photoblog "dacafe". In those portraits, the subject is isolated from the background amazingly. He, a blog owner, posted a page about what he recommends (you might notice affiliate links on it :). According to it, points to take such a photo are low F-number and single focus. I didn't know what those means at that time. But using the recommended lens and try to copy his way could be a good start to be a SLR owner.
More photos are available on Flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/sekimura/
After eight weeks of intense puppy study, Lizzie passed her final today and graduated from Puppy Training!
Lizzie was nervous about her final.
but Stella was there for support.
After a quick cram session with Dad, she was ready to go.
Shake!
She got a gold star from her teach for graduating.
I just got an email from the instructor assigning the first two chapters of our text book for the first day of class THIS THURSDAY. OMG, when did July 10th come up so fast?
That means I need to high tail it to the book store tomorrow and read two chapters, tomorrow!
赤坂サカスにて
If i type 3 apostrophies then a word on a wiki, it'll come out in bold.
Scotch was sorting the vinyl this weekend and came across a killer compilation that I bought a while back. We put it on, and this sweet gem got lodged in my head, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I dare you to listen to this and not be feelin' a whole lot better than before!
I'm pretty sure it's a Toots and the Maytals song, though, and the mp3 is just mislabeled. It could have been covered by Byron Lee, as he is awesome, although most of The Dragonaires stuff is sort of new wave synth ska. Thinking about Byron Lee, though, reminded me of this song:
One month from today, I'll be in the most beautiful location of the most beautiful place, eye to eye with the most beautiful girl. We'll vow (in two languages even) to stand by each others' sides for the rest of our lives, which is pretty fucking awesome. Some people are freaked out by such a commitment, but I've never been more sure of anything in my life. As cliche as it sounds, Miss Scotch is truly my best friend and my favorite person to be with. I miss her when we're apart, and every time I see her or hear her voice I'm like a puppy dog whose owner just came home from work. Marrying her is like signing up for free massages, on rollercoasters, with chocolate fondue between each ride, for the rest of my life. I'm ON FUCKING BOARD.
I spent last week in Tahoe with my siblings and Dad. It was a 5 day 'weekend' chalk full of laughter, eating, drinking and as a result, exhaustion. Vinnie could only grace us with his presence from Tuesday night until Friday morning because he was in a wedding in Denver. We did see him again on Sunday...not in good shape from his 4 am bedtime and 9 am flight.
Here are some photos of us on Lake Tahoe...public access (bleh!).
There were literally people everywhere. I have spent a few 4ths in Tahoe and none of them had ever been that busy.
After the lake we went to a brand new wine bar in Truckee- Bacchus & Venus. It is a little piece of SF in Truckee. So nice!
Jamie and my dad are saying 'cheers' with their beloved jalapeño chips. Everyone has their vice.
Ah, the famtini! Hae makes a wicked gin martini (dirty, please). Needless to say, things turned interesting later on that night. Lots of karaoke, drinking and merriment all around. That made for a very slow 4th of July!
