27 October 2006

[160] Yay! Five Months!! - 2006/10/28 (Sat)

It already passed, huh...
Eventually, one month is going to seem like nothing.
With things like this, it's going to take a whole year to make me stop.
Only two months left in this year...

Well, today, anyway, I'll still have to work hard...
Bracelet power! (^_^)

P.S. I received a bunch of material from everyone.
Thank you for all your cooperation. (^_^)

[159] Ooo! - 2006/10/27 (Fri)

With this and that, it's another two days without sleep...
Will tomorrow be the third day...?
With the way things are right now, it'll probably continue forever. (^^;)

Well, if I can stand three days with no sleep and still be calm... (not likely)

This kind of studio... I want! (whisper)

26 October 2006

[158] Hana Journal - 2006/10/25 (Wed)

He's gotten so big!
Having said that, he can still fit in my palm. (^_^)

But why are dogs always licking people like that?
If I'm with him for any length of time, he'll always start licking my hand.
Hana-kun, do I taste good? (^_^)

He's really a cute little guy.

[157] Self-Destructive Behavior (^_^) - 2006/10/24 (Tue)

We, well~ I'm really just a man cook... *
So I won't be making any cooking posts for a while. (^^;)

For a start, I can't think of anything funny to make... (^_^)

By the way, do you drink water every day?
People who do, is it only minimally effective for you?
I think it's quite effective for people who don't normally drink enough water.
Since it's suddenly on my mind. (^_^)

If you don't want the body to wither, don't forget the water,
and also, if you don't want the heart to wither, don't forget the smiles. (^_^)


[ * as in, someone who can't make much. ]

25 October 2006

[156] A Cooking Post - 2006/10/23 (Mon)

Well~ I seem to have gotten the image of somebody who's really amazing at cooking,
but honestly, I'm a pretty clumsy cook... So be warned. (^_^)
Generally, I just throw together some leftovers from the fridge. (^^;)

Today, we have my favorite thing to use for cooking...

My teacher, a friend who can make Italian, was giving some fundamental rules to a novice,
and said to me,

'Olive Oil is good for the body, and won't fatten you up,'
so when I heard that, I started using it in whatever I was cooking. (^_^)
It's also put on the skin as cosmetics, so of course it's good for enhancing one's figure.

Certainly it's more refreshing than regular cooking oil.

P.S. As always, thank you for the various recipies. I'll study them hard. (^_^)

[155] Daiikon~! - 2006/10/22 (Sun)

I've always got daikon info, but
well, I was thinking that, well I haven't even made anything with one of them,
and as a joke, I tried making 'Daikon Nitsuke'. *

Well, of course, homestyle cooking is really good, and I was able to reproduce it.
My meals are improving, improving... It's that autumn appetite. (^_^)

The daikon, I bought to use with some pike,
but it had been sleeping in the refrigerator for a week (^^;) **
so it was a lot of activity. (^_^) Everybody should try it!

P.S. Taken any good 'Autumn Colors' photos? ***


[ * nitsuke: veggies or fish boiled in soy sauce.
** daikon doesn't generally adapt to the fridge very well, and yellows easily.

*** lord, he's really pushing this contest, ne? he must be excited. (^_^) ]

24 October 2006

[154] My brain's exhausted. - 2006/10/21 (Sat)

Please, have some sweets. (temptation~)
Has anyone heard of Juchheim?
Well, it's a famous brand of baumkuchen. *

When I was young, a relative came over to the house
and bought one of these baumkuchens.
It was fun fun for a child's heart... (^_^)
Even now there are times when I miss it and start to crave one.

That's why baumkuchen always gives me a warm feeling inside.
Thanks for the always unchanging good flavor...


[ * a baumkuchen is kind of layered cake, particularly popular in japan of late. it's made by brushing a thin layer of batter onto a cake, allowing that layer to bake, and then repeating. in japan, it's usually covered with a layer of sweet chocolate. ]

[153] I, I didn't know... - 2006/10/20 (Fri)

This 'Sakurajima Daikon' is apparently a farily rare item... *
So I went straight to Yahoo!Auctions. (^_^)

Not really, of course. I'd better behave. m(._.)m
Because there are a bunch of people who want one,
it's easy to resell them.
Makes me wonder how they got to be rare...

P.S. Where is everyone heading to take their Autumn Colors pictures?


[ * named not only for it's location, but also for the fact that it is bright pink inside. ]

[152] Finally!! - 2006/10/19 (Thu)

The Daikon Family line-up.
To everyone who sent me a part of it,
thank you very much. m(._.)m

Supported by daikon power, I think from now on
I want to really go and go for it (?) for it like these three *
'nonchalant' 'mellow' and 'little by little' (^_^)

And of course,
I won't have to look for tomorrow's material... (hahah)

P.S. I've been busy for two days now, and when you don't sleep much, and don't exactly eat a meal, you lose a little bit of weight...
... so that's why I usually overeat? (^^;)


[ * although this translation sounds fine in english, his japanese is kind of weird. he for what i've translated as "go" he uses a verb which means that he's going somewhere in order to go for it, hence his question mark. ]

[151] Yuu's Heart - 2006/10/18 (Wed)

Does- does this sake really exist just for me...?
Well, I see it often... clap clap~
To the person who gave this to me, it tastes good!
Thank you for the material. (^_^)
I recommend this for people who like liquor.

P.S. Images with the theme of "Autumn Colors" are common, so even people who can't photograph autumn directly should still submit a photograph of their own "Autumn Colors."


[in case you're wondering what he's on about, the pictured sake is called "Yuu no kokoro" which means "Yuu's Heart"]

[150] Takoyaki~ - 2006/10/18 (Wed)

Today I went to Ryu-san's house for a takoyaki party.
[Ryu Official Site] http://www.ryu-dragon.com

With the words, It's been such a long time,
we and plenty to talk about, and, of course, as fellow musicians,
the musical talk just kept going and going and going...
It got super late. (^^;)
This time, too, I was completely energized.

And I'll borrow this space to say,
the liquor and takoyaki were extremely delicious, thank you very much. (^_^)

However, as to whether I'm truly blessed with the people I know,
it's just that I'm always getting help from various people.
I couldn't keep going and looking ahead by myself.

Because after all, no matter the surroundings, or the people, it's a battle with myself...
First off, I've gotta get rid of this belly (definitely yes!)

Little by little, I can do it! (^_^)

P.S. We announced the Second Photo Contest.
For this one, please express the various autumn colors.
We're anticipating a whole lot of submissions. Wonder what the prizes will be? (^_^)


[note: holy. freaking. lord. finally.]

23 October 2006

late late late!

ooo i hate it when this happens! i can't figure out one stupid line, and so i mope about for a while, hoping that i'll figure it out on my own, and then like A FREAKING WEEK passes, and i've gotten involved in other things and completely forgotten about it so then when i finally do go back to look at it, i still can't figure it out, and then i get depressed about it again, and the whole stupid cycle repeats.

so.

here's what's gonna happen. i'm gonna look up this word, right now, while i'm talking to you, and if my dictionary isn't of any assisstence, i'm going to go post on sci.lang.japan, right at that very moment and i don't really care if i'm still at work or what. it's not like i've got that much to do here anyhow...

...
...
...

...
...
...


ok, that really didn't clear things up at all... crap.

so i guess i'm off to ask the lovely folks at sci.lang.japan again. it'll only be another day or so, and i've got a few of the more recent ones already done, so it should go fairly quickly. thank you muchly, and i'm very sorry.

m(._.)m

18 October 2006

[149] Helper... - 2006/10/17 (Tue)

A cameraman I know
said to take some photos,
so he came over to offer a little assistence.

Generally, I just snap some pictures.
I don't have much of a chance to touch things like studio stroboscopes.
Of course, in photography, lighting is very important...
Well, really, sunlight is the best.

So, the camera in this photo, how much do you think it costs?
I don't dare write the real price. Honestly, your eyes would pop out of your head.
It costs more to buy this camera than it does to buy domestic luxury car.
Plus, each lens is 2~300,000 yen [about US$2500].
I'm hesitant to spend even 2~30,000 yen [about US$250] on a lens. (^^;)

Half horrified, half jealous, I decided to take a commemorative photograph. (^_^)
One day, I'll buy one, too~ (*yeah right*)

[148] Can't forget your origins - 2006/10/16 (Mon)

Privately, I went to a practice studio.
For work, of course, I go to professional studios,
but every once in a while, an amateur studio is nice.
It made me remember when I was in high school,
and I started a band...

We couldn't be really loud in the house,
so our evening practices were priceless.
I still occassionally run into people from that band...
Ah, it was fun, even if it was a copy band.

... I thought so, anyway. (^_^)


[note: sorry for the delay. let's just say... it's been a busy couple of days...]

16 October 2006

[147] The Magic Pot - 2006/10/14 (Sat)

Has anyone heard of Le Creuset?
It's a brand of French-made enameled metal ware,
and man does this stuff do great work. *

At first, my friend recommended it to me,
but, well, honestly, I don't have many chances to use stuff like saucepans,
and in general, Yukihira pans are just fine. **
Plus, this Le Creuset is super heavy.
The lid is pretty heavy, too, so when I finally got one
it was a little hard to manipulate.

But, eventually, I tried putting it to the test.
If I remember right, it was pork miso or something, with some leftovers from the fridge. (^_^)

And then, mysteriously, the flavor was different!
Had it maybe become mild? Or maybe some new depth appeared...?
Well, it was more delicious than usual.
I don't know if it was just my imagination, or if it was because the heat conduction had improved,
but it was more delicious than when I make it with my normal saucepan.

So now, whenever I use a saucepan for cooking, I have to use this one. (^_^)
Curry, stew, miso soup, tomato soup, anything boiled or stewed,
it all has a really good flavor~

People who like to cook should really check it out. I recommend it.

P.S. Incidentally, today I tried to boil rice in the pan. As expected, it boiled up more deliciously than in the rice cooker. It was firm in half the water. (^^;)
After yesterday's disadvantage, today I tried to go for it and see how many Go I could eat, *** but I went down after three. I'd be doing great at five... Of course, even that wouldn't get me very far. (hahah)


[ * incidentally (chinami ni, as YOU would say) Le Creuset also turns out to be the name of a Gundam character. probably not someone likely to cook you a pork miso soup dinner, either.
** a common, inexpensive brand of pot in japan.
*** a Go, in this case, is a unit of measure, approx 0.18 of a litre. ...which means that YOU didn't even eat half a quart of rice before giving up. what a weakling! (^_^) ]

[146] Food Fighter!! - 2006/10/14 (Sat)

As a matter of fact, I consider myself a food fighter. (^_^)
Right at the moment, my quantity has fallen into the average range,
and although I was never able to beat anybody with the amount I ate when I was a child,
it was just me, so
I think the Engel Coefficient of my parents' home was quite high. *
There were really serious times when I only had one meal of uncooked rise. (^^;)

So, well, when it comes to eating a lot, I've got a little self-confidence,
but let me introduce to you a man
who turns the petit confidence of
this food fighter on its head.

Take a look at the hand in this photo! It could be a parent and child, couldn't it?
It's been a while since I was defeated in the height and hugeness of hand departments,
and also the amount I can eat doesn't even compete with his.
This is the well-known 'Giant Shirota'-kun. **

When they told the Food Fight martial story of my former self,
I hoped they would say 'He was a talented Food Fighter' (^_^)
Well~ He's a good man (^_^) my fellow Food Fighter.
Always helping out~

It looks like Shirota-kun has a blog, too, so go check it out.
http://ameblog.jp/sirota/


[ * the Engel Coefficient is an observation in economics, which says that as a population's income rises, it's proportional expenditure on food decreases, even if the actual literal expenditure rises. points to YOU-kun for weird economics references!
** Nobuyuki "Giant" Shirota is, as far as i can tell, a food-eating contestant. in his first showing at the international Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest in 2004 he finished second with 38 hot dogs--with buns! he's 221 lbs and 6'4". i'd like to point out that the winner of that contest, Takeru Kobayashi, ate 53 and a half hot dogs + buns to win that day. he, kobayashi-san, once ate 17.7 pounds of pan-seared cow brains to win $25,000. YOU-kun has some odd friends...]

13 October 2006

[145] It's not grilled! (^_^) - 2006/10/12 (Thu)

Somehow whenever I talk cooking,
the subject always turns to yaki udon, *
that way, there's never a reason to actually eat it. (^_^)
Today it was tempura udon (can you call that udon!?)

Of course, it used to be that I didn't even own a rice cooker,
so I gobbled up all my carbohydrates at once and ate nothing but udon.
Plus, all the meat and vegetables I wanted were stir-fired with the yaki udon and all eaten together,
so the efficiency was nice. Yaki soba, too, was an affirmative.

Actually, as for udon, curry udon is my favorite...
Ah, that is, if I'm not going on a search for B-class gourment. (^_^)

P.S. I haven't got much freedom of movement at the moment, though... muscular pain. (^^;)


[ * fried udon noodles. MMM!!! also, he didn't have a post for friday, and the saturday one seems to be resisting my every attempt to actually read the bloody thing, so it might be a little bit on that one. (T_T) ]

11 October 2006

[144] I'm ba-ack - 2006/10/11 (Wed)

I have safely returned alive. (^_^)
At two nights and three days, it was a short trip,
but it feels like I've been away for an amazingly long time.
Truly, my body and mind are exhausted...
I was cut off from my recharger for so long. (^_^)

I have various things I want to write about,
but they're all TOP SECRET,
so when the Platinum box goes on sale,
I'll tell my story then. (^_^) *

P.S. For the time being, I'll tell you that there was a lack of vegetables on the trip, so today I took in a whole bunch of vegetables. (^_^)


[ * ok, not like you're not interested, just given the english translation of that line, but i wanted to let you know that the japanese he uses "urabanashi" refers specifically to an inside story, or a story generally not know to the public. DAMN YOU PLATINUM BOX! COME OUT ALREADY! (X_X) ]

09 October 2006

[143] Traveling... - 2006/10/09 (Mon)

I'll be traveling for a while. ...Well, it's work, but still... (^^;)

I'll only be gone three days...

08 October 2006

[142] Touring Weather - 2006/10/08 (Sun)

This kind of clear autumn day,
with the wind blowing like that,
makes me want to go on a trip somewhere.

In the old days, I rode my bike all the time,
and it was really breezy. (^_^)
The feel of the wind on your face is a really nice feeling.

It's been a long while since I rode...
Of course my bike is fine.
Incidentally, I'm also a motorcycle otaku. (^^;)

P.S. I didn't get to sleep today, either, so I'm a little dizzy,
but everybody's smiling faces helped. (^_^)
The next live is going to be fun.


[note: YOU-kun, baby, get some sleep!]

[141] Well now, an all-nighter (^^;) - 2006/10/08 (Sun)

4 AM... I'm late. m(._.)m
It's just that, I was urgently called out
today by someone who always
needs
help... (^^;)
That person is always busy, so we haven't met in a while,
and so I completely failed to mention my own Cinderella-ness. (hahah)

My occupation is vastly different from that person's, but he truly doesn't have any time to sleep
and works with all his might, so it's exciting whenever we meet.
Whenever I listen to him talk about "Go for it!" I get all "I can't lose!" (^_^)

Really, getting strength from the various people around me, that's what I'm all about. *

Incidentally, this person left saying, "Gotta get back to work."
When the heck that man sleeps is really a mystery.
Speaking of, there's someone else around here who isn't sleeping either...
I often sleep-type. (^_^)

Well then, tomorrow- mm? It's already today...?
Early morning...

Well then, later. (^_^)


[ * wow, that's a loose translation... also, about "I can't lose!": in japanese, he says, "boku mo makenai!" which is literally, "I can't lose!" but it's frequently used as an expression meaning, "I'll try my hardest every day and won't give in to my natural lazy bum tendancies."]

[140] Rain... - 2006/10/06 (Fri)

Amazing...
Even if I was flying, I couldn't go anywhere...
Plus I'd get... really rusty. (^_^)

In the meantime, I had to find my way to a meal (^_^)
and today is grilled fish. (^^;)

However, the world is taking a three-day weekend, so
the rain is unfortunate...
Isn't it supposed to clear up tomorrow?

People who are out and about, seriously, take care.

P.S. And if you're umbrella's broken, stay in the house...

07 October 2006

[139] Bass God (^_^) - 2006/10/06 (Fri)

I went out for some fun with Koichi Terasawa,
who's helped us out on so many recordings.

Already, he's a big big BIG senpai as a musician,
so whenever we meet at the studio,
I always a little nervous, but he's very
good natured and sociable, and we always have a fun time together.

Well, as fellow musicians, our music discussions never end.
We were shocked when it was time for the last train. Time really does fly.

To me, seeing a Super Bass Player so close up,
Terasawa-san is a certified "God"
but whenever we talk,
'Eh~ It's not that hard.'
he mutters. (^_^)
He's really beyond great...

Lately, he's been working with a band called Rider Chip's
so after this, too, his sphere of influence will grow.

Oh, and I'll borrow this place...
'You did a great job.' (^_^)
Here's his URL... Interested people should check it out.
http://www.terachin.net/Frameset-prof.html

05 October 2006

[138] A little private... - 2006/10/05 (Thu)

He stayed out till late......

by Manager.

[137] Recommended Shampoo - 2006/1004 (Wed)

Lately, my hair's been straight, but
originally, it's like nature's frizzy perm,
and with the coloring and bleaching
it's always a mess.

So I'm always going to the hairdressers
and this was suggested to me,
Interlock.

Well, it's one of those so-called "salon shampoos"
but it expressly states that it is for exclusive use and care of hair that has been permed or colored,
and it's settled my hair quite nicely.

For people with natural perms like a bristle, or people who's hair causes them distress,
please, try the different things on the market until you find one you feel good about.

Only, even using this shampoo, I was still born with bed hair every morning. (^^;)

03 October 2006

[136] Burp=3 - 2006/10/03 (Tue)

Well, I guess I ate well today, too.
I'm certainly still feeling the Autumn Appetite.
Is everyone else enjoying the tastes of autumn.

Speaking of autum, pike fish, since it's just grilled
is easy to cook for a group.
(^_^)
However, since I'm writing about pike fish,
the pike are fatter during this time of year and so truly delicious.

Oh, I almost forgot,
you can't forget the grated daikon. (^_^)

P.S. Recently, just about every time I cook for myself, it's pike. (^^;)

02 October 2006

[135] It's late, but... - 2006/10/02 (Mon)

I bought Geruma Bracelet. (^^;) *

This thing called a Geruma Bracelet,
it's supposed to cure things like stiff shoulders
and it's been popular for a while now.
For me, bothered with stiff shoulders and hip pain year round,
this kind of thing is always on my mind.

Even now, I'm not really sure what Germanium is,
but, well, I decided to put the theory to the test.

Right when I had some stiffness in my left shoulder,
I put on the bracelet, and what's this? Much better!

Eeeh... Fear the Geruma...
However, this design... It's not something I would want to wear in public...
For inside the house though, and since I'm a recluse anyway...

So this is my latest favorite. (^_^)

P.S. Privately, those are my feelings. (hahah!)


[ * like those magnetic bracelets that are supposed to promote health, only this one apparently uses a kind of conductive metal called Germanium... ]

01 October 2006

[134] BBQ Sequel - 2006/09/30 (Sun)

Formerly cuts of meat. (^^;)
Those are some kind of huge...
It seems they were bought
at the base (the US Army base),
but of course, it's the BBQ capital
so they would be absurdly splendid.

And also, this time, too, I got a nervy
friendship performance. (^_^)
Again with that person's 'hand'.

Under the blue sky together for so long,
I completely melted. (^^;)
Well, every once in a while, even when you're not in the sun's rays...
The meal under the sky was exceptional, too.

P.S. For some reason, he even took the crusty part of the BBQ. (RAVAGED.)


[have you noticed the rush of bigger and better quality pics from YOU lately? they totally rock, ne? he must be getting more comfy w/ that fancy shmancy digital SLR of his... (^_^) ]