miscellaneous Category Archives
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Fuji-Q Highland

The problem with being Japan's most awesome roller coaster park is that in general, Fuji-Q is expensive and crowded. So you know, that kind of sucks. The thing about that though, is this is Japan. And people like to do things according to the "seasons." "Roller coaster season" is usually considered to be summer for some reason which means that if you're us</e...
Category Info: featured entry, general, japan - the good, miscellaneous, photography, travel
Tagged as: amusement, bethann, blue skies, calvin, friends, fuji-q highlands, japan, mt. fuji, roller coasters, tami
01.31.10

Quiet streets

My mind ended up turning to thoughts about my blog, life and future these days (not necessarily in that order, mind you). It's been almost 7 years since I moved to Japan and I thought that by now I'd know what I want to do with my life. Sadly, this does not appear to be the case. I think the core issue is that I'm a fickle panda: this is a blessing in that I have...
Category Info: featured entry, general, japan - the general, japan - the good, memories, miscellaneous, musings, photography
Tagged as: black and white, harajuku, musings, photography, tokyo, uraharajuku, urban
01.23.10

Akihabara-Ochanomizu Pt. I

And while I have been to both places quite a few times (the former because I have an obsession with cameras (like this one, for example), and the latter for business), I had actually never walked between them - which seems a shame, given that they are located right next to each other. Plus, in most big cities, the most interesting spots are not necessarily those ...
Category Info: featured entry, general, japan - the general, miscellaneous, photography
Tagged as: akihabara, black and white, buildings, ochanomizu, photography, tokyo, urban
01.16.10

2009 Year in Pictures

2009 was a pretty great year (well for me personally. For the world and the economy, err, not so much) and it was hard to choose just a few pictures as my "favourites" from the thousands that I snapped over the past 12 months. On top of that, there's the question of how to sort them? While all the pictures could be classified dozens of different wa...
Category Info: featured entry, general, memories, miscellaneous, musings, photography, ramblings, recentnews
Tagged as: black and white, blue skies, friends, photography, pictures, sky worship, sunrise, sunset, sunshine, urban
01.06.10

Helvetica + Moleskine

I first heard about the Helvetica Moleskines when they were offered at an exhibit on Helvetica at the La Foret museum in Harajuku a year or two ago. I really, really wanted to attend, but alas, this stupid thing they call work that lets me pay the bills prevented me from making it in time, and the exhibit closed, and with it my chance to lay hands on one of these precio...
Category Info: featured entry, general, main, miscellaneous, ramblings, recentnews
Tagged as: design, exhibits, moleskine, notebooks, stationary, typography
12.26.09

2009 World Bicycle Messenger Championships

I'll be back with the next set of pictures from the Yokohama Birthday Bash and of course the next installment of the Great 2008 Cross Japan Autumn Roadtrip soon, but first I just wanted to post a few pictures from the 2009 World Bicycle Messenger Championships held in Odaiba, Tokyo last week. I had wanted to catch the track stand and skid competition...
Category Info: featured entry, general, japan - the general, japan - the good, miscellaneous, photography, recentnews
Tagged as: 2009 bicycle messenger championship, bicycles, black and white, messengers, odaiba, photography, racing, tokyo
09.27.09

Yokohama Birthday Bash - Part I

It was my birthday the other day, and slightly depressed over slowly inching towards "old old panda" status (not yet, but it's coming...), I decided to go to Yokohama with some friends to celebrate and take my mind off the ever-present press of time. As frequent readers of the pandablog may know, I love roller coasters with a passion. I've been to most of the...
Category Info: featured entry, general, japan - the good, miscellaneous, photography, recentnews, sky worship, travel
Tagged as: amusement, bethann, blue skies, buildings, friends, kasie, minatomirai, roller coasters, sarah, summer, sunshine, terrapin, urban, yin, yokohama, zach
09.23.09

Tanabata Matsuri

As somewhat of a consolation prize, I decided to pop over to a neighboring prefecture to catch a Tanabata festival in a smaller town. Continuing the streak of amazing summer weather we've been having recently, the skies were just a stellar mix of rich blue hues, interspersed with fantastic white clouds and the whole affair dramatically lit from up above by a sum...
Category Info: featured entry, general, japan - the good, miscellaneous, photography, recentnews, travel
Tagged as: colorful, countryside, festivals, lanterns, summer, sunshine, tanabata, tanabata matsuri
08.09.09

Summer Sunshine Redux

>Being half-panda, I'm not normally a huge fan of the sweltering summer heat (we have a tendency to melt into little quivering heaps on the floor). However, every once in a while I find myself venturing out despite the heat and usually when I do I'm rewarded with some great scenery, generally of Tokyo's gorgeous blue skies and concrete. This past week however, I thoug...
Category Info: featured entry, general, japan - the good, miscellaneous, photography, recentnews, travel
Tagged as: bethann, countryside, friends, japan, ricefields, summer, sunshine, tambo
07.19.09

Quick Update

Howdy. Just in case you're wondering what's with the drop off in posting frequency over the past month, let me assure you it's not because I'm abandoning the blog, but rather because I'm working hard to improve it. I know I've been talking about a site update for months now, but this time I really mean it. A 95% complete and functional version is running on my development ...
Category Info: featured entry, general, miscellaneous, photography, recentnews, webcoding
Tagged as: geekery, redesign, webdesign, website
04.05.09

Halloween Panda 2008

Sorry about the insipid Myspace-bathroom-mirror-shot quality of the affair above. Sigh. What can I say? I miss Halloween back in the states. The smell of pumpkin pie, apple cider and autumn leaves... carving jack-o-lanterns and dressing up in crazy costumes and parading through State Street (whilst trying to avoid the ...
Category Info: general, miscellaneous, musings, pandas, photography, ramblings, recentnews
Tagged as: halloween, lightroom, michaelpanda, myspace, narcissism, photography, self-portrait
11.01.08

Tokyo Throwaway Pics

Originally I had a moment of photographic inspiration this evening whilst taking a break from fighting my computer (Adobe InDesign to be specific) in an attempt to make a few hundred name tags for a seminar I have to organize for work. Normally this is a straightforward data merge operation, but due to a comedic series of mishaps, this task has ended up taking me the be...
Category Info: featured entry, general, japan - the general, miscellaneous, photography, recentnews
Tagged as: blue skies, buildings, photography, R. Kelly, tokyo, upshots
10.22.08

August Break

What has panda been up to the past couple of weeks since his last update? Well, it involves delicious chocolate cake, dodging baseballs to the face and power flexing in Starbucks. Interested? (umm, I hope so, or else this will be a boring entry! *laughs*) Let's get into it! ...
Category Info: featured entry, general, japan - the good, miscellaneous, ramblings, recentnews
Tagged as: aoyama, architect cafe, baseball, friends, risa, starbucks, stephanie, tokyo, tokyo dome
08.22.08

Another Week...

So, once again, another hot, humid summer week with nothing special to blog about except the rather exceptional fact that I am still alive. Exceptional, that is, because I am half panda and there are few things pandas dislike more than hot, humid, soul crushing Japanese summers. Ugh. You'd think that after 5+ years I'd be used to it. You'd be wrong. Jesus god, what...
Category Info: featured entry, general, miscellaneous, photography, recentnews
Tagged as: camera tricks, cooking, food, geekery, kitchen, pasta, photography, summer
07.13.08

Wednesday Night...

Just another Wednesday night in The Hood. Nothing particularly special to write about in this post, so for now, enjoy these random photographs. (and yes, I know I need to wash my windows in my kitchen!! haha...
Category Info: featured entry, general, japan - the general, miscellaneous, photography, recentnews
Tagged as: kitchen, photography, sunset, the hood
06.26.08

Painting with Light

Thank you all for your kind wishes in the last post. I really appreciate it! ...So I took the LSAT on Sunday. In short, I don't think I did as well as I did on the practice exams, but all......
Category Info: featured entry, general, miscellaneous, photography, ramblings, recentnews
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
06.18.08

Sick Panda

So after making it through almost an entire year without getting sick, of course now - NOW - one week before the LSAT...! - I have to get struck down by a terrible cold and fever the likes of which......
Category Info: featured entry, general, miscellaneous, ramblings, recentnews
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
06.08.08

What a panda eats

Did you ever wonder what pandas eat in a day? Okay, probably not. But I haven't updated in about 10 days, and the only pictures I've taken recently are of food, so I guess that's today's post topic. Breakfast Kiwi......
Category Info: featured entry, general, miscellaneous, photography, recentnews
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
04.12.08

Top of the Morning

It seems like such a shame to spend 30 minutes dressing up nice and getting ready for work in the morning just to head out the door and have it all ruined by the combination of wind, rain and heat......
Category Info: featured entry, miscellaneous, musings, pandas, photography, ramblings, recentnews
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
03.24.08

Vainpanda

So the lovely Miss YJ sent me this equally lovely cashmere scarf out of the blue last month and I promised I would send her a picture of myself vamping deliciously for the camera with it. And now, since I......
Category Info: featured entry, general, miscellaneous, pandas, photography, ramblings, recentnews
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
02.26.08

Unnecessary Automation

Sorry, there are not many interesting pictures in this entry, namely because people tend to freak out when you start taking snapping photographs in public bathrooms (you'll see what I mean if you read this entry) But don't fear!......
Category Info: featured entry, general, miscellaneous, musings, ramblings, technology
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
02.10.08

Panda Strap

Alas, it's been a busy week so I've not had a chance to write a post yet. Maybe this weekend? That is, after I decide whether or not to apply to law school next year. A deadline that is literally......
Category Info: general, miscellaneous, pandas, photography, recentnews
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
01.25.08

Happy New Year 2008

Happy New Year 2008 everyone! It's the year of the Mouse, for whatever that's worth, so umm, I hope you all have a great mouse-themed year and don't get too sloshed with the bubbly tonight ;) I'm in a good......
Category Info: featured entry, japan - the good, main, miscellaneous, photography, recentnews
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
01.01.08

Nekobukuro Kitty Kats

There have actually been some very disturbing things happening here in Japan land (not to me personally, but at the political/civil liberties level) that have put me in a severely depressed mood recently and are making me seriously - like,......
Category Info: featured entry, general, japan - the general, japan - the good, miscellaneous, photography, recentnews
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
11.04.07

Tatami Nap Panda

Mmmmm.... I could nap in this spot of sun forever. I'm going to Nekobukuro later on today for the hell of it, so I figured I might as well get my practice in cat-napping before I depart. What a beautiful......
Category Info: featured entry, general, japan - the good, miscellaneous, pandas, photography, recentnews
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
10.21.07

To all the Rooms Ive loved before

So the other day I was flipping through one of my old boxes of letters and and pictures from years past (which reminds me that there are still some of you who owe me letters from the Great Michaelpanda Spring......
Category Info: featured entry, general, memories, miscellaneous, musings, ramblings, recentnews
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
10.13.07

The Time Travelers Panda

Thank you all for the supar kind birthday wishes! :) An update is coming soon, just as soon as I finish up this busy week. And by "busy week" I mean watching nonstop zombie and/or vampire movies (seriously, I've watched......
Category Info: general, miscellaneous, photography, ramblings, recentnews
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
09.26.07

Birthday Scarf Panda

There's still a part three to the Great Tohoku Road Trip 2007 (parts I and II can be found here and here, respectively). But it's taking me a while to get to it since I've been kinda down recently, and......
Category Info: featured entry, general, japan - the general, miscellaneous, musings, recentnews
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
09.16.07

The Great Tohoku Road Trip - Interlude

Yes, yes I know, you all want to know (omg hi2u mistar presumptious panda!) what happened next after we left the stinky sulfurous gates of hell. I'm working on part II but at the moment have writers block and a......
Category Info: featured entry, general, miscellaneous, recentnews, travel
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
08.29.07

Mos Burger Update

So I promised an update this week and here, so as technically not to break my promise, is a poast that I guess qualifies as an update. I'm currently sitting in my friend's apartment up in Ishikawa prefecture, a little......
Category Info: featured entry, miscellaneous, ramblings, recentnews
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
06.30.07

Still alive... and at the beach

Yeah, I know it's been 15 days without an update. I am still alive. I just had an intensely fun but seriously sleep deprived weekend (3 hours in 3 days or so). I need to sleep now. More pictures and......
Category Info: featured entry, miscellaneous, photography, ramblings, recentnews
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
06.24.07

Morning Tea

A bit too busy to write a full length post today, but one will be forthcoming soon. In the interim, a picture of some creepy half-naked Kewpie Mayo Babies that suddenly appeared on my breakfast table the other day. And......
Category Info: featured entry, general, miscellaneous, pandas, photography, recentnews
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
06.09.07

Mongolia Panda

So one of my lovely Kiwi readers (have I told yow how sexy I think the New Zealand accent is?) from the Land of the Long White Cloud left the following comment on my previous blog poast: this isn't really......
Category Info: featured entry, general, miscellaneous, pandas, recentnews, travel
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
06.01.07

Lindsay, the Telemarket-stalker

What is this book, you might be asking yourself? Well, let's look at the cover: The Complete Fake History of a Bunch of People Who Don't Actually Exist I'd like to think of it as the first entry in a......
Category Info: featured entry, general, memories, miscellaneous, photography, recentnews
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
05.24.07

Picture Poast

Thus dear readers, I am afraid I shall have to tempt you with the tease shot of the mystery book above: The Complete Fake History of a Bunch of People Who Don't Actually Exist, and then segue into the rest of this post, which I am afraid will consist solely of pictures that have nothing to do with the one directly above or below. But as soon as I get back from this meeting - provided I survive - I promise I wi...
Category Info: featured entry, miscellaneous, photography, ramblings, recentnews
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
05.16.07

Panda and the Eau de Gooch

...this person - and I've had a lot of time to think about this and what metaphors to use here - is surrounded by an odoriferous vapour cloud of doom so horrible, so vomit gag inducing, it's like the stank of a sweaty salt ham stuck inside a pile of old wet moldy hard cover books....! I mean... it gets you.... gets you right in the back of the throat - it's like... as if... I dunno - like.... a thousand stanky <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?t...
Category Info: featured entry, general, japan - the funny, miscellaneous, ramblings, recentnews
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
04.30.07

Dining Table, what what!

Table cloths, placemats and varnish - these things are artificial filters that barricade the connection between us and the immediacy of the moment. Naught but the trappings of pretension, they defy the purpose of buying furniture in the first place - to use it and to let it serve its purpose. I don't want to stop to think to put down a coaster, or spend hours trying to lay down the perfect streak-free coat of varnish and stain - I just want to kick off my shoes, set down a plain wh...
Category Info: featured entry, general, miscellaneous, musings, photography, recentnews
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
04.24.07

Panda vs. The Bathtub

Okay so here's the deal. I am not a very smart person. This is a humbling admission to make, but my track record: driving on the wrong side of the road, going into creepy buildings with strangers, blindly wandering into......
Category Info: featured entry, general, miscellaneous, recentnews
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
03.12.07

No Chicken, No Life

Sign spotted outside a downtown Izakaya (Japanese-style bar). Hard to argue with this sentiment I suppose! Speaking of chickens everlasting - (actually, this has nothing to do with eterna chickans, that was a horrible transition) - I am planning on......
Category Info: featured entry, japan - the funny, miscellaneous, photography, recentnews
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
12.21.06

The Roundup

So as promised, here I am with a Roundup post to try and collect all the little tidbits of randomness that happened over the last three weeks I wasn't posting. Thus, without further ado... Banana Republic Whore There's like $50......
Category Info: featured entry, miscellaneous, ramblings, recentnews, webcoding
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
12.17.06

From the mouths of babes...

A while back, some local first year high school students were given an assignment that required them to write a short story that started with the phrase "once upon a time" or "a long long ago". Oh, and it had......
Category Info: featured entry, japan - the funny, miscellaneous
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
06.20.06

Mornings...

The view outside of KC's window at 6:30 am. The deep countryside looks so quaint, so cute, huh? You can see the bright sun, the chirping birds (well, the deathsquawks of marauding crows, but whatever), the farmers trucks as they set up for the morning market... .... and then you pan over to the left and see what appears to be the impending apocalypse bearing down on you bringing the fury and rage of the oceans from just over the other side of the mountains. *gulp* It's tim...
Category Info: featured entry, general, miscellaneous
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
05.29.06

Rocking out...

If you watch the video carefully, you'll notice that several times I accidentally cross into the oncoming lane of traffic. Fortunately there weren't many cars on the road, or else I'm sure we would have died. You may also notice that we very clearly don't know the words to the song. But that doesn't stop us, since if there's one thing living in a country where karaoke is the national past time has taught us, it's that even if you don't know the lyrics to a song, as long as you sing...
Category Info: miscellaneous, recentnews, travel
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
04.20.06

Website broken... maybe

shit, my website is broken... something bizarre is happening where it's linking to the nasty colored back end on anything besides the first few posts (i.e. anything but the front page). ARRGHH!! calendar is not working either. bear with me......
Category Info: miscellaneous
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
07.03.03

Racing Sushi

this website is so cool, it makes me want to cry at how crappy mine is in comparison.... check out the menu in the upper left hand corner..! (need flash enabled): http://www.tokidoki.it/pages/main.html Now listening to: "Paul Van Dyk -......
Category Info: miscellaneous
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
06.30.03

This is freaking cool.

as an aside, this comes from http://www.hiddenhighschool.com/, which is an excellent resource if you need to sneak out from behind a firewall/net filter. 10:47 am......
Category Info: miscellaneous
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
06.19.03

Random Pictures

Thursday, May 29, 2003 Random pictures Click to get a larger image! Now listening to: "Tupac - Me against the world" With all this extra stressin The question I wonder is after death, after my last breath When will I......
Category Info: miscellaneous
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
05.28.03

Xanga acting up...

xanga is acting up.... it's going to get an elbowdrop to the dome in a second... *puts on his best lucha libre face* Physics final in 4 days... cumulative, plus I'm 3 chapters behind on the new stuff. conclusion? Must......
Category Info: miscellaneous
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
05.08.03

Stuffed

...
Category Info: miscellaneous
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
04.30.03

Dance Floor Stereotypes

Somebody sent me this via e-mail. It's from thesite.org It's 3am: time to scan the room for that 'right' person. So who's out there? TheSite presents your guide to dance floor stereotypes. DJ wannabes - dressed like a DJ, with......
Category Info: miscellaneous
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
03.25.03

Dance floor stereotypes

...
Category Info: miscellaneous
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
03.25.03

Violin Trance

It's like trance... only with violins. Great stuff.......
Category Info: miscellaneous
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
03.25.03

What do your illegal drugs look like?

Do you know what your illegal drugs look like? Now currently listening to: "Tatu: Things you said" (Bubblegummy, but cute.) 10:28 pm......
Category Info: miscellaneous
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
03.22.03

Mullets set to make comeback

In honor of Melissa's new haircut... Short on style: Mullets set to make comeback by Erin Rolfs, Louisiana State University February 11, 2003 (U-WIRE) BATON ROUGE, La. -- Some hold onto their parachute pants; for others, no movie will......
Category Info: miscellaneous
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
03.18.03

Grocery lists

[link to grocerylists] have you ever wondered what other people go grocery shopping for? Decided I'm going to Green Bay tommorrow; I decided I just can't afford to be cooped up in this god forsaken little town any longer......
Category Info: miscellaneous
Tagged as: (no tags at this time).
03.14.03

Southern Sun

...
Category Info: miscellaneous
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03.12.03

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