October 2004 Archives

Sooooo Saturday was an interesting day here in Japan. Just as Daniel and I made our way back to the hotel, literally as I sat down on the bed and Daniel went into the bathroom, our whole hotel room started to shake. This shaker lasted quite a long time. A few minutes later it started again. We went downstairs to make sure everything was OK and then headed back up to the room to turn on the TV. Japan has a cool system for earthquakes. Within minutes, all the main channels have a map of where the quake is and then the perceptive magnitude (like the Mercalli scale back home). So in an instant we knew what hit us. A M6.8 on the Sea of Japan coast! Followed by a M5.9 and M6.3 aftershock within 30 minutes!

Needless to say, we were both amused by the whole thing. Just like in LA during a quake the local news showed the same footage over and over for two hours (some guy scrambling on a street corner in confusion and then heading out in the street - Mom says he made CNN Headline news back home). So we are OK in case you were wondering. On Monday morning we had a M5.4 aftershock right when our alarm went off - so nice of the Japanese to give us wake up calls!

So Sunday and Monday we revisited Tokyo Disney Resort. The appeal hasn`t worn off at all - still a great place to visit. Daniel was happy that he got to see the Halloween parade, and I was happy to see the Electrical Parade Dreamlights (which lasted a good 30 minutes) and also to see the Dramatic DisneySea parade `Signs`. Now we are hunting for the CD of the music. Picture taking is down from the last trip, just some minor filling in of stuff from the last trip.

It`s raining today as we head off to the resort. Luckily it is just the outer band of a Typhoon, not a full hit like they got last week, the day before we arrived.

That is all from Tokyo this time. I hope to write again soon!

The plane flight was actually quite nice. For some reason i thought that it was going to take forever, but 11 hours just went by in a snap. I think a good deal of that is owed to the iPod which made the trip. I had thought I lost one of the ear bud cozies during the flight, but I found it on approach to Tokyo.

Much less confusion getting to the hotel from the airport this time! Either they re-did some of the signs or we are getting to be pros. Another plus? The weather is very mild and nice. Temps in the high 60`s and low 70`s.

Today (Sat had a minor scare when the Tokyo Disney Ticket office rejected my card. I called Citibank, and it turns out that she must of messed up since they said everything was a-OK. I also found a free internet space nearby (about halfway between Yurakcho and Tokyo Stations called the Marunochi Cafe. I was able to log on and get the news that all appears to be go for my tour of Buzz! I will have to check back tomorrow or the next day to be sure. Now after exchanging our rail passes and getting our TDL tickets, we are off to Daiba again to see the Toys-R-Us and the MEGAWEB Toyota showroom.

More soon!

Well I am off to Tokyo. I wish I could point you in the direction of the photos from the last trip, but alas, I can only tell you to check out the Tokyo Disney photos. I am going to try and add some depth to the photos, but I know I certainly won't be taking as many as before.

Yesterday was the ol' birthday and I was given a special present by Mother Nature. Overnight on the 19/20th, the wind and rain was coming down fast and furious. Around 4am I woke up due to the noise. Something told me to head out to the front room to check the blinds and sliding glass door. I found the door closed, but the blinds were a bit open. I decided to close them in case any flying debris was sent my way. When I woke up later in the morning, I discovered that the nice tree that shaded my bedroom had fallen over in the night. Luckily for me, it went away from me and landed on a carport. No cars were harmed, and I am glad the wind was blowing the other way. Of course now it is going to be that much warmer in the summer.

Of course my birthday marks the 4th anniversary of the (Not-So) Daily Update. I'm sure if I was more prolific I would have had more than 600 entries, but it has been fun!

I finished more than half of my albums (some missing like the A-Teens - I dunno where the masters are...) and am set for the flight. I even found a listing of cyber cafes in Tokyo so that I might actually be able to post while I am gone.

Be back on 11/2!

So I finally joined the 21st Century and purchased an iPod. I had looked at all of the other MP3 players out there, but none were as simple to use and good looking as the iPod. So far the only setbacks I have had was trying to import the music (once it cleared up and I restarted iTunes it worked) and setting it up as a hard drive so I can put my calendars and contacts on there.

I only have the 20 GB version since I am not a music not per se. So far I have 1110 songs.

Music quality is pretty cool. I want to get some noise canceling headphones for the plane, but I was surprised how good the headphones that came with it were even though people in the Apple store complained about them,. Tomorrow I will get to try it out in the car to see how well it sounds.

Last night I left the park around 2am. By the time I reached the parking lot, it was pouring rain and I was soaked. So I ran to the car with my keys ready to open the door. When I reached the car my key FOB decided it didn't want to deactivate the alarm and open the doors. I stood their in the rain for maybe 2 seconds before I decided to just open the door manually and get in the car. So there I sat for a good 10 minutes trying to deactivate the alarm with it going off and me sitting in the car. It appeared my FOB was stuck in panic mode and the alarm just kept going off. After a bit, it reset itself so the alarm was silent, but still not deactivated.

I then decided to just drive home. I didn't want to sit their soaking wet all night so off I went on the longest 8 miles of my life. It is 2am and I am driving through residential areas with my alarm repeatedly going off. Sad thing is, no one that I passed on the road seemed to care. No one even gave me a second look. I was glad that I didn't pass any cops because that would have looked bad.

I finally made it home and luckily the alarm was almost done with its cycle when I pulled into my driveway. I was then able to jump out before the alarm went off again. Once I locked the doors with the key, the alarm was happy. I took the FOB apart - I think the battery is toast. I looked for my spare this morning when I woke up, but no luck. I was able to turn off the alarm once I put the FOB back together. So I'm thinking I am going to wait until I get home from work before I try the alarm again. I hope it is not a short like in my Accord when I had to get it replaced.

This time next week I will be on my way back to Japan! I know that I was just there in March - making this the first time I have visited a place in less than a year. (The Euro trips of the mid to late 90's managed to happen just about every year). The path to this vacation has been a long and arduous one since I bought the tickets back in August. But most of that is behind me and I am looking forward to getting back to Tokyo and Tokyo Disneyland. I'm also hoping to get to some of the sights I didn't make it to last time.

But of course, you, my loyal readers, have no idea where or what I did when I was there since I never posted my travel diary from the first trip. Also- I only posted the Gorn photos and the Tokyo Disney photos. I wish I had a laptop for the plane so I could write all of them up on the super-long plane flight.

I have mentioned before that I want to move Club Josh to a new server so I can host all of my domains. With all of the traffic the Charo site is pulling in, I just might be able to afford it (at least until the Surreal Life is done with new shows). I think I might also start the site from scratch. I would keep stuff like the update archives, the Gorn section, and the Disney park photos, but everything else is up for grabs. I still need to finish one more site for Haim before I delve into the great unknown.

Right now I am listening to the Jarre Beijing concert from the 10th of October. I am glad I didn't go due to the complications with tickets etc, however the remixes of the songs and the song selection are awesome - one of his best concerts in a while!

While I was watching my new Aladdin DVD Bonus features, I noticed that one star was given the least amount of coverage - Brad Kane. He was the singing voice of Aladdin and I thought he should have been given at least as much time as Lea Salonga (the singing voice of Jasmine). Lea didn't get much time either, but at least they got her opinions on the whole thing. They did show Brad and Lea singing "A Whole New World" at a recording session, but alas no interview.

A quick web search hasn't really turned up anything. Some items of note: Brad goes by the name of Caleb and performs in a band called "The Fates". He apparently has composed music for Freddy vs. Jason and Devil's Pond. He still provides the singing voice of Aladdin.

So Brad if you are out there drop me a line and let me know what's up.

Apologies for the delay....

So up I went to Tower Records on Sunset early in the AM on the 5th to get the new CD and wristband. I realized that the demand was not really great and that I could have just come later. Oh well. Flash forward to around 7pm.

I am standing in line at the store and I have convinced the guy behind me in line to get a shot of me getting Shatner's autograph with the Gorn. First, the Tower people say as long as you don't hold up the line, you can take the photo. Then Shatner shows up with his wife in a Chevy Tahoe. He mulls around outside for a bit to talk to the entertainment reporters that have staked out the site. I was going to go over and try and get someone to hold the Gorn, but since I was going to get the inside photo, I wasn't too concerned.

After Shatner goes inside Tower to get ready, a new security person shows up and says no photos at all inside. Crud. All my planning down the drain. Around 8:30 or so it is my turn. As I am waiting to get my turn, the security guy inside says its OK to photo after I get my autograph. I walk over to Bill and here is what transpired:

Me: It's such an honor to meet you. I really enjoyed your album - I have been listening to it all day. I was surprised by it really..
Shatner: Really? What surprised you about it?
Me: Well, I wasn't sure what to expect from it, and I was surprised at how much of your feelings you put into the album. I really enjoyed the song "Common People" as well as the poem about your late wife.
Shatner: That's great. Maybe you can help answer a question that I have been trying to without much success. What kind of album is this? Is it a music album or a spoken word album.
Me: Hmmm... I think the album is really you. A little bit of fun with some seriousness. Its the best kind of album because it is you for all people to see.
Shatner: Well thank you Josh
Me: Thank you too.

My answer to his question sucked. I should have said something along the lines of "Its a performance album - a little singing, some spoken word, and a lot of feeling." Oh well.

So after the exchange (which from the group I saw was one of the longest), I go to take my photo and the security guy on the other side says keep moving. SO no photo of the Gorn with Bill. By this time, I am shaking a bit and head back to the car. When I get there, I decide to go back and wait for him to leave to try and get some more shots.

While I am waiting, I start talking to the Prize people from KROQ Radio in LA. They had been giving tickets out to the Shatner-Ben Folds concert, but I didn't win. I told them all about the Gorn and we had a good time passing the time. When Shatner came out of Tower, I managed to get some good candid shots of him, but still didn't have the chance to get one with the Gorn. He was moving too fast, and since it was dark, very few of the shots came out. I left a bit disappointed, but I did manage to get some photos taken (one by a paparazzi with my camera, and then some other guy took like 10 photos of me and the Gorn with his camera. Who knows, I might make it into People.)

So that is the story. You can see what photos I managed at: The Gorn and William Shatner.

Found myself in the park a lot the last few days. As I mentioned in the last update, Wendy, Mice and baby were in town visiting the park. Also, my friend Alex and his wife Kimberly also were spotted hanging around. And today, I signesd in Lev and his family. I think have been in the park almost every day for two weeks - weird!!

Today I tried to get a pic of the Gorn with William Shatner. Didn't quite work out as I had planned, but I was still thrilled to meet him. More tomorrow...