It was taken during a Shinto wedding ceremony and procession at Meiji Jingu... I will post the rest of the pictures later, but this one i thought was special.

We stumbled on a festival at night near our school in Shinjuku, and then on a different day wandered into a bar in Shibuya and found some classmates. Good times, plenty of drinking. I am surprised i navigated two trains and made it home later that night... ;)

This picture was for a frozen yogurt place in Shibuya... or is it... ?

I was trying to make a point about something... From the intense look on my face and the hand gestures i can only assume it was well argued.

Oh, so all these crazy looking pictures (See below) I had given everyone scenes to act out before hand... In this one Michelle is knitting, I think Evan... just... one something.. ? and Kevin... well Kevin just killed a man...

One of the most fun and interesting parts of the extravaganza was the fashion shows.  I felt so big city sitting there watching these skinny chicks strut down the runway in their bridal gowns.  There were about 5 or 6 fashion shows throughout the day.  I caught a few of them.  I sorta felt like I was at Bryant Park watching a real fashion show.  Only I was dressed in a khakis instead of coture and I was drinking Diet Coke instead of Champagne.  It was cool. 

For the most part, the folks in the audience seemed really into the fashion shows and were commenting and oohing and ahhing over the dresses and the tuxedos.  Well, not the tuxedoes-but the super hot guys wearing them. 

Except for this girl...

No, I'm not talking about the ten other women in the row who are truly interested in the show.  I'm talking about the bleach blonde on the end of the aisle.  She was on her BlackBerry during most of the show.  And it was the fanciest show of the entire day.  It was the "Coture Bridal Show."  To sit in the front row you had to have purchased a $35.00 ticket!  I did, cuz I'm VIP like that.  Everyone in the front got a cute little goody bag, a rose (I ended up with two because someone dropped theirs on the floor and I snatched it), chance to win a honeymoon to Jamaica, and just the opportunity to be up close and personal with some really gorgeous, expensive gowns.  I'm not sure if it was really worth the $35.00, but it was fun and made me feel way cool.  But this girl was just too cool for school.  But I must say her skin cancer tan goes well with her Louis Vuitton handbag.  I'm guessing her name was something like Victoria or Winnie.  Something real funky and bitchy.  You can't see it in the pic, but she had on 4 inch heels.  They were cute, but come on!  Who can hike around a venue for ten hours in shoes like that?  Maybe I'm too judgemental.  Maybe Victoria volunteers at animal shelter on weekends and enjoys gardening in her spare time.  Probably not.  

Her and Lucy would not get along well. Lucy's a much more natural girl who wouldn't be caught dead in 4 inch heels, let alone attending a fashion show.  You go Lucy!

Hope you're looking forward to Bridal Show posts.  Like I said before, I don't do much so I'm going to have to stretch my day of excitement into at least 37 separate blog posts.  :)  Love you guys!

J

The trip itself was a lot of fun and it allowed the summer program students to do a little bonding and get to know each other away from our dorms or classrooms, which is doubly good for me because i don't live in the dorms! The first stop on our trip was Odawara Castle (i'm going to have to post pictures later, I really need to clear some harddrive space!). Odawara Castle was enjoyable, albeit brief.

I think the real highlights of the trip were the views of Fuji-san, and Saiko Iyashi no Sato. This was a recreation of a traditional village that was destroyed by a natural disaster a few decades ago. We were never clear if it was some kind of massive mudslide or volcanic eruption.

The recreated village was amazing... Traditional thatched roof houses, carefully manicured gardens and waterfalls, and a number of sites for traditional crafts and artwork. I bought a small figurine and a ceramic wind chime. Both gorgeous.

Another terrific stop was the hot spring/sulfur pits. At this point in the trip im not even sure where we were, but the view from the top was amazing and, sans the smell, the area was really interesting. Local tradition calls for boiling some eggs in the sulfur pits. apparently a chemical reaction occurs turning the shells of the eggs black. Eating one of these eggs is supposed to extend your life by seven years. I bought six. Longevity is important to me and thats gotta be over an extra 1/2 century!

During the second day of the trip we visited Erinji Temple. The temple was founded in 1330 A.D. and was later rebuilt by Tokugawa Ieyasu. Within the temple entrance corridor there is a long, narrow, wooden hallway. As you walk on it a sound is made that is reminiscent of singing. This was created as a security alarm for intruders within the temple, as they were often sought out as places of sanctuary. As a side note I wonder if this was the inspiration for part of the book 'Across the nightingale floor'.... well its just a thought.

The Onsen itself was amazing. We all slept in rooms with about 4-6 other people on tatami mats and futons. The experience of bathing in a traditional hot spring, or even in just the traditional Japanese style is one the i enjoy immensely. To begin with you take your shoes off and enter the changing area (this is a communal bath. It was separated by sex, but some of them aren't). you remove your clothing and step into the bathing or shower area. Usually there are a number of stools that you sit down on with water faucets, towels, and soaps. The idea is to scrub yourself down and get clean before you set foot in the water. If you're really thinking ahead you can also use this time to douse yourself with increasingly hotter and hotter water from the shower head to prepare yourself for the bath if it requires it. At this point you rinse down, slide yourself into the bath, maybe leave a hand towel sitting on your head to use to mop up the sweat or cover yourself up when you move around, and just soak in the pools. It sounds simple enough (it is), but there is something so cathartic and relaxing to be found in the ritual of bathing.

As always, here is a video of some of the trip. Hope you all are doing well!

The study's goal is to determine and document the viability of Lakewood Ranch becoming incorporated. As a city, Lakewood Ranch would have its own police department and other municipal services.

Other potential advantages include a decrease in tax payments and entitlement to sales, gasoline and alcohol consumption taxes.

The concept of transforming Lakewood Ranch into an incorporated city became a hot topic in 2006 when residents began to take a more active role in running the community. However, it was shelved after a transition committee decided that the shift was not beneficial enough to warrant the process.

Albion Department of Public Safety officers looking into a break in at
R & B Electronics on Watson Street have recovered some of the
items
taken from that business last month.

A second crime, the alleged attempted carjacking of a woman in the
parking lot at Family Fare on July 3 has resulted in the arrest of
another
teen.

To read the full story, see the article by Jill Hinde in the Thursday,
July 17 issue of The Recorder, on sale now.

In the field of spirituality, Satan absolutely hates any Catholic who takes their Faith seriously, for as in doing so, they are example to those who do not have the light of Christ, and are able to gain grace for lost and confused souls. So the Joker's new tag-line keeps ringing in my mind, as he constantly questions, "Why So Serious?" We have to be serious if we are to ever get anywhere in our Faith, Catholics that are wishy-washy are the reason the world is in its present state, if we are ever to fight Satan (the Joker), we have to seriously fight for what we believe in. But don't think it's an easy ride of just 'living the Faith,' Satan's war against us is never at an end, and he will constantly throw obstacles and hurts into our lives to try to divert us from God's Path. Satan is not just a little angel with horns, a forked tongue, and tail that goes about tempting us to sin, (indeed he does, as he did so to Our Lord in the desert,) but he is also a cunning beast who'll throw everything he can at us, since after all, what's he got to lose? (Of course God regulates the power of Satan. Not one hair shall fall from our head without God's knowing of it, so basically, everything Satan does is permitted by God. God never allows the impossible, only the difficult. An example of the constant heavy burden of undergoing spiritual attacks can be found in the Book of Job, which tells the story of how God allowed the Devil to deprive Job of all his possessions and all that he held dear, in order to turn him against God.)

Back to the parrallel of the Joker, we see that throughout the film, he is constantly working to bring Batman down, physically and emotionally. Through a series of his crimes, he manages to turn District Attorney Harvey Dent into a villain, by driving him to the edge of his mind by killing his love and destroying everything he worked to build. There was another part of the film I'd like to cite, but the wikipedia article was cleaned up a bit; but in scene, the Joker proclaims to the people of Gotham that he's in charge now. The people attempt to flee, but he tells them that he has a surprise waiting for them in the tunnel and on the bridge leading out of the city, so the people flock to two ferries to escape. But the Joker's sick mind has a surprise, the two boats have bombs on board each, with the remotes on the adjacent ships, he tells the people that if they don't blow up one the opposite boat themselves, that he'll destroy both boats himself with another remote.

We can see how his character is completely insane and embedded in evil, but we can also look at it as a demonic character. How many times does the devil enjoy pitting us against a loved one in family arguments and such, making us think we are in the right, yet in the end, both are wrong, as both people involved in the argument end up sinning? How many times does Satan throw obstacles and trials into our lives which often drive us to the edge of our minds/Faith? Testing our faithfulness to Christ amid the near insanity of our lives? In the end, it boils down to one question, "Did we let evil win?" Whether it be in temptations, trial, or any situation, do we give in to Satan's Pressure? Does the Joker/Satan, have the last laugh as we go to hell? Or do we persevere to the end?

Zwar ging es etwas hektisch durch die City, so dass ich keine Fotos gemacht habe und mir alle Sehenswürdigkeiten noch mal in Ruhe anschauen muss. Aber jetzt kenne ich sie wenigstens, hab einiges Wissenswertes erfahren, den in Hannover geborenen Erfinder des Dadaismus getroffen, der eindrucksvoll sein Ode an Anna Blume vortrug, mit den sehr netten Teamkollegen (von denen die Hälfte Alteingesessene waren) eine Nana aus Knetgummi modelliert, ein Gruppenporträt erstellt, ein Lied getextet und vorgetragen - und mit einem Punkt Vorsprung dann auch den Sieg errungen. (Ein Gutschein für die neueste Führung, die ich ohnehin mitmachen wollte!)

Ein sehr netter Nachmittag, der nach der Preisverleihung im Gartensaal des Neuen Rathauses bei einem leckeren Büffet ausklang. Es hat allen so gut gefallen, dass wir uns alle auch für die nächste Tour in den Herrenhäuser Gärten anmelden wollen.

Now, now, we know what you're saying: "Aren't all your stories pieces totally lame?"  Well, gosh, that's a little harsh, don't you think?  The following includes the biggest upsets, the most unfunny, funny-but-no-one-cared, stupid or just embarrassingly badly-done articles that we shoulda gotten a fourth, fifth or even fifteenth opinion on. 

This list starts from the 10th most unpopular and ends with the No. 1 story that bombed harder than [create your own analogy here...even throw it into the comments section below].

Enjoy.  If you possibly can. 

10. Fun Weekend Event: Ice “sport” at Coliseum.  Making fun of synchronized ice skaters?  Too easy?

9. Weekend weather forecast: So dry you could light a match on it.  We so wanted this one to work, but it did not whatsoever. 

8. Illegal immigrant life of Cinco de Mayo party.  OK now, seriously.  This one was clever.  Seeking to come to America for "kick ass partying opportunities?"  Gold Jerry, Gold!

7. Local dentist 99.9 percent sure he knows what he’s doing.   Would you want a dentist who "almost" knows what he's doing playing around in there?  According to the hits on this one, apparently no one cares.

6. Kaine to use YouTube channel for information sharing, Diet Coke and Mentos tricks.  News of him starting a YouTube channel wasn't as big as we'd planned, so this one tanked accordingly.  That Diet Coke and Mentos thing is pretty fun though, almost as much as taking oatmeal baths.

5. Local boxing kangaroos express opposition to animal fighting bill.  Now, we've still got faith in this one.  C'mon people!  Because like, everyone is opposed to animal fighting, and boxing kangaroos would be the only "people" who would not!  Get it?  Get it?  (Note to selves: If you have to explain your joke, it's not funny.)

4. Oil prices soar on weak dollar, low supply as Lordy this topic is boring.  Too narrow an audience.  Or it just toally sucked.

3. Weekend weather forecast: well, that tired April showers saying rings true yet again.  We enjoyed doing fake weather forecasts, but they weren't very popular.  After this one fell harder than a golf-cart size piece of hail, we never wrote any others ever again.

2. Fanboy friend uses every chance possible to remind you the fourth Indiana Jones comes out this week.  This story was worse than the fourth Indiana Jones movie.  Now that's a good joke.

1. Cabinetless Teeny Little Super Guy found living in local soup kitchen.  We were going for nostalgia points, you know, with Sesame Street skits and all.  We were off by several hundred billion miles.

Now that that's over and done with, Tobacco Avenue presents our No. 1 most-read story of all time:  Mispronunciation of dish at Mamma Zu results in service refusal, execution.  Funny because it's true.

Eat It, and Eat It well.

Yours,

Randolph J. Strummer Jr.

Editor & Publisher

But the Sex and the City star has finally bowed to pressure to have her distinctive mole removed.

The decision followed increasing criticism and downright abuse from fans who complained that they found it "distracting".

The beauty spot was firmly in evidence up until last month.

But only a faint mark remained where the mole used to be when the 43-year-old star attended a baseball game in New York. (news)

tutti possono avere una Vuitton, basta affittarla!

Anche in Italia questo sano principio di rent è stato introdotto.

Possiamo sfoggiare borse super griffate per almeno una settimana, grazie alla magia del rent come ci mostra ad esempio  http://www.bagandco.it/.

Non solo, avere un guardaroba diverso ogni giorno non è più prerogativa di ricche super star alla Tori Sperling, ancora ricordo lo stupore di quando lessi che aveva un computer che gli organizzava il guardaroba a causa del consistente numero di elementi (parlo di circa 8 anni fa...).

Il rent ora è possibile anche come sostituto al guardaroba di tutti i giorni. Una proposta è quella di http://www.suiteatwork.it/ che gioca oltre che sulla praticità anche sull'ecologia, non lavi, non stiri etc...

Purtoppo è quasi tutto a nord... ma almeno le borse sono democratiche arrivano dove vuoi e le ordini da internet.

Tutto ciò permette simpatici escamotage per feste ed eventi, ma il dubbio c'è.

Il rent è pratico, d'accordo. Forse è anche più economico. Sicuramente da molte soddisfazioni...

...ma è così difficile ammettere che non abbiamo o che non ce la facciamo ad avere tutto quello che poi vorremmo?

I mutui non riusciamo a pagarli e andiamo in affitto... in altri paesi sta prendendo piede la macchina collettiva...

Come in altre circostanze mi viene da guardare al caso con il doppio sguardo "apocalittico " o "integrato" per dirla alla bene e meglio con termini colti si impronta Echiana....

L'occhio apocalittico vede che vogliamo sempre di più di quello che possiamo permetterci e quindi soffriamo ed affittiamo.

L'occhio integrato vede una nuova filosofia di consumo, più fluida, che dell'atto del consumo tiene solo il meglio: la scelta e l'uso.

A chi vede meglio... la sentenza...

This is a sequel to these other posts:

Back to Manhattan

Back to Rockefeller 1

Back to Rockefeller 2

Back to Rockefeller 3

Foto sul set del photoshoot:

Fonte: Excommunicated

"Saya puas telah bergabung dengan klub ini dan saya sangat tertarik dengan tantangan yang baru," bangga Kitson seperti dilansir Goal, Sabtu (19/7/2008).

"Kini usia saya sudah 28 tahun. untuk itu, saya harus tetap bertahan di Premier League. Saya telah bekerja keras untuk mewujdukan hal itu bersama Cambridge dan Reading. Namun keinginan itu kandas," tegasnya.

Setelah melewati tes medis di Stadion Britannia, Kitson menyepakati kontrak bersama Stoke dengan durasi tiga tahun. Praktis, dia menjadi rekrutan pertama Stoke sejak meraih tiket promosi ke Liga Premier musim ini.

Penyerang 28 tahun itu telah menjaringkan 54 gol dari 111 kali penampilannya bersama Reading. Dia juga turut membantu The Royals ke Premier League untuk pertama kalinya dalam persejarahan klub tersebut pada tahun 2006 lalu.

Sementara pelatih Stoke Tony Pulis yakin kalau kehadiran Kitson akan menambah perubahan tersendiri buat The Potters. Apalagi, perpindahannya merupakan rekor transfer klubnya.

"Saya pikir dia merupakan pencetak gol murni dengan kemampuannya tersebut. Sementara rekan-rekannya yang lain tinggal memberikan umpan kepadanya," puji Pulis. (hmr, kompas.com)

The Tattler is not real big on cleaning here on the Water Tower. Change the paper in the nest, recycle the coffee cups, run the vacuum around, load the dishwasher and the place is good for another week.

Cleaning the streets in downtown Ypsilanti is sort of the same thing.

The Tattler was flying over to the old Beyer Hospital. The Barix Clinic is now in the old hospital and the doctors lounge has a great view of the city. The Tatt sits up there for hours and watches the summer storms roll in.

While flying to Beyer, the Tattler's eagle eyes spied a new restaurant opening downtown on North Washington in the old Oasis Cafe. Called Beezy's, we haven't heard what kind of food they are planning to serve, but there is a new sign up on the mail box.

Down the street, employees from W. H. Canon was cleaning the street. Two employees were equipped with power blowers and a third, must of been the new guy, had a broom. New guy was sweeping the trash and leaves right into the storm drain.

The street looked beautiful after they were done. And there was no need to haul around that heavy trash can to pick up the trash.  Brilliant!

Now if the weather will just cooperate, Crossroads should be fun tonight.

The City and DDA are always looking for help, so if you have experience cleaning up messes, call them.

 Amazing.