mckib•in•nihon

no longer here...

2007-08-29T13:25:00.000+09:00

Well, as you might be able to tell from the gap in dates on the entries, I'm not really here much these days. If you want to keep up with Nico please go here. And if you'd like to keep up with my illustration work go here.

Thanks

Algorithm Taiso

2006-06-28T18:50:00.000+09:00

Last Sunday we did something really fun. We headed into Tokyo -Harajuku specifically- and met a bunch of fellow geeks for a bit of “Algorithm Taiso” or “algorithm exercise”.

Algorithm Taiso is a segment on morning kids TV over here, courtesy of NHK, the Japanese equivalent of the BBC, which produces some fantastic programming. It’s 2 guys doing a routine where they synchronize their movements as they do a kind of “march”. Oftentimes they include others in the march. Sometimes cooks, sometimes pro-wrestlers or in the example below, ninja’s.

Miyuki found these folks through one of her communities on mixi, which is a kind of Japanese friendster. It’s a huge community (just the Algorithm Taiso one), well over a thousand people. But for the “off” meeting only about 12 people showed. A real eclectic bunch too (including us as well, of course).

We weren’t very good (well I wasn’t at any rate), but it was an awful lot of fun. Too see us in action, watch the clip below.

We ate her....

2006-06-23T20:52:00.000+09:00

no, not really. But how else to explain my prolonged absence from here? Well, first there was the move and then the unpacking and then my computer broke and then... well you get the idea.

But the computer breaking thing is the relevant point. I retired my busted out old g4 (well, IT really decided to retire) and got one of them new Intel-on-the-inside iMac's. She's a beauty. She also came with some free blogging software to go along with my .mac account. So.... I've decided to give it a go.

So to follow all things Nico, please head over to the new blog.

Thanks

but damn that were some tasty baby.

stir fried baby

2006-04-07T18:42:00.000+09:00

stir fried baby, originally uploaded by mckibillo.

We found this enormous wok in our local home center. Just perfect for stir fried baby.

OK, OK, now I gotta get back to packing...

slackass...

2006-04-06T21:46:00.000+09:00

so, seems like we're gonna be moving in a week. at least that's when the movers are showing up to take our stuff.

guess we should really get packing, huh?

Funny hats for 7 months

2006-04-06T17:46:00.000+09:00

Funny hats for 7 months, originally uploaded by mckibillo.

Today is Nico's 7th month and also funny hat wearing day. A couple of days ago she went for checkup and here's the new stats:

weight: 7230g or 15.9lb
height: 653cm or 25.467inch

oh, and in case you wanted to know, she's now producing perfectly formed little people poo... so cute(!).

Regime change

2006-03-31T20:51:00.000+09:00

Well, I have to admit it. I can deny it no longer... Nico now owns this blog. I cede this bit of cyber space to her. Because I know that for the 5 people who regularly look here, it's really only the Nico pics y'all are interested in. So it shall be, from henceforth this blog is now "Operation Endearing Nico".

For rants and the occasional collected oddity, I set up another blog called "Not Nico". If sufficiently bored, please go check it out. Also, I've started a new blog just for my illustration related posts; that's over at Drawger. If you're at all interested in illustration you should check Drawger out as it's home to allot of really talented folk, fellow illustrators whose work I have admired for years.

OK, now back to Nico.

The actual shoot

2006-03-30T23:35:00.000+09:00

I've posted the shoot online. Please click here to view it.

Motoko did a REALLY good job.

Nico's 1st photoshoot

2006-03-29T21:23:00.000+09:00

Nico's 1st photoshoot, originally uploaded by mckibillo.

On Monday, Motoko, a friend of Yuichiro and Yumi's, came over to take some photo's of Nico. Motoko is a professional photographer and does some amazing work. And fast too... it's Wednesday and we already got the prints back today. I'll post some of those tomorrow.

In the meantime, you can check out my photos of the shoot by clicking here.

Princess Poncho-hontas

2006-03-27T19:20:00.000+09:00

Nico discovered a new way to wear her poncho today.

We had a little face time.

And said hello to our shadows.

Pignuts Butter

2006-03-27T19:17:00.000+09:00

Pignuts Butter, originally uploaded by mckibillo.

hot damn! them is some tasty pignuts!

...it should read as "peanut butter".

but this way it IS much funnier.

Found this in an otherwise perfectly charming little cafe down near the Miyagawa river.

A'-chan

2006-03-27T19:15:00.000+09:00

A'ko-chan, originally uploaded by mckibillo.

Meet "A'-chan, or "little alchoholic". This dependent lil' fellow clutching the beer bottle was found gracing the facade of a local liquor shop.

Spring has sprung

2006-03-26T20:24:00.000+09:00

The days continue to warm up and it's nice to be outside.

So we had a little sit on the deck.

Tito joined us.

And so did Maru.

We even took a little stroll down to the furumachi and pointed out the sites.

The strawberries in Japan are reliably delicious.

So we gave Nico her first taste.

She really loved it and quickly gummed it down to a little red nubbin.

All in all, it was a really nice day.

Lil' Daredevil

2006-03-23T21:24:00.000+09:00

Today we took Nico for a spin at the local skatepark. She didn't grind any rails or catch any air but she comported herself in fine fashion.

The hungry monster

2006-03-18T17:22:00.000+09:00

The hungry monster, originally uploaded by mckibillo.

says "hello!"

The cafe life

2006-03-16T17:58:00.000+09:00

I got a haircut...

Nico got a closeup...

and a beauty shot...

and we took advantage of the nice weather and took a long stroll.

Life is good when you're not working every minute of it.

To see more cute pics of Nico go to my flickr page.

Shark head

2006-03-16T17:50:00.000+09:00

Shark head, originally uploaded by mckibillo.

This jolly fellow was staring back at me from the seafood section of my local supermarket.

Yummy! Shark tooth soup tonight!

Nico's 1st shot

2006-03-11T21:36:00.000+09:00

Last week Nico started her vaccination's. They start later than the States here in Japan. Here's a little movie I made to commemorate the event. Just click it to play.

Nice days...

2006-03-10T16:47:00.000+09:00

Finally(!), it's starting to thaw out around here. It's been nice weather for strolling.

Nico was happy.

The big 6

2006-03-07T20:47:00.000+09:00

Yesterday was Nico's 6 month mark. To celebrate we went to a cozy little restaurant nearby.

We had a great time... until Nico cried us out of the place. Oh well. But it was her birthday so she could cry if she wanted to... sorry.

But back home we shared some yummy birthday cake that Yuichiro and Yumi bought. As well as a bitchin' pair of lil' biker boots. For when Nico turns into a 1 year old riot grrrrl.

bad ass.

Almost there...

2006-03-05T19:58:00.000+09:00

Today, for like 5 seconds, Nico sat up. I'm not sure if it officially counts, but it's still awesome.

Back at it

2006-03-04T18:53:00.000+09:00

Hi

so, after a prolonged absence I'm back... was swamped with work (yeah! and boo... the freelance life is one of feast or famine and when the buffet is laid out ya gotta gorge on it till it hurts). Also, we took a nice little break down with the in-laws for a bit of a chill. Or actually, to warm up... we really needed to get away from the icy grip that is a Takayama winter. So it was nice to just hang out at Takashi and Kiyomi's place, eating Kiyomi's great cooking, watching CNN on cable and reading comics on our iBook.

But in fact, we were busy... apartment hunting. After going through a second frigid winter up here in the mountains, shovelling out the waist deep snow, shivering in a poorly insulated, drafty building that is the Japanese norm in homes and huddling next to dangerous, smelly kerosene heaters for warmth, I decided enough is enough. We're leaving the snowy heights of our mountain stronghold for the generally balmy climes of the Kanto plain. We found a place, a 2 storey house in Chigasaki with a little yard and a driveway just big enough for our lil' car, Champ. Chigasaki is about 40 minutes outside of Yokohama and an hour away from Tokyo. It's also just down the beach from Tsujido where the in-laws live... very convenient for baby sitting duty.

We didn't plan on moving so soon. We'll be moving down next month, April. WE had originally thought we'd be doing it in the Fall. But, y'know how it goes with apartment hunting... it's like potato chips, you see one, then you can't stop and pretty soon you've eaten the whole bag. Or in this case, signed a lease.

So the next few months are gonna be busy.

Ok, now for a Nico fix:

Blue skies and a smiling baby. More pix TK.

BTW, I'm thinking of starting a separate blog just for all things Nico.

To divide my already miniscule web traffic even further.

Chowhound

2006-02-10T19:31:00.000+09:00

Yesterday Nico tried solid food for the first time. We gave her a little rice porridge. She started slurping the stuff down the second the spoon touched her lips. She really went for it... kind of amazing. She chowed down like a lil' champ. So to celebrate, we'll be heading to Mickey D's tomorrow for her first double bacon with cheese.

Joking. joking.

OK, that's all for now. Work. Me. Up to eyeballs.

Latest Dailies

2006-02-08T12:36:00.000+09:00

Dailies

5 months

2006-02-07T19:35:00.000+09:00

Yesterday was Nico's 5 month birthday. Keep on keeping on baby girl.

She had some quality time with her 2 favorite bears.

And Mom wore a special hat just for the occasion.

I've got my nose back to the grindstone, so not much more to report (or recommend).

Escape Pod

2006-02-03T23:10:00.000+09:00

I can't believe it's taken me this long to mention Escape Pod. It's one of the best scifi and short fiction podcast sites going. I've been listening for months now. Unlike many similar sites, they actually pay their authors so the work is usually top notch and the voice talent is always spot on. So if you've got a long commute that needs filling, or as in my case, find that most radio sucks (yup even here in Japan... actually more so) then get with the clickety-clickety-click. The latest episode is a gem, "My Friend is a Lesbian Zombie". Here's an excerpt:

"I don’t know how it happened. I’m the last person I’d go to if I were a zombie; I’m not into the occult thing at all. But I was the only friend Mandy had in this city, so she came to me with her sob story. Lucky me. So there she was, kicked back in my bed, having herself a good, long cry and I was stuck with her, wondering how long until she began stinking. That was really unfair of me, I know, but there was a goddamn walking, talking corpse snuggled up in my good sheets and I was a little concerned about it."

Technorati Tags: podcast, scifi, zombies, lesbians

A whole 'nother kind a baby

2006-02-03T21:14:00.000+09:00

Our pals Steve and Sofie recently added a puppy Dogue de Bordeaux to their brood. His name is Okie (or maybe Huck).

What a lil' cutie.

Here he is in his full recumbent splendor. Check out the jowl action.

Steve, my friend, you must be in flap heaven. Now why don't y'all head on over to Steve's House o' Wax and peep his awesome drawings and such.

The Dailes

2006-02-03T17:35:00.000+09:00

Dailies

Bon Anniversaire Miyuki

2006-02-02T21:07:00.000+09:00

Yesterday was my honey's birthday. We got a great present from Yuichiro and Yumi... they offered to babysit Nico for a few hours and (pick up part of the tab) while we had lunch at Le Midi, a French restaurant in town. It's actually one of several French restaurants in town. There's even a few patisseries about. It's odd, there's enough of a demand in Japan for French cuisine that even a little po-dunk city like Takayama can support several outlets. And the cuisine survives fairly intact... there's a conspicuous absence of mentaiko, natto or curry dishes on the menu. If only the Japanese felt the same way about bagels, NY style pizza and Mexican food...

Miyuki had a very nice lamb dish.

And I had a really good steak au poivre.

We almost didn't make it to dessert. We were already stuffed before the entree's came, from the generous salad and soup they served before hand. But good thing there's always the betsu bara, or extra stomach, that deploys just in case of such emergencies. We then had a bit of a stroll to get that betsu bara packed away again.

It was really nice having a few hours just to ourselves. But this is just Birthday celebration part 1. Part 2 comes in a couple of weeks when we, along with Nico, take a little mini vacation for a night at one of the local hotel/ryokans. Ah, a warm room and a warm bath... looking forward to it.

Latest Dailies

2006-02-01T18:08:00.000+09:00

Dailies

Batgirl

2006-01-31T21:34:00.000+09:00

Nico will be 5 months old in less than a week, on Feb. 6th.

So what new thing has she learned this month? Well, she can clasp her hands together, which is really cute. She's doing rasberries, and "gyah's" and "goo's" and a bunch of other sounds, but her absolutely new favorite is the high-pitched, ear splitting squeal. Happy or sad, or any state in between, she let's rip with the sonar. It's cute and interesting and seems really expressive, but it's a bit like living with a baby bat.

Today's Dailies

2006-01-28T17:19:00.000+09:00

Dailies

Funny ED ad

2006-01-26T12:34:00.000+09:00

A completely over-the-top Japanese TV commercial for ED, or erectile dysfunction. The bee and the dripping flower are my favorite bits.

Todays Dailies

2006-01-26T12:04:00.000+09:00

Dailies

Bumbo party

2006-01-25T19:38:00.000+09:00

We recently got a Bumbo for Nico after reading my brother rave about it on my lil' nephew's blog. And yeah, it's great! It's a really simple, smart product and just works so perfectly well it's hard to imagine this not having always existed. It projects a bumbo shaped hole retroactively back through time begging to be filled.

That, and it's a really smart baby seat. But even in our excitement removing it from the box I couldn't help but be struck by one of the photos on the packaging....

I mean seriously, they could have done waaaaaay better than this. These babies look totally wacked on sugary fruit juices and spiked mothers milk. It's like 3 am, all the party decorations are falling, the static cling has leeched out of the balloons and streamers, Mom and Dad are crashed on the couch and these three dudes are stuck in their comfy Bumbo's totally glazed, unable to move. Hardcore...

See what I mean?

Todays Dailies

2006-01-25T18:11:00.000+09:00

Dailies

The Zoorasian Brass Band and the String Quartet of the Tsuru-Usagi

2006-01-24T19:10:00.000+09:00

On Sunday we took Nico to her very first concert. Of course, this being Japan, the players were all wearing animal heads...

Actually, I don't know if this is unique to Japan, but it certainly is VERY Japanese to use mascots or animal characters (or any kind of character actually) to sell something. In this case, a little musical culture to the diaper set.

First the Zoorasian Brass Band came out and played a few numbers. The conductor is an Okapi, by the way.

Followed by the Tsuru-Usagi String Quartet, who, with names like (from L to R) Meg, Amy, Beth and Jo, apparently must be Australian rabbits.

After a brief intermission, both groups came out and rocked the stage.

They even came out for an encore.

Afterwards, they were available for autographs.

And photo opportunities.

Y'know, the thing is, we've been so starved of culture lately up here in our mountain stronghold that it was actually quite pleasant to see some live symphonic music played. Even if by forgotten sports team mascots playing to an audience, that for the most part, were probably sitting in soiled underpants.

In fact, I enjoyed it so much perhaps I'll download some bunny wallpaper to remember them by. And if you'd like to see more of my photos you can check out my flickr set.

Todays Dailies

2006-01-24T18:03:00.000+09:00

Dailies

First zombies, now vampires... oh my!

2006-01-21T20:32:00.000+09:00

David Wellington is back at it. I pimped him here before for his excellent Monster Planet series, a trilogy of some of the finest on-line zombie fiction I've ever read. Of course, I haven't read much other on-line zombie fiction... but this guy's stuff is really good.

Now he's doing a vampire novel on-line, "Thirteen Bullets". I have never read vampire fiction before, no Anne Rice, no Lestat (as played by Tom Cruise.. yes?), nada. The whole cannon always struck me as too fetid, too oversexed and swoon-y... swarthy master players in silk shirts fronting rock bands and running the boardroom while choking down some neck of virgin. Or brooding, obsessive, bougainvillea scented tortured souls who after all, really, really just want to be loved. Now 13 bullets is only at chapter 6 (so now is a good time to go get caught up...) and the author might still take his characters in that direction, but I hope and think not. He played with the conventions of the zombie thing pretty well in his Monster series, so I'm inclined to be hopeful for this latest effort.

For a very different take on the whole vampire thing though, head over to Peter Watts site, and check out his "Vampire Domestication: Taming Yesterday's Nightmares for a Better Tomorrow". It's a scary spot-on parody of a PowerPoint presentation from the good folks at FizerPharm of what to do with vampires for fun and profit. Oh yeah, Peter Watts also has some absolutely AMAZING fiction available on-line as well.

Celebu

2006-01-21T19:53:00.000+09:00

Nico was quite the lil' celebrity today. We went for lunch to a new "Japanese style" restaurant today that opened up about a week ago. The place is really pleasant, with a big, airy interior, great views of the nearby mountains and some very, very yummy soba and udon dishes. Miyuki had soba (which is a kind of buckwheat noodle) and duck and I had udon (a flour noodle) and katsu, which is basically a veal schnitzel.

But Nico was the real star. She was the waitress special. The sweet, old(er) ladies couldn't get enough of her.

New ones kept coming by to get their turn holding her.

I got slightly (only slightly) nervous when one of them asked if she could take her around to show to the rest of the staff. I wasn't sure if in their zeal she might not accidentally end up in a soup pot. But no such worries. She came back to us undipped, unbreaded and just as sweet and tender as ever. She got to be a celebrity and we got to slurp down our noodles at ease.

Todays Dailies

2006-01-21T15:56:00.000+09:00

Dailies

4 months +

2006-01-20T20:37:00.000+09:00

On Wednesday Nico got her 4 month-ish check-up. Everything checked out fine.

She's a bit on the small side for her age: weight = 6155 grams (or 13.6 lbs), height = 60.3 cm (or 23.7 in); but well within the average.

Developmentally she's doing good: holding her head up nicely, tracking with her eyes, grabbing stuff, giggling, babbling, smiling and just being an overall cutie-pie.

But now starts all the immunizations (they start later here in Japan) and we've got a difficult decision to make. We're planning on following the Japanese immunization schedule for Nico as it's fairly similar to the U.S. schedule. But it's got a couple of major differences... and the biggie we're trying to decide within the next couple of months is whether or not she should get the BCG vaccine. It's for tuberculosis, which while in steady decline for the past several decades, has shown a slight uptick recently here in Japan. We'd like to give Nico all the protection we can while we're here so it's seems like the thing to do. However, not everyone agrees it's an effective treatment.

On the other hand, if she does get the vaccine and when we or she returns to the States, every routine health exam where they test for TB, she'll show as positive (because of the presence of the vaccine, ie: dead virii... is that a word?). That means a lifetime of hassle taking unnecessary medication and chest xrays to prove "all clear". Miyuki had an adult (Japanese) friend in NYC who had to go on a 9 month drug regimen just to convince her doctors of being cured of the TB she never had.

So we're still not sure what to do... protection now, here, for a lifetime of potential hassles there? ...Just not sure.

Todays Dailies

2006-01-20T12:35:00.000+09:00

mckib•in•nihon

no longer here...

Algorithm Taiso

We ate her....

stir fried baby

slackass...

Funny hats for 7 months

Regime change

The actual shoot

Nico's 1st photoshoot

Princess Poncho-hontas

Pignuts Butter

A'-chan

Spring has sprung

Lil' Daredevil

The hungry monster

The cafe life

Shark head

Nico's 1st shot

Nice days...

The big 6

Almost there...

Back at it

Chowhound

Latest Dailies

5 months

Escape Pod

A whole 'nother kind a baby

The Dailes

Bon Anniversaire Miyuki

Latest Dailies

Batgirl

Today's Dailies

Funny ED ad

Todays Dailies

Bumbo party

Todays Dailies

The Zoorasian Brass Band and the String Quartet of the Tsuru-Usagi

Todays Dailies

First zombies, now vampires... oh my!

Celebu

Todays Dailies

4 months +

Todays Dailies

Todays Dailies

Todays Dailies

Kazarimono 2006

Todays Dailies

Google Earth

Dondoyaki

Todays Dailies

Todays Dailies

Todays Dailies

Todays Dailies

Todays Dailies

Cold as a witches...

Dailies

Geek heaven

Todays Dailies

Todays Dailies

Todays Dailies

Todays Dailies

Todays Dailies

ジーザスディアマンテ

Year of the Dog

Todays Dailies

Shiwasu no Ooharai

Todays Dailies

Todays Dailies

Chrisnukah

Todays Dailies

The Dailies

Home Movies

Pure Fiction

Snow Days

Day 100

3 Months Nico

Anatomy of a CIA ‘rendition’ gone wrong

1st snowfall of the season

cutie pie