Monday, October 29, 2007
On my way...
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
US of A
I had a presentation at a conference there in San Jose. The presentation was just a formality. Actually, I was looking forward to meeting some old buddies from college there. The weather was pleasantly cool and I had a really nice week. Went around UC Berkeley, spent some quality time with old pals. All'n'all it was a nice trip. Except only; yeah, the 'security checks' before boarding the flight. But given that it was a 'United Airlines' flight, I was kind of expecting the 'checks'. Didn't piss me off much this time though, cause I had gone through it last time.
But it reminded me of this funny video. How perfect for this kinda situation!! ;-)
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
ええじゃないか ええじゃないか!
ちょっと遅れて午後2時半に富士急に到着。時間が少なかったから切符を買って早速新しいアトラクション"ええじゃないか"へ。近づいて待ち時間を見るとなんと2時間半!どうするか。あきらめてほかの人気ないアトラクションへ行くか、総回転数世界一のコースターをチャレンジするか。コースター好きの全員でええじゃないかの勝ち!
こんな世界一コースターの始めての体験。大好きっていっても乗っている人が見るとテンションがどんどん高まっていく。後ろ向きにあがってそのままとんでもない高さから90度の阪に落ちるなんてこえぇー!しかも途中でなんと下向きに回転!ええぇー!!
でも乗って見たら意外と楽しい!さすが総回転数世界一コースター!なんと14回転でギネス認定!乗って見ると確かに2時間待つ勝ちがあるなってことがわかる。
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Thursday, August 02, 2007
日印交流年
先週郵便局に切手買いに行った時、掲示板に⇒これをはってた。今年は日印交流年だと知っていたけど、こういう記念切手を出ていることが知らなかった。こちょっとビックリ、ちょっと嬉しい感じでこの珍しいものを早速ゲットした!
Saturday, June 02, 2007
「花.これから」
最初はいけばなかと思ったけど、ちょっと違う形で、日本の方法でアメリカのフラワーデザインというテーマでした。入ったら結構込んでいましたけど、どこ見ても女の人ばっかり。もちろん女の人がフラワーデザインが好きだけど、花が好き男の人っていないだろうかね。 と思ってちょっと恥ずかしい気持ちでなかに入った。全国から来たいろんな人のデザインは6つのテーマで分かれていた。全部のデザインがどれが良いかきめられないぐらい美しかった。大家さんが自分のデザインと他のフラワーデザインも説明してくれた。竹とクリスマスローズを使った大家さんのデザインもとても素敵だった。イー君が植物と花のことが詳しくて嬉しそうに説明を聞きながら質問を出してた。僕は日本にある植物と花のことがあまり分からないし、何でこんな女の人ばっかりいる展覧会見に来たかと思ったけど、そこにあったいろんな美しいフラワーアレンジメントを見てデザイナーたちの想像力に感動した。日本で始めての展覧会だったんですが、いい経験になりました。次は上野にあるダ.ヴィンチの絵の展覧会も見てみようかな。
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Two down, four to go!
Thursday, May 03, 2007
New Look
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Pirates of Silicon Valley
You guessed right. This drama-cum-movie is about the two giants of Silicon Valley, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, and their rivalry during early establishment days of Apple and Microsoft. It's about how they transformed themselves from college kids to billionaires. Both made a fortune in their own ways, but one thing was common between them; both stole the technology from others. First Steve Jobs stole GUI and mouse from Xerox and then Gates stole it from Jobs. It's not a big surprise, but it's good to watch the actual incidents that happened during that time. There is one interesting quote from Jobs in the movie.
"Good artists copy, great artists steal".
Wow, what a nice way to defend piracy! The drama was made in 1999, but I don't know how come I did not see it before. Perhaps I was too busy myself doing piracy in my undergrad exams ;-)
Both the actors have performed brilliantly and portrayed the personalities of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates very nicely. There's once scene in the movie I liked. At one point, when Steve Jobs realizes that Bill Gates copied his prototype mac and used it for windows, he gets mad at Gates. But then it's too late and he cannot do anything about it. So he says to Gates in desperation, "We're better than you are! We have better stuff."
The reply of Bill Gates takes the cake. He says very calmly "You don't get it, Steve. That doesn't matter!"
Most of the incidents depicted are based on actual events and that's what makes this movie interesting. A must see for OS freaks. And for all who use computers, a nice watch!
Friday, March 30, 2007
Sky's the limit !!
下手くそなんだけど、せっかくだから、この日本語の先生たちに日本語で感謝しないと。
皆さん、
卒業おめでとうございます!皆さんに大変迷惑かけたと思いますが、この間ずっと面倒見てくれたり、一緒にいろんな所へつれて行ったり、遊んだり、日本語と色々教えてくれたり、本当にお世話になりました。皆さんのおかげで今までの研究室の生活にいい思い出になりました。本当にありがとうございます。We’ll miss you.
また一緒に遊ぶ機会がいっぱいあると思いますが、これからもよろしくお願いします。
新しい道を体験するため出かけているみんなにすべての最もよいの。
For you,
Sky is the limit!!!
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Holi hai !!!
ホーリーとは、インドの三大祭りの一つに数えられる大きなお祭りです。Festival of coloursと呼ばれるこの祭りでは色のついた粉や水をまくことにより、冬の終わりを告げ、春の訪れを祝います。
そしてその日友達と家族と知り合いの人に色をまいてホーリーを祝っています。
Well, this festival is not just about fun and colors. As for all festivals in India, there is a scientific reason for celebrating Holi. This festival occurs at the onset of spring. This period, during which the weather changes, is prone to cause viral fever and cold. Thus, the playful throwing of the coloured powders has a medicinal significance as the coloured powders are made of Neem, Kumkum, Haldi, Bilva, and other medicinal herbs prescribed by Āyurvedic doctors.
インド人にもホーリーを嫌がっている人がいるんです。あの人たちはその日絶対に家を出ません。色水かけられるのは日本人にとっても嫌だと思いますが僕にとってはすごい楽しい事です。
Happy Holi to those who celebrate !!
Gosh, I miss Holi.
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Upadates
Well, time to scribble something on this page. What did I do in these two months besides lying lazily?
1. I did a Tape Out (I know this is not a thing to write because I'm supposed to do it anyway. That's part of my work.) But important point is that because of this tape out, I missed or rather did not have time to see this mindblowing product and it's amazing presentation. Boy, Steve Jobs rocks!
2. After almost two years, I flew back to my homeland for a months vacation. Spent some quality time with family and friends, went some places around, ate lots of things, gained lots of weight and forgot most of the Japanese that I had learnt.
3. After much of the efforts, I finished my first Japanese novel '窓ぎわのとっとちゃん' by 黒柳 徹子(Tetsuko Kuroyanagi). Although I fishied the last half of the book in the airplane, it took me two months to finish the book. But it was worth it. Very touching novel. No doubt it was a bestseller. Its about a nursery schoolgirl 'Tottochan'and her unique school 'Tomoe' a visinory teacher headmaster Kobayashi-sensei. You don't realize while reading how you become part of Tottochan's world full of curiosity. How Kobayashi-sensei grooms his students in his own unique way and how his small experiments change his students way of looking at life is something worth reading. I would definitely like to write something more about this book in future. But before that I'm gonna read it again.
4. What else? I just returned (safely) from a 3 day ski trip. 'Kusatsu onsen'; as the name suggests, a place famous for its onsen is also a ski resort. There was not much of the snow around though. May be because we were late this year. But overall, a nice trip.
Oh.. by the way, I also received a funny email forward from my friend which reminded me my school day exams.
This is amazing
ha ha ha.. very funny, Peter..
This one takes the cake..