Pics of Disco Dog

Disco is not well.

She has a liver tumor, kidney infection, etc. She's been on IV and sub-cu fluids all week. She has no appetite so we are struggling to find ways to coax her to eat and drink. We keep hoping that she'll start feeling better soon.

So while Tony and I are at our wits end, trying to make our precious pup well, I thought I'd share some more pictures of her- from when she was feeling better.

Isn't she beautiful?

Meeting a Maiko

While we were in Kyoto Japan, Tony and I were lucky enough to attend a performance by a Maiko, an apprentice Geisha. (Or Geiko as they are known in Kyoto).

The performance was held in front of about 15 people. The lovely Sato Ise (sp?) was our guest Maiko. She was 19 and on the verge of becoming a full-fledged Geiko. She was quite charming, with a hint of sarcasm that I found particularly endearing. She performed two dances for us, and then answered questions from her rapt audience.

Here are a couple of videos of our encounter: A and B.

For more information on Maikos and Geishas, check out this wikipedia article. It clears up some of the negative rumors about Geishas that Westerners often have.

Thankful to an Insurance Company!

Speaking of being in the hospital, I have to give some props to the travel insurance we bought before our trip. They really came thru!

Travel Guard. made things easy and relatively painless. And I received my reimbursement pretty quickly! I don't want this to be a commercial (and no, I don't own stock in the company!) but I have to say, they get a big thumbs up from me!
I strongly recommend getting travel insurance before any international trip- and go for the full monty- its worth it. Trust me on this!

ME.... MONKEY

While I was in the hospital in Kyoto....

trying to communicate with no voice and in a bizarre mish-mash of Japanese and English...

Tony, at my behest, went off to explore the Iwatayama monkey park in Arashiyama!

He brought back gorgeous photos and videos with which to entertain me.

Check out the following videos A and B for a barrel full of fun!

ICE CREAM CITY!

We explored ICE CREAM CITY on our last day in Tokyo, right before catching our flight back home.


Words cannot really describe the utter deliriousness of Ice Cream City, which is located inside Namjatown which, in turn, is located inside Sunshine City (Tokyo Japan).


A more psychedelic location would be hard to find. Full of all types of ice cream and a weird mish mash of anime, video games, WWII American , "Old West" and giant mutant kiddieland imagery....

well, let's just say that words cannot do it justice and that this video, created by Tony, is worth at least 1000 words.

Turning Japanese!

Click here to see the first of several videos based on our recent trip to Japan!

Also, I already wrote a blog about our "makeovers" while in Japan, but you can catch of glimpse of what it was like in this great youtube video from GeishaGirl. Enjoy!

Zowee!

I had fun playing with some "Comic" software awhile ago. I was inspired while making some pages ala Shakespeare for my friend Teri's deco.

Using "Comic Life" by Plasq, I created the following one-page Hamlet comic:

That got me to thinking; wouldn't it be fun to design Hamlet characters in the guise of superheroes? The geniuses at Marvel allowed me to do just that, using their "create your own superhero" website.

There's nothing like satisfying your urge to be a comic creator, even if you can't actually draw!