Well, it looks like everything is OK now. The site is now hosted on a new server, which should mean no more problems like I’ve been experiencing in the past few weeks. I’m also using a newer version of Movabletype (would you believe that I always typed it with an “e”, as in Moveabletype). The transition went rather smoothly, and any weirdness you might have experienced was only because I had to stop in the middle of changing things over in order to go to work. If you do experience any problems with the site, please let me know. I’ll start posting pictures on a daily basis again starting next Monday.

I’m presently in the process of changing everything over to the new server, which includes installing MT again. Also, the domain nameservers have been changed, and it will take effect within 1 or 2 days. All this means that things might get weird in the next day or so, but everything should be back to normal (at least I’m hoping) in a few days.

See you on the other side!

It’s rainy season, right. So I’m walking to work today, umbrella in one hand, talking to Yuko on my mobile phone, and as I finish the conversation and try to fold it with one hand to slide back in my pocket, I drop it and it gets scratched up. This makes me sad. I really loved my keitai, and now it’s got a few scratches on it, which are bugging me. Yeah, so what, I like beautiful digital gadgets, and I like them when they’re all shiny and smooth. Sue me.

I’m obviously very excited by all the Apple announcements from yesterday’s keynote by Steve Jobs, and one of the coolest things to come out of it (and that I can play with right now) is the new iChat AV. I unfortunately don’t know many people with Macs that run iChat, but I just tested it over the Airport network in my apartment between my iBook and iMac, and it works beautifully and elegantly. The two computers recognized each other because of Rendezvous, and then me and Yuko were talking over our computers in different rooms. This of course works over the Internet. Also, I plugged my MiniDV camera in my iMac, and I’m now ready to do some video conferencing also.

How can anybody not want a Mac? I’ll be bringing over my iBook to Canada when I go in August, and I’ll definitely be trying to convince anyone and everyone I know that they’re life is not complete without a Mac.

Oh, and it’s also nice to be browsing with the official 1.0 release of Safari, my browser of choice. Now all I need is one of them new G5 PowerMacs…

Well, lots happening in the past few days, including another downed site. Here’s what’s up with what.

First, yes, the site was down again, and this time I will be moving severs, and getting a better service package upgrade. My host offered the same thing last time there were problems, but I didn’t take it because I didn’t feel like re-installing MT again. The problem is that my host has quite a few servers, and I just happen to be on the oldest one, and the only that’s giving them problems of late. In the end, I guess it’s all good, because I’ve been meaning to upgrade to version 2.63 of MT (I now run 2.5), which will finally let me use tools like Kung-Log for my updates. I also get a lot of new site controls that I didn’t have before, which will be nice. What this all means is that over the next few days I’ll be switching over servers, so there might be some more downtimes as I also have to change the domain settings for my “jeansnow.net” address. I will try to get everything done as soon as possible, so hopefully you won’t be noticing to many things going on.

I unfortunately wasn’t able to make it to the Momus show in Shimokitazawa on Sunday night, which bummed me out. I’ll have to try to catch up with him another time.

And yesterday, I finally made reservations for tickets to head back to Canada for 2-3 weeks in August. It’ll be the first time in 2 and a half years that I head back home, so I’m definitely looking forward to the trip.

Lastly, it’s mothers observation week in all my classes, and I’m stressed out as hell. Can’t wait for it to be over…

Yuko ordered a Macha (green tea) Latte.

As you can see, the site is back to normal (at least it is on my Mac, I hope things are also OK on the PC side of things), and I’ve also put up the seventh issue of GEISHA, the guest issue (I’ll implement the rollovers on the icons indicating the issue numbers sometime this weekend). A big thanks to the contributors: Paul Barron, Patrick Benny, Kristen Elsby, Jesper Larsson, Marc Xavier LeBlanc, and James Wong. Some more people wanted to contribute but couldn’t find the time, and so I’m thinking of maybe doing a follow-up guest issue later this year. For now, I hope you enjoy the new issue, and expect the next issue by mid-July.

It’s absolute Beckham madness in Tokyo right now. He and the wife are in town for a few days of promotions (getting paid millions by companies like Meiji Chocolate), and people are going nuts. At least 500 fans greeted him at Narita Airport yesterday, and on the wide shows right now most everything is about Beckham, how he holds his wife’s hand (Japanese couples don’t do that, or at least older ones), his new samurai-like hairstyle, etc. Right now on TV is live coverage of him visiting an elementary school. The way the students greeted him in chant made it feel like some kind of North Korean mass game! Yuko was joking with me about the whole thing, until Beckham showed up at the school and she got all excited and let out a scream. I had to start making fun of her.

Little Buddhas in Kita-Kamakura.

Yes, there is weirdness on the site right now (like no moblog), and it’s because of something I did. I finished up the new issue of GEISHA tonight, and after I added the icon that launches it (as well as making it and all the other icons rollovers that indicated the issue number), something happened when I saved. It deleted most of the index page, and it’s only after I did a rebuild that I noticed. I thought I had a very recent backup of the template, but as you can see, the latest one didn’t include the moblog yet. It’s really late now and I’m tired, so I’ll leave things as they are, and try to fix everything tomorrow night.

The moblog is still up at its own site, it just doesn’t appear on this page.

Came back home from work late, as I always do on Thursdays, and stopped at McDonald’s to get some takeout for me and Yuko. While I was waiting for my order to be ready, I noticed two girls having trouble ordering. They were Asian, maybe Indonesian. I stepped in to do the translation, which is funny because I think it’s the first time ever that I put myself in such a role. I’m always the one worrying about not being able to express myself correctly in Japanese (or understanding others), and I was finally able to lend a hand. Made me feel good about my studies, even if it was just to help people find out prices and set combinations at a McDonald’s.

I took this shot in Kita-Kamakura, not far from the shrine we visited. This dog is sleeping, hidden behind the gates of his master’s traditional home (I took the picture behind the gates with my zoom).

I was watching one of my favorite shows, MATTHEW’S BEST HIT TV, and they had the CHARLIE’S ANGELS girls on as guests (they were in Tokyo last week to promote the sequel, which will start here next week). It’s always funny to see the reactions of American celebrities when they come to Japan for promotion, especially when they’re guests on wacky TV shows. Matthew (the alter ego of Takashi Fujii) decided to perform a little ninja action play for the girls, with broken English, and it was hilarious.

Fortune papers.

A shot I took last night just outside my front door with my new mini-tripod.