Hello again, remember me?

Rather than waste time apologizing and explaining why I have been away for so long, I will simply say this: I traveled some and I have been working on a project that is taking all my free time. And no, the project is not finished yet, but I couldn't let 6 months go by without some blog love. So, let's just move into the goodness that I may or may not be able to still bring into your lives. I will start with an event round up.

My arty picture to start us off was taken in the air over Alaska. I took it coming back from America after a great stay with my family over Thanksgiving. In my many trips back and forth from Japan to the US, I had never seen it so clear, sunny, and beautiful. I took a bunch of pics, enjoy them HERE. Moving on the next event in my event re-cap.

While I was away, I went to the Tokyo Motor Show. It was a blast. Oh and by the way...I like wheel porn. The wheel above is from the newest RS6 from Audi. My dream car, no two ways about it. The wheel below is from one of the many striking Mazada concepts that were shown. Innovative touch to add the color drops onto the rims. It must look interesting when on the move. Although...only from the one angle.

I took many pics of wheels. I like wheels. I like so much that I squatted down to take the pics every time. I hate to squat. It's not that I am old. I just really hate squatting. It may by my most hated position. It's one of the reasons I hate gardening. See, my Dad really loved gardening. And I loved my Dad. I loved to follow his A.D.D. having ass all over the place. From doing this little thing to that other thing he had been meaning to do. But the one thing I could NOT get down with was squatting. (Did you see what I did just then?) He would always lose me when he went to the garden. Cause the last time I checked...all the plants on God's green earth are all low down on the ground. With that family story out of the way. Feel free to check the gallery of wheels at the Tokyo Motor Show HERE.

Oh...I got full pictures to. I won't go through them all, but some are too good to not share. To start us off, we have the future of dump trucks according to Mitsubishi. I like how the future looks!

Next we have the half flowing lines and half sharp lines of the Toyota coupe FT-HS. And if you ask me, you can't call a car this interesting looking FT-HS. No matter if it's hybrid or not.

Not every car was looking so far into the future. This car is in the here and now and I love it. The color is an interesting choice. On a scale of 1 to 10; 10 being the best color/car match ever, I think this color is only so-so. I think there is a law somewhere that all Ferrari have to be red. I think its ok to break that law sometimes, but not with this specific pearly blue option.

And lastly we have the Suzuki X-Head concept. I am not the biggest truck fan ever, but I like this one. Clever side panels and well proportioned overall. Oh, and if you wait for the turntable to spin a bit...you get...wait for it...

...the Booth Model! They were everywhere. And this one was dressed modestly compared with most. I was expecting this part of the show, but I was still surprised. Even more surprising was the number of guys at the show for only the girls, not the cars. Don't get me wrong, I like girls better than cars, but have these guys never heard of the internet??? It was strange and a little disconcerting. I empathize too easily...so I was feeling the uncomfortableness of the women and the shame the guys SHOULD have been feeling for such obvious ogling and fantasizing. On that note! Click HERE to see the whole gallery of my pics for the motor show. And next on our event round-up is a family affair.

That there is my brother singing his heart out with his band Silent Drive. They came to Japan on a very short tour (2 shows!) and I was lucky enough to be able to go to one of them. Again, I took way too many pics and I will share only some of them.

I am not sure if this was my brother wiping the sweat of his brow or getting into the "heys" and "hos" of the crowd. I guess it's up the the individual reader to decide. The crowd was interesting. They were totally into every song. If they knew the words...they were singing along. But, during any break in the music they went as quiet as an nerd in a library. But...they did get there crazy on too.

This was the band FC Five. They were super. They might have been the crowd favorites even though they played early during the days line up. Oh...did I forget to tell you that it was an all day event? It was the "Pump Up the Volume Fest 2008" and it was in Kawasaki, Japan. It was good fun and the headline band was Bane.

It was the first time I had heard them play and they were pretty good. I prefer the more melodic stylings of Silent Drive, but the pure crunchiness and hardness is impressive. The crowd was certainly into them with nothing held back. And now...for my favorite pic of the night.

That there is my brother getting his grin on while avoiding the pig pile on the singer. It got straight up chaotic at the end. Good fun and a great day. For all 100 of my pics, click HERE. I think that is all for the events that have happened. Now let' get to the shoes. I have three to cover.

NO!!! I don't have any big news to announce. It is only that I loved these runners from New Balance JAPAN so much that I had to buy them, even if it is years to early. They were from a pack that was celebrating flags. This is the Japanese flag version just in case you missed it. And yes, the "N" is 3M reflective goodness. All this cuteness for the basement bargain price of ¥3000 ($27). It was too much to pass up. My kid will wear these someday, no matter if its a boy or a girl.

Here is a pair I picked up the day after I arrived back in the US. I found these Nike+ Digital Camo Moire's at the Nike Outlet near my house. I paid $40 (¥4400) which I think is a steal. I had been trying to pick up a pair of Moire's since they came out. I heard they were comfortable and, oh mama, are they ever! I wore them for the 2 weeks I was staying in the US and I was happy to do so. (Even though I had to break my self-imposed rule of never wearing the same pair 2 days in a row. Sacrifices have to be made while traveling...no??)

I was all ready to drop some serious coin on some shoes while staying in the Boston area. My sister and I even scheduled a whole day around hitting all the spots in Boston area. But on that day, the sneaker-god was not with me, and I could not find anything I liked. But that is the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. On the day before I left, I was finally able to find something I liked at Foot Locker.

It's a pair of Nike Air Max Light's. I have seen other colorways I like better, but I like this darker mix with hits of red. And the price was low enough to make it possible. A low low price of $60 (¥6500). They are not special releases, but that doesn't make me like them any less.

And there you have it. The Air Max Light is non-existent in Japan. Since they started re-releasing them I have been wanting to get a pair...and now I have one. If you want to know more about the shoes, Sneaker Freaker has a great little article about them.

Music

#1. First off we have the video for the infections track "Beeber" by The Count & Sinden featuring Kid Sister. It is not new by any means...but it is fun and catchy, just like a dance track should be.


[Via Catchdubs]

#2. This is another track that has been making the rounds in various mixes. It is T2's track "Heartbroken" featuring Jodie. This bassline sh*t is going to be the end of me. It is so good. This song gets stuck in my head at least once a week, so fair warning.



#3. And lastly, let's move into the mainstream a bit with a new track from Missy. It is her here is a remix of her newest track "Ching-a-ling" featuring Ciara and Jay Z. The video is nothing but the track is exceptional.



And that folks is all I have for you this post. It is my hope to do this more regularly again. But it may not happen that way. Let's hope it does!