So, Julie and I are in Tokyo today. We came in yesterday on the coolest train ride I’ve ever experienced - the Oasaka to Tokyo bullet train. At the particularly huge Tokyo station, Julie and I met up with some old Japanese friends of mine who went to the UofO. So, the five of us got to wander all over the city yesterday checking out all the cool sites, including Akihibara -the Mecca for all things electronic. So, it’s pretty safe to say I’m in heaven here. This afternoon Julie and I head south to Nagoya so we can go tour the Toyota factory tomorrow. All in all, we’re having an incredible time. This place rocks!

We just boarded the flight to Osaka and the doors are closing here soon. It’s finally time!

Well, today’s the day. Julie and I were up early for the 6am flight to Atlanta where we just landed. We have two more flights and then the vacation is on for real! We’ve waited a bit for this, so we’re pretty excited.

The following is Julie’s and my subject-to-change work-in-progress itinerary for our upcoming trip to Japan. 

[Check out the below locations on the Japan Map page I've set up.]

Thursday, November 13

Flights:

• MIA-ATL
  DL 982
  600A - 754A
• ATL-DTW
  DL 660
  935A - 1131A
• DTW-KIX
  NW 69
  100P - 500P (11/14 arrival)

Friday, November 14

On Friday, we arrive in the evening and are going to make our way straight to the hotel in Osaka. That’ll probably be as much as we accomplish on Friday.

Saturday, November 15

Saturday morning, Julie and I will hop on a bullet train to Tokyo and we’ll check out Akihibara (the gadget district), Asakusa, Shibuya, and a few other spots that afternoon and evening. Hopefully I’ll be able to meet up with my friend Masaharu as well. We’ve tentatively planned on visiting the Advertising Museum in Tokyo.

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The way I see it, Democrats got almost everything they could wish for last night - and maybe even more. It was like a jolly old Santa Dean flew from house to house and stuffed little leftist, godless, tax-and-spend stockings full with most of the goodies on a Liberal’s list. But, some things didn’t make the cut. California appears to be passing Prop 8, rescinding the right to marry that gay and lesbian couples were granted just a short time ago. Florida’s own gay marriage ban passed. The congresswoman I voted for didn’t win. But two major things happened that we should all be ecstatic about. The first one’s obvious. We overwhelmingly elected Barack Obama to the highest office in this democracy, the significance of which I don’t think can be fully understood yet. Eight years of bad policy and complete disregard for the very things that make this a great nation (ahem, like the Constitution) have now been loudly rejected and we can all move on and make things better.

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View Larger Map

Above is a map that I’ve put together of Julie’s and my upcoming trip to Japan next Thursday. I can’t believe it’s coming up so fast! I have put pins in all of the sights we plan on seeing, and I’ve linked their respective Wikipedia page so you can check out where we’re going. Hopefully I can make updates with notes and such. I’m not too sure - using Google Maps for this is new to me, but it seems like there are a ton of possibilities.

Some highlights of the trip will be:

• A tour of the Toyota Factory
• Visiting Akihibara, the gadget capital of the world
• Seeing Himeji Castle
• A day at a Spa on the west coast of the country

Vote vote vote vote vote vote vote. Need I say more?

Julie and I got our Pumpkin situation sorted out last Thursday and they’ve been hanging out on my front porch since. I went down to the art supply store and loaded up on carving supplies. I got a tool to shave the inside down, I got a whole host of tools to carve away the skin, I picked up tracing paper - the works. So, here’s what we came up with. Julie’s is the wicked McCain in the foreground, and mine is the untrustable and out-of-focus Cartman waving gleefully in the background. Julie’s is doin great. Sadly, mine is starting to rot and I fear he won’t make it until Friday, but I’ll try my best to keep him going.

I’m in Tampa, and look what I just saw! I know it’s not a great pic- best I could do at 70mph. It’s a HUGE Confederate Flag. Holy cow! How disgusting!