Christmas 2008 in Karuizawa: Random Photo

With Scott Lawson's bachelor party set to kick off tomorrow morning, I thought it might be the right time to remind him what he's getting into.

This is a photo taken from the evening gift exchange at our Christmas 2008 getaway to Karuizawa. Just came across it while deleting files from my camera's memory card.

I believe that the sparring set was a gift from Andy (he always gives the most creative/hilarious gifts), and Yuki went straight to work on Scott's jaw.

Definitely a match made in heaven! Wedding date: October 3rd, 2009.

Christmas 2008 in Karuizawa: Random Photo

FitWit Foundation

Some college friends of mine in Atlanta are doing something that I greatly admire. They're trying to improve the community where they live by mentoring and providing healthy lifestyle choices to the youth in the city. They are doing so through a foundation that they created called The FitWit Foundation.

My friends Ben and Josh are spearheading the foundation's efforts, and I know that they also run a separate fitness and tutoring program called FitWit that I believe involves Josh's wife, Erin.

It sounds like things are going well for them in Atlanta, and the best part is that they're truly helping to make a difference.

If you're interested in donating to The FitWit Foundation (registered nonprofit) to help them with their mission to battle childhood obesity rates, please register at Network for Good so that you can do so right now online.

Alternatively, you could write to Ben (ben@fitwit.com) or Josh (josh@fitwit.com) and share your thoughts on what they're doing.

[photo stolen from FitWit's website]

FitWit Foundation

Koenji Awaodori Festival 2009: Drums

This is a video I shot with my digital camera at a festival that I went to last weekend in Koenji, Tokyo. This is the rhythm section of one of the dozens of troupes that dances down the street during the parade. Definitely one of my favorite summertime festivals in Tokyo.

Koenji Awaodori Festival 2009: Drums

RENT: Broadway Farewell World Tour

We had the distinct pleasure of seeing RENT in it's final world tour as a Broadway musical. It's final stop happens to be Tokyo, and original cast members Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal, and Gwen Stewart have joined the cast for this last hurrah.

The show was fantastic, as expected, and was blocked differently from the way that I remember it, but then again there's always so much happening on stage that every time I see the show I'm probably just seeing something that I missed before.

I was fortunate enough to see the original cast production of the show in New York City back in 1995 (?), and again in London in 1998.

And the biggest thrill of the evening for me, actually, was getting to meet Anthony Rapp briefly outside a restaurant (Delerium Cafe) in Akasaka about an hour after the show's conclusion.

Of course I made sure to get my program signed, and had about a 15-second chat before I decided to stop wasting his time.

RENT: Broadway Farewell World Tour

Leicester City begin with a win

My favorite football team (no they're not in the Premier League) is Leicester City, a team that made its way back into the English Championship this season.

As everyone on the team has been saying that they needed to do, the Foxes started the season with a come-from-behind win (2-1) over Swansea on the opening day of the 2009 campaign yesterday.

This is fantastic news for me (as well as all of their other fans, no doubt) because supporting Leicester was becoming a lot like rooting for the Tokyo Swallows.

You see, Leicester got relegated to League One for the first time in team history two years ago, and that's exactly what would have happened to my favorite baseball team several times over if such a system were in place (thankfully it's not).

But there back up on the doorstep of the Premier League, and a strong start to the season might mean an outside shot at the playoffs.

At the very worst, fortunately, a return to League One appears to be out of the question.

Leicester City begin with a win

The Hitman

I played a hitman in an episode of Hanchou which aired on Monday nights on TBS in Japan. It's finished its' run now, but it was a reasonably popular drama about a team of police officers and detectives that dealt with the various n'er-do-wells that haunt the crowded confines of Tokyo.

The headliner of the series was Kuranosuke Sasaki, and he played the lead detective of the team.
In episode number 12, Michael Shorter was my name, and shooting mafia-related types hanging out in Tokyo was my game. But in the end I was rather easily apprehended by the cops. The featured guest of this episode was kabuki actor Kamejiro Ichikawa who played the role of Andy Matsuo.

The episode took several days to shoot, of course, and the longest of those days was spent out at a complex of warehouses in Chiba where the episode's climax occurs and the bad guy gets nabbed.

One of the highlights of the day was the BBQ that the crew set up for dinner. They brought out a very good variety of beef and pork cuts and had three separate grills going at the same time.

It was just what the doctor ordered as I had spent the previous two hours on set with a gun pointed at my nose.

There's a quick preview of episode 12 viewable here. If you go to that page, you should see a small, round, red button on the left side of the screen. Clicking that will open a player that will show you the very short trailer for the show.

And yes, that's me in the beard.

The Hitman

Chuck Baser

From the Burlington Free Press:

BASER, FREDERICK "CHUCK"
FREDERICK "CHUCK" BASER BRISTOL - Frederick "Chuck" Baser, 31, died suddenly of natural causes on Saturday, June 6, 2009, at his home in Bristol. He was born on Sept. 17, 1977, in Middlebury, the son of Frederick and Marian Baser. He graduated from Mt. Abraham High School and Colgate University where he sang with Colgate 13. Chuck was a member of Bristol Conservation Commission and was active in restoration of Sycamore Park. Chuck loved the outdoors and he enjoyed fishing, hunting, jack jumping, and boating. He was a skilled woodworker and nothing pleased him more than a beautiful piece of wood. Chuck touched many lives in small and profound ways. Chuck is survived by his parents; and his brothers, Nicholas Baser and his wife Janel of Phillips, Maine, Gregory Baser and his fiance Nicole of Salt Lake City, Utah; his niece and nephew, Adelaide and Silas Baser, who brought him much joy; grandparents Frederick and Nettie Baser and also Gertrude Burke; many aunts, uncles, cousins, and great friends who loved him and will miss him very much. He was predeceased by his maternal grandfather Gerald Burke and his aunt and uncle, Kathryn and Ned Henderickson. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. on Thursday, June 11, in St. Ambrose Catholic Church in Bristol. Interment will be in Mt. St. Joseph Cemetery in Bristol. Friends may call at Brown-McClay Funeral Home in Bristol on Wednesday, June 10, from 5 to 8 p.m. In lieu of flowers contributions may be made to Town of Bristol c/o Conservation Commission, P.O. Box 249, Bristol, VT 05443.

_____________________________

Chuck was a good friend from the theater crowd in Bristol, Vermont. I also have fond memories of watching him and Pete Buonincontro pump out adirondack chairs, benches and porch swings for their "Bristol Butt-rests" line several summers ago when we were all in Bristol at the same time.

Please feel free to post any stories you have about Chuck in the comments below.

You will be missed, Chuck. You will definitely be missed.

Chuck Baser

New Phone: Sony Ericsson S001

Had a little bit of a mishap on Monday evening and gave my trusty cell phone a 40 minute dip in the washing machine. It came out looking all sparkly and shiny, but it didn't really feel like turning on.

And no, I hadn't backed up my address book.

So we headed over to the au shop in Tanashi on Tuesday afternoon to figure out what could be done. Apparently you can ship your phone off to the manufacturer, and they can often get the data off of a phone that has drowned. The service takes about a week and costs 10,500 yen (roughly US$100). But while we were chatting about what to do, and the guy I was talking to was explaining my options to me, my phone started to buzz as an e-mail came through.

It's alive!

Why the au guy hadn't bothered to check whether or not the data was retrievable is perhaps an issue for another time, but the good news is that he was able to get my entire address book out of it and onto my new phone.

And my new phone is the green one pictured above. It has an eight mega-pixel Sony Cyber-shot camera crammed inside it, and there seem to be a lot of bells and whistles that I still have no idea how to use.

The one thing that I don't like so much about it is the fact that the 'clear' button rests just slightly below the down button, so it's very easy for people with adult-sized hands to hit them both at the same time.

Other than that, I don't have any serious complaints as of yet. I never thought I'd buy a slide phone, but my options were a bit limited to be honest with you. I'm still a little bummed because I really liked my old phone. It had a scrollbar which made tearing through a long message or my address book very easy.

Oh well. That's life, I guess. I learned my lesson. I immediately backed up my address book, which was miraculously salvaged from my water-logged cell, when I returned home.

New Phone: Sony Ericsson S001