Events

Two of them, the first in Kyoto: The other in Tokyo:

On YouTube

Tokyo has maps in all the metro and train stations showing where you are and where everything else is. However, throughout the city I found exactly one map where north was on top. Otherwise, they were all oriented in different directions. Here are two maps near Ueno-Koen within sight of each other that illustrate the problem. Exhibit A, with north towards the bottom left: Exhibit B, with north in exactly the opposite direction: Exhibit C, near my hotel, shows two maps next to each other with completely...

Republican party big-wigs want Romney to win the nomination, for the simple reason that he's the only one with a chance of winning next November: "Bigfoot dressed as a circus clown would have a better chance of beating President Obama than Newt Gingrich...." quipped a Republican. "Newt can't take the scrutiny," agreed a Democrat, "and he has the personality of an angry badger." Only 340 days remain until President Obama's re-election.

Just now, going into hour 32 of the (technically) longest day of my life, I noticed that the blog's comment view feature isn't working. This is Case #2869 in FogBugz, and will be fixed as soon as possible. Not tonight, though. Just like Saturday, my goal is only to make it to 9pm. If I can do that, I will defeat jet lag in one stroke. I must not fail. Sleep deprivation leads to pointless blog entries, and we can't have that, can we?

I recognize it may signal mild mental illness, but I don't mind 12-hour flights. I built up to this, of course, starting with 4-hour flights from Chicago to L.A. when I was a kid and growing into almost daily flights during a particularly annoying part of my career as a consultant. These days, Chicago to London (7 hours) isn't too long for a weekend; and Chicago to Tokyo (12 hours) only requires dumping a few frequent-flyer miles to ensure that I do the overnight flight in a premium class. That helps...

Started on AA 154 NRT-ORD (Kindle); Finished on AA 1835 ORD-SFO

My last meal in Tokyo came off a conveyor belt: For ¥600 I got this: ...plus a salmon roll, a pair of shrimp nigiri, and a pair of grilled salmon nigiri. And it was yum. If you're ever southwest of the Shinjuku train station, look for this place: And in a little over an hour, the long voyage home begins...