...all good things must come to an end...
luckily, this was never that good, so we are continuing over at
www.nicandberin.com
toodlepip
b
toodlepip
b
Friday, May 16, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
...little guy...
...so we got us a little fella...
...april 8 2008...
...3396 grams...
...japanese style (read NO epidural...not even a little bit...)
...oscar hiro...
...good times...
...checking out his dad...
...hanging with his mum...
...the day after the night before...
...it's a yawn...not a scream (though he is getting increasingly confident in those too)...
...kung fu skinny legs dude...
...like I said...good times...
...thanks to all for wishes and messages...
b+n+o
...april 8 2008...
...3396 grams...
...japanese style (read NO epidural...not even a little bit...)
...oscar hiro...
...good times...
...checking out his dad...
...hanging with his mum...
...the day after the night before...
...it's a yawn...not a scream (though he is getting increasingly confident in those too)...
...kung fu skinny legs dude......like I said...good times...
...thanks to all for wishes and messages...
b+n+o
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
...there's a cat over here....
hey folks
. ...been a while...
...we are sorting ourselves out here in the Hatsukaichi following an excellent January sojourn to sunny San Franciso, sunnier Puerto Vallarta down there in Mexico and the quite, quite brilliant Vancouver-towne in that country leading the world in being north of the United States...flannel-y old Canada.
...this is yours truly getting a handle on the whole pregnancy issue in an effort to share the burden with his lovely wife. There was a try on tummy in the changing rooms! Brilliant...
...aforementioned lovely wife hang-hang-hanging out during a splendid stroll around the San Francisco waterfront. San Francisco = Super Cool...
...in what will become a running theme in this post, I present...
...meat..
In this case 28 day dry-aged USDA Prime Bone-in Rib Eye Steak...
...grilled over fruitwood and charcoal...
...from here...
Ladies and Gentlemen, I have eaten alot of meat in my days.
This. Topped. The. Lot.
...pole position...
...'nuff said...
...yours truly at the helm of one of two surviving Liberty Ships...
...the ships that beat that nazi bastard...
...and so on to sunny Mexico...
...meat...
...enormous tables laden with...
...meat...
...and Mexican wrestlers...
...armed with margaritas...
...cooking meat...
...yarrr...
...take oranges...take mandarins...
...there were sunsets...
...there were flasks made of cows hooves...
...there was jug after jug (after jug) of pina coladas...
...there were breeding Mexican wrestlers...
...and their wee (rather feisty) relations...
(...note the move away from the traditional black ninja-suit to the more "fashion forward" sponge-bob-square-pants number...)
...there was hanging' out...
...there were rather nifty churches...
...admittedly on a lean...
(...as well as blue skies...)
...complete with bitchin' St. Francis of Assisi statues...
...and hep-cat priest dude statues...
...surrounded by -frankly stereotypically cool- cobbled streets...
(...see previous note re: blue skies...)
...(...)...
...stuff woz big in Mexico...
...the super-size-snacks on the left are deliciously-puffed-bite-sized-pieces-of-
deep-fried-pig-skin
(note to self: work that phrase into autobiography title)
...mmm...
...all together now...
deliciously-puffed-bite-sized-pieces-of-
deep-fried-pig-skin
...one of these two is going to have a better day than the other...
...have you guessed which one yet?...
...the enormous charcoal BBQ outside overlooking the sea?...
...bloody nice touch I thought...
...(sigh)...
...mmm...
...component piggy parts...
...roasted...
...(sigh)...
...then it was off to Vancouver...
...Vancouver was cool...
We stayed with the Mike and the Stacey, Canada-ites that we met here in sunny Hiroshima-towne.
...seriously...how Canadian is this photo? What with the Danger Bay-esque float plane? I swear, not 5 seconds after this photo was taken Bryan Adams (he's on the $5 note) came up and offered me some maple syrup.
...true story...
...deep cove...
...cold...
...deep...
...i can deeply, truly respect a council with the ability to take the piss...
...no seriously...
...strap your Canada on...
...more meat-y goodness...
...after much deliberation, I went for the headcheese and the smoked buffalo...
...breakfast of champions...
...perty...
...so is the view...
...there were chums...
...there was hockey...
...there were blue skies...
...and the question should be why WOULDN'T there be a giant inflatable radio controlled orca flying around the stadium dropping ski-field lift passes from its underbelly...
So there you go folks. Grand times indeed. Thanks to all involved.
Now we are back in the Japan, counting down until the end of April...
I trust you are all well
Have a grand 2008
=out=
. ...been a while...
...we are sorting ourselves out here in the Hatsukaichi following an excellent January sojourn to sunny San Franciso, sunnier Puerto Vallarta down there in Mexico and the quite, quite brilliant Vancouver-towne in that country leading the world in being north of the United States...flannel-y old Canada.
Here's some pics...
...this is yours truly getting a handle on the whole pregnancy issue in an effort to share the burden with his lovely wife. There was a try on tummy in the changing rooms! Brilliant...
...aforementioned lovely wife hang-hang-hanging out during a splendid stroll around the San Francisco waterfront. San Francisco = Super Cool...
...in what will become a running theme in this post, I present......meat..
In this case 28 day dry-aged USDA Prime Bone-in Rib Eye Steak...
...grilled over fruitwood and charcoal...
...from here...
Ladies and Gentlemen, I have eaten alot of meat in my days.
This. Topped. The. Lot.
...pole position......'nuff said...
...yours truly at the helm of one of two surviving Liberty Ships......the ships that beat that nazi bastard...
...and so on to sunny Mexico......meat...
...enormous tables laden with......meat...
...and Mexican wrestlers......armed with margaritas...
...cooking meat...
...yarrr......take oranges...take mandarins...
...there were sunsets...
...there were flasks made of cows hooves...
...there was jug after jug (after jug) of pina coladas...
...there were breeding Mexican wrestlers...
...and their wee (rather feisty) relations...(...note the move away from the traditional black ninja-suit to the more "fashion forward" sponge-bob-square-pants number...)
...there was hanging' out...
...there were rather nifty churches......admittedly on a lean...
(...as well as blue skies...)
...complete with bitchin' St. Francis of Assisi statues...
...and hep-cat priest dude statues...
...surrounded by -frankly stereotypically cool- cobbled streets...(...see previous note re: blue skies...)
...(...)...
...stuff woz big in Mexico......the super-size-snacks on the left are deliciously-puffed-bite-sized-pieces-of-
deep-fried-pig-skin
(note to self: work that phrase into autobiography title)
...mmm...
...all together now...
deliciously-puffed-bite-sized-pieces-of-
deep-fried-pig-skin
...one of these two is going to have a better day than the other...
...have you guessed which one yet?...
...the enormous charcoal BBQ outside overlooking the sea?......bloody nice touch I thought...
...(sigh)...
...mmm......component piggy parts...
...roasted...
...(sigh)...
...then it was off to Vancouver......Vancouver was cool...
We stayed with the Mike and the Stacey, Canada-ites that we met here in sunny Hiroshima-towne.
...seriously...how Canadian is this photo? What with the Danger Bay-esque float plane? I swear, not 5 seconds after this photo was taken Bryan Adams (he's on the $5 note) came up and offered me some maple syrup....true story...
...deep cove......cold...
...deep...
...i can deeply, truly respect a council with the ability to take the piss...
...no seriously......strap your Canada on...
...more meat-y goodness......after much deliberation, I went for the headcheese and the smoked buffalo...
...breakfast of champions...
...perty......so is the view...
...there were chums...
...there was hockey...
...there were blue skies...
...and the question should be why WOULDN'T there be a giant inflatable radio controlled orca flying around the stadium dropping ski-field lift passes from its underbelly...So there you go folks. Grand times indeed. Thanks to all involved.
Now we are back in the Japan, counting down until the end of April...
I trust you are all well
Have a grand 2008
=out=
Monday, December 03, 2007
....the roadpacer...
Ladies and gentlemen,
Mazda is a Hiroshima based company.
I am a Hiroshima based chap.
I recently had occasion to visit the Mazda factory with 30 visiting government officials from sunny Afghanistan. It was there that I ran into what is commonly called "folly" - in the guise of the mighty, mighty (unlamented) Mazda Roadpacer....in the olive green no less.
...made from 1975-1977 the Roadpacer is an abject lesson in why you should always be prepared to admit that the idea you had over a few drinks the other day wot sounded broolient, perhaps should be allowed to whither and die.
"Hang on!" I hear you say..."That's not a Mazda, that's the mighty, mighty (lamented) Holden Premier!"
...to which I say...
"Yes...you're right"
I am a huge fan of the Holden. There. I've said it. Australia peaked at the Kingswood and it has been all downhill since then. (No thanks to Paul Hogan either.)
However, instead of this example truly being the mighty, mighty Holden Premier, powered by the mighty, mighty 6 cylinder or V8 we all know and love, what makes this Mazda a Mazda was the inclusion of....a Rotary Engine.
Now don't get me wrong. I enjoy the theory behind a Rotary as much as anyone but where they work is when they are strapped heartily to very small, very light bodies - the RX-s they were designed for and, (a big salute to my older bro) unfathomably loud and obnoxious Ford Escorts.
I don't know tonnes about engines and whatnot, but what has always intrigued me about the Roadpacer, and what made me giggle like a loon when I saw one in the flesh is the fact that anyone, for an instant, thought it would be a good idea to strap a 1.3l Rotary engine into a 1535 kg Holden body shipped all the way from 'stroya. In addition, the car was targeted at the VIP end of the market (it had an 8-track after all), and cost US$10,000...in 1975 - roughly twice as much as its targeted rival - and all of this at 26l per 100km with a top speed of 160kmh. Oil shock anyone? Anyone?
Right. Thats out of my system. Glad I got to see that.
Toodle pip.
Mazda is a Hiroshima based company.
I am a Hiroshima based chap.
I recently had occasion to visit the Mazda factory with 30 visiting government officials from sunny Afghanistan. It was there that I ran into what is commonly called "folly" - in the guise of the mighty, mighty (unlamented) Mazda Roadpacer....in the olive green no less.
...made from 1975-1977 the Roadpacer is an abject lesson in why you should always be prepared to admit that the idea you had over a few drinks the other day wot sounded broolient, perhaps should be allowed to whither and die."Hang on!" I hear you say..."That's not a Mazda, that's the mighty, mighty (lamented) Holden Premier!"
...to which I say...
"Yes...you're right"
I am a huge fan of the Holden. There. I've said it. Australia peaked at the Kingswood and it has been all downhill since then. (No thanks to Paul Hogan either.)
However, instead of this example truly being the mighty, mighty Holden Premier, powered by the mighty, mighty 6 cylinder or V8 we all know and love, what makes this Mazda a Mazda was the inclusion of....a Rotary Engine.
Now don't get me wrong. I enjoy the theory behind a Rotary as much as anyone but where they work is when they are strapped heartily to very small, very light bodies - the RX-s they were designed for and, (a big salute to my older bro) unfathomably loud and obnoxious Ford Escorts.
I don't know tonnes about engines and whatnot, but what has always intrigued me about the Roadpacer, and what made me giggle like a loon when I saw one in the flesh is the fact that anyone, for an instant, thought it would be a good idea to strap a 1.3l Rotary engine into a 1535 kg Holden body shipped all the way from 'stroya. In addition, the car was targeted at the VIP end of the market (it had an 8-track after all), and cost US$10,000...in 1975 - roughly twice as much as its targeted rival - and all of this at 26l per 100km with a top speed of 160kmh. Oil shock anyone? Anyone?
Right. Thats out of my system. Glad I got to see that.
Toodle pip.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
...office...
hello there.
....two changes of note in the office in recent weeks...
1) our office manager-type chap has (nudge-nudge-wink-wink) found some supplier for toilet paper who obviously has connections to a sub-atomic particle lab. as such the new (1-ply) toilet paper actually clocks in at about 1/3 of a ply.
eeeew.
2) also, curiously, related to the little boys room, we now have stickers of targets placed in the urinal identifying the "sweet spot." the colour of said target changes when it is "hit". each ring of the "target" is a different colour. the aim is to get a bullseye -it turns red.
...fun times...
tata.
....two changes of note in the office in recent weeks...
1) our office manager-type chap has (nudge-nudge-wink-wink) found some supplier for toilet paper who obviously has connections to a sub-atomic particle lab. as such the new (1-ply) toilet paper actually clocks in at about 1/3 of a ply.
eeeew.
2) also, curiously, related to the little boys room, we now have stickers of targets placed in the urinal identifying the "sweet spot." the colour of said target changes when it is "hit". each ring of the "target" is a different colour. the aim is to get a bullseye -it turns red.
...fun times...
tata.
Monday, August 27, 2007
...confessions of a pack horse...
Yo.
Just real quick like...
Thanks again to my back-up dancers and stage-hands for making my recent One Night Only engagement in AKL such fun. So much fun in fact that I snuck back in for (dingding), round two at the birthday celebrations of the SuperTom.
Twas grandiose.
And whats been happenin' since?
Nic and I strolled up to Kyoto last weekend for some concerted "stuff gettin' ".
Nic is making about a bullion bags at present and as such was running low on Obi and Kimono from wot she makes them. So it was that we hitched a ride on the night bus to Kyoto town.....
An 11:35 pm departure saw us deposited outside the Kyoto station at 5:30 in the a.m. for a nourishing Lawson Convenience Store breakfast....(I went for the tuna and egg sando...)
Then it was off to one of the biggest temple markets in the country...
...and it was coooool...
Hundreds of stalls selling bunches of tons of lots of everything under the pounding summer sun. The final tally saw Nic loading up this fine mule, (see "burro", or "ass") with 19 Obi and 14 kimono for the return trip at 4pm Saturday.
Just for the record - heavy.
So now Nic is all grinny and sewy and surrounded by ever-increasing piles of bitchin' bags ready for market in sunny NZ.
That is all...
B.
Just real quick like...
Thanks again to my back-up dancers and stage-hands for making my recent One Night Only engagement in AKL such fun. So much fun in fact that I snuck back in for (dingding), round two at the birthday celebrations of the SuperTom.
Twas grandiose.
And whats been happenin' since?
Nic and I strolled up to Kyoto last weekend for some concerted "stuff gettin' ".
Nic is making about a bullion bags at present and as such was running low on Obi and Kimono from wot she makes them. So it was that we hitched a ride on the night bus to Kyoto town.....
An 11:35 pm departure saw us deposited outside the Kyoto station at 5:30 in the a.m. for a nourishing Lawson Convenience Store breakfast....(I went for the tuna and egg sando...)
Then it was off to one of the biggest temple markets in the country...
...and it was coooool...
Hundreds of stalls selling bunches of tons of lots of everything under the pounding summer sun. The final tally saw Nic loading up this fine mule, (see "burro", or "ass") with 19 Obi and 14 kimono for the return trip at 4pm Saturday.
Just for the record - heavy.
So now Nic is all grinny and sewy and surrounded by ever-increasing piles of bitchin' bags ready for market in sunny NZ.
That is all...
B.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
...adopted...
Afternoon all.
First off - didn't feel a thing. All is well.
Turns out there was a rather large earthquake in Niigata Prefecture early on Sunday morning. Niigata is miles away from us - just a wee bit North-West of sunny Tokyo town. So we were A-ok.
In the spirit of natural disasters passing us by, we were also promised a typhoon last Saturday, but apart from some frankly spectacular thunder rolling about the place, it missed us.
Dammit.
I enjoy a good typhoon.
In other news, we gave been adopted by my new section chief...
Let me explain...
New section chief chap approached me at the coffee pot a couple of weeks ago and we got to nattering (as you do.) It was clear he wanted to say something so I just let him wander through the weather, the seasons, his hobbies and the like until he finally set up his approach angle and barrelled on in to the point of the conversation...
...turns out that when he isn't being a section chief, he is also a rather prominent local strawberry farmer (!) He heads a group of local produce growers who have formed an organic produce collective that sells at local markets. They harvest what they think they will sell on the particular day of the market and trot off. Generally however, they have a few odds and ends left over at the end...
...which is where we come in....
For the last two weeks, two or three times a week, new section chief chap strolls into work following his lunch break laden with organic produce that until that very morning was still on the vine/tree/in the ground and is now destined for my belly.
Now, anyone who has done time in Club Nippon knows that finding organic food is nigh on impossible, and even then you run into caveats such as "Oh yeah the plant is organic, but the pesticides we used aren't...."
So we were pretty stoked.
For the first time in a long time we had;
- Tomatoes which tasted and smelled just like....TOMATOES!
- Cucumber which tasted and smelled just like....CUCUMBER!
- Onions which tasted and smelled just like....ONIONS!
- Eggplant which.......(etc etc etc)
- Potatoes which.......(etc etc etc)
- Beans which.......(etc etc etc)
- Peaches which.......(etc etc etc)
...and everything else the season offers. As I type there are some fish he caught last night languishing in the office fridge waiting to be taken home.
Sweeet.
We just need to work on volume - the first batch contained 36 onions...that's a lot between the two of us. Soup anyone?
b.
First off - didn't feel a thing. All is well.
Turns out there was a rather large earthquake in Niigata Prefecture early on Sunday morning. Niigata is miles away from us - just a wee bit North-West of sunny Tokyo town. So we were A-ok.
In the spirit of natural disasters passing us by, we were also promised a typhoon last Saturday, but apart from some frankly spectacular thunder rolling about the place, it missed us.
Dammit.
I enjoy a good typhoon.
In other news, we gave been adopted by my new section chief...
Let me explain...
New section chief chap approached me at the coffee pot a couple of weeks ago and we got to nattering (as you do.) It was clear he wanted to say something so I just let him wander through the weather, the seasons, his hobbies and the like until he finally set up his approach angle and barrelled on in to the point of the conversation...
...turns out that when he isn't being a section chief, he is also a rather prominent local strawberry farmer (!) He heads a group of local produce growers who have formed an organic produce collective that sells at local markets. They harvest what they think they will sell on the particular day of the market and trot off. Generally however, they have a few odds and ends left over at the end...
...which is where we come in....
For the last two weeks, two or three times a week, new section chief chap strolls into work following his lunch break laden with organic produce that until that very morning was still on the vine/tree/in the ground and is now destined for my belly.
Now, anyone who has done time in Club Nippon knows that finding organic food is nigh on impossible, and even then you run into caveats such as "Oh yeah the plant is organic, but the pesticides we used aren't...."
So we were pretty stoked.
For the first time in a long time we had;
- Tomatoes which tasted and smelled just like....TOMATOES!
- Cucumber which tasted and smelled just like....CUCUMBER!
- Onions which tasted and smelled just like....ONIONS!
- Eggplant which.......(etc etc etc)
- Potatoes which.......(etc etc etc)
- Beans which.......(etc etc etc)
- Peaches which.......(etc etc etc)
...and everything else the season offers. As I type there are some fish he caught last night languishing in the office fridge waiting to be taken home.
Sweeet.
We just need to work on volume - the first batch contained 36 onions...that's a lot between the two of us. Soup anyone?
b.
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