Get in Shape!!

Hi!
Wow, 4 more days until New Years! Time flys!
Today's picture is me holding a "kettlebell", a weight that is used in Russian Special Forces and American Special Forces for training. My Dad gave it to me for Christmas. It really does the work! I use it almost everyday, and my arms are sore today. It was a workout trying to take that picture!
Mom and Dad also got me a "WiiFit". It looks like a weight scale, it actually is a high tech scale! It tells BMI (Body Mass Index), and your weight. It has 4 balance sensors that senses which way you're swaying. Also "Fit" stands for fitness, so it's used for being is shape! It has "Yoga", a stretch or balance exercise that started from India, muscle training, aerobic exercises, and balance games. For Yoga and muscle training, it's just like an interactive exercise DVD! It will show you the moves one by one, and a little screen that shows you where your center should be. Being Nintendo, of course it has games, that are fun!!
That's all for today!
I will try to blog once more this year!
But, just in case I can't, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
See ya!

Aikido! 合気道

Hi!
It's been a long time since I blogged! I should keep track of it.
Wow, it's already December! It's 13 more days until Christmas too! We have to put our Christmas tree out.
Today's picture is me doing an "Ukemi", a way of falling down or rolling and not getting hurt. The "Ukemi" is very useful in a lot of cases. A lot of stuntmen in movies use this too. The man on the right is my new teacher. I'm going to night time classes on Tuesdays too. So, I have 2 classes now.
I've been learning Aikido for 4 years I think. I had some Judo lessons before Aikido but some how It didn't last that long.
I'm catching up with the high level people little by little. I took an test recently for gradeing up, and I hope I passed it!
It got pretty cold from the start of December. The weather was great since yesterday. The weather person said it's going to rain again tonight, and going to be an pretty rainy day tomorrow. Oh well...
That's all for today!
Happy Holidays!
See ya.

To the World!

Hi! Long time no see!
It's cold here, but I think it's much more colder in the States. It's also raining so that helps too.
We have started a FaceBook account. FaceBook is a social networking system, so you can make friends around the world, and also you can meet old school mates. My Dad met a high school buddy working at a university. We also met a university student in Egypt that is interested in learning Japanese! This is cool, because we were looking for someone that can teach Arabic to us. So we started communicating! We sent her a internet drill that we use for Japanese students to teach English. The page is called WordChamp, you can learn any language on this site. It's very cool too!
She sent a list of Arabic words that I could practice. I'm really excited about learning more Arabic from her.
Back to the FaceBook, we started this just 2 days ago, and Dad and I found all kinds of people. Very cool!
Wow! It's winter already! The picture of me at the top is a view of Mt. Fuji, on a clear day! We might get some nice weather like in the picture from Monday.
That's all for today!
See ya!

Tai-Chi Event!

Hi!
The weather is beautiful today. It's getting cool these days, but it's warm enough today.
I just got a letter and a beautiful calender for 2008 from my uncle and aunt, actually they are my god-parents, in Pennsylvania. The picture on the top is the calender, and the photo on it is Mount Hood in Oregon. There are a lot more beautiful photos in it! I like it!
Last week me and my Family went to a Tai-chi event, that my class signed-up for. It was my second time going there, but the first time to participate in it. We performed a part of a basic form and for the first time the Chinese sword. I think I blogged about the sword before. It went well; we didn't have any mistakes. The other people were fantastic! There were a lot of weapons and also with some cool music. It was great!
I also put another video on Google videos. To see it Click Here.
That's all for today!
See ya!

The "General of Winter" is Here!

Hi!
The weather is nice, but the wind is howling! We're right on the edge where the fronts of Summer and Fall fight each other. Everybody call this the ' fuyu shogun '. It means ' The general of Winter'. We notice it very easily, because the wind is cool and very very strong. We sometimes call it a 'Dry'phoon. It really is, just a typhoon with no rain!
Today I'm going to try to put a video on my blog. Blogger made a new tool that you can put videos easly! So, The video below is a animation that I made about 5 months ago, or more! I think I blogged about it when I finished. I made this animation by moving my lego mini figures picture by picture, and setting the moves so it goes with the song. The image is blurry because of the camera, but you can see their movements. The music is from the 'Gypsy Kings' and the song is 'volare'. Enjoy!

How do you think? There's a 5 days work! I might put some more videos on, but I don't know yet.
That's all for today!
See ya!

TGS (Tokyo Game Show)!

Hey!
It's cloudy today, but yesterday was a beautiful day. Yesterday was my Dad's birthday, and we also went to the Tokyo Game Show!
We took an early train to Makuhari (Near Tokyo), and followed a big group of people because we knew they were going to the game show. As the group got bigger and bigger, we bought the tickets and lined up where the others did, and walked all around two wide buildings for about 10 minutes. It wasn't opening time yet, but there were more than 2000 people in front of us! Not to mention the other 4000 behind us! The gates opened about 12 minutes a head of schedule, and we went in the huge dark room with flashy displays, and big monitors. The first place we went was the Microsoft area, where they have the Xbox 360.
I lined up to a flight simulator, and it was great! It's called 'Ace Combat 6', and it felt like flying a real airplane in a movie scene! We also played 'HALO 3'. It was my first time playing it so it was complicated! But, the graphics were great. Also, both of these games can be played on the Internet, so you can play with people in the US from Japan!
Those were the only games we were able to play, because the other playables were lined up for over an hour! We just saw them from a distance. But, most of these games had good graphics too!
We also went to high school and college exhibitions, to learn about going to those schools. They'll send me some information. It was very crowded and noisy, but it was fun!
That's all for today!
See ya!

Movie Stars!

Hi!
It's cloudy, but not raining so I'm happy. It's been nice since last weekend. We ate outside a lot, but yesterday was very windy! The table almost flew away!
This sunday we might go to the 'Tokyo Game Show'. It's one of the biggest game shows in the world. They unveil new games, new gadgets and they have alot of try outs for games that are not out in stores yet. We never been to a game show before. I only see them on television with a lot of people, and a lot of blinking lights and displays. The one on Sunday is for regular people, and last week was for business people. For the stuff they really want to keep a secret! We still don't know if we are going to go yet, but I'm looking forward to it.
Next month, Mom and I, and maybe Dad, are going to a nearby town to be extra in a movie. The movie is called "Survivors in 252" in Japanese. It's a movie about a great typhoon hitting Japan. This is what it says on the paper... "Scenario: People running to a nearby subway station to escape from the incredible strength of the typhoon." It also says it takes a week! I'm not that familier with show business, but a week for filming some people running!? Wow. The cool thing is that we are going to get paid, but we still don't know if we got the part. I Hope so...
That's all for today!
See ya!

Not much to say!

Hi!
It's still cloudy, and it might rain again! I wish it will clear up soon!
Our phone has died, and my Mom and Dad are going to buy a new one. We are hoping to get a one with a automatic answerer. We are borrowing our neighbor's old phone right now. But, we have some problems with the cords, because we don't have that many electric plugs!
The last blog I said that the iPod touch was $400, but there are two types an 8 GB and a 12GB. The 8GB one was $299. Sorry to suprise you! But, I still don't know if i'm going to buy one. It's still too expensive for me! Sorry about the short blog today. There's nothing I can think about today.
That's all for today!
See ya!

Storm Results

Hi!
It's another rainy day today here in Japan. It might rain for the whole week. Strange, because usually after a typhoon it's usually clear for a week. There's another typhoon that just missed us.
The typhoon, #9, was pretty strong. It kept Mom and Dad awake through the night. Our porch was a mess! The washing machine fell over, and everything that wasn't stable was scattered all around the place! I had to wash our bicycles so they won't rust. But, there was nothing big around our area, so we are good.
I found out that the new iPod Touch is $400! For me, that's pretty expensive! It will take years to get that much allowance! My Dad says, it's better than getting a big stereo. The new nano(iPod) is good because you can play videos on it. But, I might save my money for something else. I also want to know how to put DVD videos on iTunes. If someone knows, please give me a comment so I'll know what to do.
That's all for today
See ya!

Typhoooon #7!

Hi!
We've have a typhoon approching. The wind is howling, and it's raining nonstop. But, not to worry, because it's not as strong or dangerous as a hurricane. It's more like a tropical depression. The map on the top show's the path, and the white dot passes the Izu peninsula. It's also very slow.
Apple has unveiled their new iPods. An new iPod nano that can play movies, and a very new iPod called the iPod Touch. It's just an iPhone without a phone! You can see movie's, your pictures (in a very cool way!). It also has a special button to go on Youtube! It has a wireless browser, Safari, so you can surf the net almost anywhere. If you want to know more, you can go to http://www.apple.com/
That's all for today!
Hope the typhoon dies out quicker!
See ya!

Summer is Done!

Hi!
Summer vacation is over and I'm back in school! It got cooler, but the weather person says that it's going to be 31'C (87.8'F) today. It's cloudy ,and it could rain.
We went to Tokyo last week for a 3 day stay. We didn't go to watch Sumo this time, we went there for some sightseeing. We went to some new buildings, mostly fashion stores, but the food shops there were cool. We went for lunch in one of them and the inside was like a cave in the Carribean. The volume of the food there was HUGE! Dad barely finished his , and Mom couldn't finish hers, so I had to help her!
We also went to a movie called "Ratatouille". It's about a rat named Remy with a taste for good 'food' rather than garbage. I don't want to tell you too much, but it's a cute movie.
That's all for today
See ya!

Tech Man!

Hi!
Looooooooong time no see!! I'm sorry not blogging more often. It's been 3 months!
It's a beautiful and a hot day in Japan. It's Summer vacation, and it's been hot for a week! It's very hard going to Aikido in this kind of climate.
A lot of stuff changed in 3 months! We have almost every Tech stuff we can get! I got a new game for my Wii called "Rayman Raving Rabbids". It's a wild and extremely fun party game. My Mom and Dad play it a lot when I'm asleep! My Dad also got some stuff too. He bought a Nintendo DS, and a MacBook.The DS (Dual Screen) is a portable game player and in Japan, there are a lot of educational software for the 'DS'. So we use it for educational purposes. Also, there are schools that use the game player for English. We also are going to have a DS English class at my Dad's school today. My Dad is happy with his second computer, the 'MacBook', a laptop computer from Apple. He is going to use it for his business. But, the display is great! You can also watch movies with it, and of course, if there is an internet access point, you can use the internet.
That's all for today.
I'll try not to leave the blog for 3 months again!
See ya!

Wii Will Rock You!

Hi!
The weather in Japan is nice, for now! We might have a storm later.
I have finally got myself a Nintendo Wii! I had no problem getting it. We thought a lot of people would line up, so I went to the store an hour and a half before opening! But, there was nobody there! I thought I was just early so I waited and started to read a book. But nobody came! Later my Mom came to help me get the stuff. But, even when the store opened, nobody was interested with the Wii! So I was very lucky. We were at the same store yesterday, and some of the Wii were still there!
Well, some people might not know what the Wii will do, so I will simply explain. You use this remote (on the upper right hand corner) , or controller, to move yourself on the screen. And when you swing the "wiimote", as you were playing a real sport, it will detect your movement and you can hit or throw a ball! I have a game called "Wii sports". It has 5 sports games in it, and all of it is great! But, the Wii is not just a simple game player, you can browse the Internet, you can check the weather around the world ( some thing like "Google Earth" ), and lots more! So you can say that it is a cheap computer! You can also send e-mails with it. It's very cool.
That's all for today!
See ya!

Hi guy's!

Hi!
Long time no see! The weather is nasty today. It was beautiful for the three days.

We went to Tokyo again to watch sumo and also spend the night there. On the second day, my Dad bought two books for me. The books are the "Pirates of the Caribbean", 1 and 2. We didn't buy the 3rd one because I wanted to see the movie first. The books were just like the movie. Once you start to read it, you can't stop! So, I already read both of them! I'm looking forward to watching the third movie.
On Saturday, at our local tec shop, if I'm lucky, I might get a Nintendo Wii! If I'm lucky, I hope I am...
That's all for today!
See Ya!

Baseball Season AGAIN!

Hi!
It's a nice day! You can see the beautiful blue sky!
My Dad is now watching a Boston "Red Sox" vs Seattle "Mariners" game. On Japanese television, they are talking about, the new Japanese pitcher for the, Red Sox "Daisuke Matsuzaka", and "Ichiro Suzuki" from the Mariners, competing. It looks like Ichiro had a bad day on that, but still the Mariners are winning.
Yes, baseball season is here...(*sigh). I like playing baseball but, I'm not that intrested in watching a game. But, if I could go to the game, that would be great.
Today I have 'tai-chi' and my teacher gave me a Chinese sword to use. No, it's not a real sword, it's made out of bamboo and painted and decorated so it will look like it's real. Bringing it to the place and bringing back home is a little hard.
That's all for today!
See Ya!

Back From Tokyo!

Hi!
It's partly cloudy today but, it's not too cold or not too hot.
The trip to Tokyo was great! We went to Yasukuni Shrine to see the cherry blossoms, and they were beautiful, really BEAUTIFUL! There were alot of people there too; since it was still spring vacation. And the cherry blossoms were falling like snow, and the paths were like pink carpets! Wow.
After that we went to see a movie called "HAPPY FEET". Wow, good thing I saw it in the theater! The graphics were great! I heard that there is a 3D version of the movie. That would be perfect! I should stop talking about it before I start to spoil the movie for you! But, one thing that I want to say is that, if you can, watch it at a theater!
Home schooling started today! Yes, my second year has started! Since I didn't have any problems on year1. Hope I have a wonderful year again.

That's all for today!
See Ya!

Flower Problem!

Hi!
It's raining a little bit today, but it's starting to get warm.
My Mom and Dad were talking about what daffodils are and what jonquils are. We checked on the Internet, and the result was that there are three names for daffodils, and a extra name from West Virginia called "Easter lilies"! Here is the text we saw:

What exactly is the difference between a daffodil(on the left), a narcissus, and a jonquil(on th right)? The simple answer is nothing, or "it depends". All three terms are used as common names in many cases and used incorrectly. Narcissus is technically the only correct scientific name identifying the genus of this group of plants. It is not a common name, though some use it as such. Daffodil is typically used as a collective name for all these plants, but is more often used to describe the larger flowered types. Jonquil is a name sometimes used for this group as well, but actually only applies to a very small subgroup, Narcissus jonquilla and related hybrids, which typically have several small, fragrant flowers on each stem with flat petals. The foliage is very narrow and reed-like, according to the American Daffodil Society.

American Daffodil Society !? Wow!
They say that daffodil bulbs would not be eaten by squirrels and other bulb eating critters.
Hopefully, we are going to Tokyo tomorow. We are going to see some cherry blossoms at the National Shrine of the War Dead, or the "Yasukuni" shrine. The cherry blossoms are beautiful there. Hope it will be a nice day!
That's all for today!
6 more days until my spring vacation is over...ha.
See Ya!

I'm Back

Hi!
It's been a looooong time since I blogged! I was busy making games. Yes, Games!
The picture in the upper right hand corner is the game screen. I used a tutorial to learn the basics for making a game. I named it 'flee! 2' since the game in the tutorialwas called 'Flee!'. The rule is easy, you just move your Player, that can be moved using the mouse, and try not to get hit by the spiders. The score is recorded by how long you survive, and if the score is higher than the 'Highscore' it will rewrite the
highscore. But, once you closed the game, the highscore will change back to 0!!
I like to put this game on the blog but I don't know how. If you want to have this game
on your computer, send me a e-mail and I will try to send it. (Click the 'View my complete profile' link and click the e-mail link on the upper left hand corner to send.)
It's very warm here! My Mom is at work and Dad is sleeping in the other room.
And after this we are going out for a walk. My Dad is on a diet AGAIN.
That's all for today!
I will try to blog more often!
See Ya!

Trip to Yokohama!

Hi, and HAPPY NEW YEAR !
My winter vacation finished and I'm back on home schooling.
On my winter vacation, we went to Yokohama to visit our friend that moved there. It was a little rainy that day, but we mostly traveled by train and by ferry. The ferry ride was great! It was smooth, and there were some small stores inside too! It wasn't crowded at all, it was perfect! But, since that day was a little rainy we couldn't see much outside.
We met our friend at the station, and he took us to his house. We notice that the people near Yokohama walk fast! Well, the 1st day we went to a big shoping place called 'Costco'. They had everything! Big and great pizza there too! We got some spices and cake there. The 2nd day we went to Yokohama city. We got on the 'Sea Bus', a boat that carries only people and runs through Tokyo bay, and went to a big place called 'Queens Square'. Then we went to a restaurant called 'Garlic Jo's'( Guess what they serve! ). That place was awesome! We had garlic breath problems after that. But, that was fun!
That's all for today!
See Ya!