(IMAGE: Adobe Lightroom 2.0 beta) Screenshot showing some new features in action (in this case, selective-area desaturation and a post-crop vignette)
I like to post right away when there's a new release of Adobe Lightroom, but alas, I've been on vacation for the last few days, and I was at the car-rental return at the Amami Ooshima Island airport when Lightroom 2.0 beta was released earlier this afternoon.
The 2.0 beta has a lot of exciting new features you can read about elsewhere (links below), but the ones I'm most excited about are localized corrections (you can “paint” exposure, saturation, tint, etc.) and multi-monitor / multi-window support. [...]
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I was feeling just dandy last Saturday morning while we awaited the airport shuttle to pick us up to start a five-day mini vacation to a somewhat tropical island in southern Japan, so I was more than a little dismayed when after hauling the luggage down to the van and settling into my seat that I suddenly realized that my cold – one that plagued me for a month but had, I thought, been over for the last week – had returned with the almost audible thud of a proverbial ton of bricks hitting me. I suddenly felt miserable, and the shuttle driver hadn't even returned to [...]
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(IMAGE: View From my Kitchen Window)
I don't want to leave the negativity of the previous post on the top of my blog for too long, so I'm posting a couple of snapshots that I just took from the kitchen window. Nothing spectacular, but better than venting.

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(IMAGE: Rock Climbing at the Beach)
Despite having a cold during our vacation last week to Amami (a southern Japanese island in the South China Sea), I somehow found the energy to take a few pictures.

I'm busy now with other things lately (have you done your taxes yet?) so I haven't had time to go through our photos from the trip, so here are a few from the beginning, of Anthony playing on the beach in front of the hotel.


There was a bright overcast with only the occasional bit of sun peaking through, so there wasn't much color in [...]
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(IMAGE: My Eyes Don't Know Where to Focus) Cherry Blossoms  ·  Kyoto, Japan
(IMAGE: Full Bloom)
This is the same area whose blossoms were featured in last week's It Has Begun and this week's Sakura from my Kitchen Window. Digging around in my blog archives a bit, from 2006 I find Long Night Exposures and Cherry Blossoms and Cherry Blossom Finale, and even a few from 2005 before I moved here: Indeed, the Blooms have Bloomed in Kyoto and Poetry for the Season and More Cherry-Blossom Pics.
It's a pretty area, but photos would look much nicer without the cinderblock wall in the background (a wall one doesn't really notice until you look through [...]
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, f/10, ISO 200 — full exif & map — nearby photos (IMAGE: Main Gate of the Heian Shrine, at Dusk) With Cherry Blossoms
As I mentioned earlier today, full bloom has finally hit Kyoto.
Having recently read photographer Rick Lee's blog post When is dusk dusky enough? about how actually shooting a “night” shot at dusk can make use of a bit of remaining skylight to balance the harsh artificial lights, it reminded me of the lessons from Strobist's classic How to Photograph Christmas Lights, and made me want to try it with the cherry-blossom lightup that's going on in my area during the evenings this week.

My cold continues, so I didn't take any pictures today, but I did feel good enough at times to get out for a bit here and there. Like yesterday, there were a lot of people, but the atmosphere seemed to be all the better for it. It reminded me strongly of the joie de vivre one feels in the classic Chicago tune Saturday In The Park. I think the sight of cherry blossoms has a magical, medicinal effect, both on the human body and the human psyche. Like yesterday, it was perfectly wonderful.
Lacking energy for a well-presented well-linked post, here are a few random pics from [...]
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(IMAGE: Getting On Past Prime Time)
The main cherry blossoms were clearly past their peak this morning, quickly helped along by a soaking rain that arrived mid-morning and lasted all day. The wind and rain combined to create a carpet of blossoms anywhere a tree was near.
(IMAGE: Black Asphalt Path)
That pretty much sealed the end of Kyoto's cherry-blossom season this year, just a tad earlier than last year. No more full bloom in Kyoto, no more joie de vivre, no more evening cherry-blossom lightup. Of course, I have plenty of photos from the weekend and from this morning before the rain, so I have stock [...]
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(IMAGE: Hanami at The Old Imperial Palace) Kyoto, Japan
Of course, I was somewhat exaggerating with my previous post, Just Like That, Kyoto's Cherry-Blossom Season Ends, because cherry-blossom season doesn't end the day after full bloom any more than blowing out the first candle on a cake ends a birthday party. The weather – very strong haze and occasional rain – isn't nearly as nice as the weekend was, but there's still plenty of Cherry-Blossom Joie de Vivre left in Kyoto.
(IMAGE: Gauntlet of Pink)
I realized this morning that I'd neglected to revisit the trees on the grounds of the Old Imperial Palace that were featured [...]
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I must have overexerted myself yesterday with the cherry blossoms at the old Imperial Palace, because my cold seems to be getting worse again today. Sigh.
Anthony started his final year of preschool earlier this week, comparable to kindergarten in The States. Dropping him off on the first day, I noticed a beautiful tree lush with deep pink blossoms of some sort....
(IMAGE: Kindergarten Blossoms)
However, upon close inspection, it turned out that the day of rain Kyoto had just after full bloom in my area had left the blossoms on this tree looking downright ratty...
(IMAGE: Not So Pretty Up Close) disheveled and a bit [...]
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Adobe has re-released the troubled Lightroom 1.4 now as a (hopefully) untroubled Lightroom 1.4.1. Links are here.
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Well, I haven't been able to find my cell phone since returning from Amami last week, so I've got to bite the bullet and get another.
It turns out that my provider, Au, really doesn't offer any benefit for having been with them for the last four years, so it's just as easy for me to start fresh with someone else as it is to get another phone with them. So, anyone in Japan have any suggestions for a phone/provider for someone like me who uses a cell phone only occasionally, and never uses web access or 99% of the other features, to tide me over [...]
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One of my first posts a few years ago – The Ugliness of Japanese Cherry-Blossom Viewing – encapsulated my opinion of the common cherry-blossom viewing experience in Japan, so I never would have imagined how wonderful it was this past weekend around here, despite the crowds. In fact, as I wrote in Cherry-Blossom Joie de Vivre in Kyoto, the sense of enjoyment was actually heightened by the crowds, a sort of beneficial mob mentality that kept a smile on everyone's face, as if we were all let in on some kind of beautiful secret that bound us together.
It wasn't enjoyable for everyone all the time, of [...]
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(IMAGE: Lighter than Air)
After a stupendous moment in the sun, the common white cherry blossom has all but evaporated from Kyoto, but there are still plenty of other varieties of cherry tree (and other tree, I suppose) in full bloom or just starting to blossom. The weeping crimson at the old imperial palace are one example, but there are plenty more, such as this tree full of fluffy pink I came across on the way home from Mass on Sunday. They were so nice, I had to return with my camera...



I like how in the photo above you can see all the [...]
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It's hard to believe that it's been two years since Anthony started preschool, but with the Japanese school year beginning in April, he's just started his third year, comparable to kindergarten in The States.
Among the new kids – all three years old – are a few little siblings of Anthony's classmates, including Monet's little sister, May, who just turned three and so is perhaps one of the youngest.
(IMAGE: May is Proud of Her Welcome “Medal”)
May was featured on my blog a year ago as the Two-Year Old Using Chopsticks, while Monet has been featured several times (here, here, and here).
Here's a snap [...]
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(IMAGE: About to Expire)
Anthony's US passport is about to expire, so we need to renew it at the US Consulate in Osaka. Hopefully the trip goes better than last time I had to go there.

We've got all the paperwork ready, but for a while had trouble finding his birth certificate. Eventually, I had to make contingency plans and check to see how to get a copy (from the State of California), and was shocked to find that it takes, on average, three months to get one!
However, that's nothing compared to how long it takes to get a simple copy of a [...]
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(IMAGE: My World is Spinning Out of Control) and I love it!
During last month's trip to Amami Ooshima (a southern-Japan island in the South China Sea), the big attraction for Anthony at our hotel was a swing. Out behind the gift shop was a spooky-style tree with three swings hanging from it, and a bunch of netting above to allow kids to climb its expansive branches in safety.
(IMAGE: Spooky Tree and Swings)
His favorite by far was the orange buoy, which he sat on while I pushed or swung him around.
(IMAGE: Holding on for Dear Life)


(IMAGE: Exposure Was a Challenge) especially [...]
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In Making Udon Noodles from Scratch, I showed how dough was flattened out like a pizza crust, folded over, and carefully cut into long strips to be boiled into udon noodles. While in Tokyo earlier this year, we came across a different method of preparing the noodles at a shop named for the this style of noodle preparation: Tosho-men (刀削麺).
This style, from the Shanxi region of China, literally means “knife-cut noodles”.
As with the Japanese preparation style, the chef starts with a hunk of dough...
(IMAGE: It's Time to Make the Noodles)
He then stands some distance from a big pot of boiling water, [...]
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(IMAGE: Sketching) ( I love how the sun reflecting off his pad makes a wonderful fill light for his face )
Today was a sunny, gorgeous day in Kyoto, with temperatures in the low to mid 70s. Totally pleasant. Conveniently, I had an hour to kill while Anthony was at “Jumping” (gymnastics), so I wandered around with my camera near the Kamo river, where the Takano river joins it at Kawabata and Imadegawa Streets.
(IMAGE: Pickup Soccer) using a golden ball with – I kid you not – a mirrored surface
(IMAGE: Looking for Lunch) I think it's a kite
(IMAGE: A Whole Lotta' Yellow)
(IMAGE: [...]
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Yesterday afternoon, prior to the Pleasant Day Along the Kamo River, I had to kill an hour with Anthony near his school. We decided to go with a classmate, Mizuki-chan, across the street to the grounds of Kyoto's old imperial palace...
(IMAGE: Heading To The Park)
(IMAGE: After I Said “Okay, You Have an Hour to Play”)
(IMAGE: Must.    Inspect.    Rocks.)
(IMAGE: Just Being Kids)
While they played, I and the camera noticed some things...
(IMAGE: Baby Pinecone?)
(IMAGE: Field of Purple)
(IMAGE: Agriculturally Minded) “Planting” flowers brought from a field
(IMAGE: Final Touches)
(IMAGE: Blossoms Gone, Leaves Green)
(IMAGE: ( [...]
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(IMAGE: Sturdy) Main door to the grounds of Nijo Castle, Kyoto Japan
Driving by Nijo Castle today, I remembered that I hadn't really posted much yet from my previous visit there (which was my first visit, which is embarrassing to admit because I've lived in or near Kyoto for 12 years).
So, here are some pictures of the main gate, a huge, heavy, thick wooden door augmented with bands of steel.
(IMAGE: View from the Inside) In the glow of the setting sun
The wide-angle lens I used to achieve the picture above camouflages the sheer size of the door. Note the small opening at left, [...]
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(IMAGE: Child's Mini Toy Pinball Game)
A friend had this little toy pinball game, seen here on my knee (via my old crappy cellphone camera). I was struck by the emotional depth of the directions/commentary on the back, seen here...
(IMAGE: Reverse)
Just in case you can't read that fuzzy picture, here's the full text: Intelligent Marble Intelligence add lucky A GAME OF MARBLES Marble is a kind of game that is very modern now. It collects excitement fasciration. It's a very interesting game. It can cot only trains lover's skill and intelligence but also is a vest way for lover to make friends it's an intelligent game for a family [...]
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(IMAGE: Kine Imai) 1924 - 2008
As we've been expecting any moment since her stroke at the beginning of the year, Fumie's grandmother (Fumie's mother's mother) passed away Friday afternoon. She was born Kine Ueda on Amami Ooshima (an island in southern Japan) in 1924. She was 84.
The last time I talked with her was while looking at maps and satellite photos of Amami, prior to my first trip there during the new-year's holiday, as she talked about the place she left as a teenager and longed to return to. She last visited about 10 years ago, but a mild stroke soon after left further trips [...]
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(IMAGE: Keihan as Served) Local Amami-Ooshima Specialty
Fumie's grandmother was born and raised on Amami Ooshima, an island far in the south of Japan, out in the middle of the South China Sea. The island's main local specialty mean is keihan, a shredded-chicken rice/soup dish.
Fumie's grandmother lived in the Kyoto area for 50+ years after WWII, but she kept her Amami roots and continued to prepare keihan for her family when she had one. Her daughter, then, having grown up with the dish, continued to prepare it for her own family when she had one. And thus, her daughter – my wife, Fumie – grew up [...]
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(IMAGE: Vistas) Furano, Hokkaido, Japan ( one year ago, today )
“Golden Week” is about to start here in Japan, a bunch of national holidays in short order that, along with a weekend or two, gives people willing to use them a long vacation. I work for myself so it doesn't matter to me on that level, but now that Anthony's in school, we have to match our travel to the national schedule. (For a laugh, see this humorous but sadly accurate description of Golden Week.)
We had been planning to bring Anthony to Tokyo Disneyland today, but that plan got scrapped with recent events, so instead [...]
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