Oops Well that didn't turn out as planned. I made the moronic decision to take a nap from 6:30AM to 7:45AM...except I woke up at 12:30PM. Stupid jet lag. Hopefully my internal clock rights itself in a few days. Oh, here's the first batch of Tokyo pics. You know, I've always said that blogging is a fantastic form of therapy. My GameSpy blog helped me work some issues out. I'm no longer crazy in that shakes-hands-in-the-air-wildly way. This feature has me feeling a bit nostalgic, particularly this picture of us playing Four Swords. I like all the new guys we've hired, but I really miss it when it was Bryn, Ben, Christian, and me. It was the most interesting time at work from a creative standpoint and the four of us really improved the site. Plus I just like the number four -- The Fantastic Four, The Beatles, The Four Horsemen, etc. *sigh* Now I have "When We Was Fab" stuck in my head. I'm almost tired. I should be able to sleep fairly soon. I think I'll tart up my phone with the Panda-Z and Gloomy accessories I bought in Japan.

J.Lag Well, I pretty much deserve this. Hours after landing back home I proclaimed that I defeated jet lag and would have few problems adjusting back to PST. A 10PM to 1:30AM nap pretty much killed that. Unlike tequila, I am not impervious to jet leg. To quote Batman, "That was a humbling experience." On a positive note, I'm falling back into my routine fairly easily. After filing two more previews and updating my GameSpy blog, I text messaged Ether / Cliff, got an al pastor super burrito at Tonayense, and got coffee at Farley's. Tomorrow I'll go boxing after work. This weekend I'll hit up Buddha Bar. If I end up going out for karaoke then my San Francisco checklist will be complete. It's kind of sad that I pretty much only do the same six things. I have so many pictures from Tokyo. I'm still deciding how to break it up. Right now it's in two big sections. Four would be ideal, but it wouldn't tell the story I want to tell. I finally got around to posting the pictures from the week before Tokyo Game Show. The captions are crap because I don't remember the little details from that week (I was on a sadness binge). Anyway, check them out. Oh yeah, I was quoted in a New York Post article. I remember rushing out some quote just to give my friend something to work with. I was writing in Tokyo at the time and wasn't really concentrating on my friend's needs. It's not a bad quote. I feared that I gave her something idiotic. So Tokyo Game Show 2004 ruled. I had a fantastic time. It was definitely the most fun I've ever had in Japan. There were a few embarassing moments of drunken neediness, but all in all it was awesome. It put an abrupt end to my aforementioned sadness binge and kicked off a happiness binge that will hopefully last for a bit. I'll probably write about it a bit more tomorrow after I've processed my pictures. Now I just have to figure out what I'm going to do for the next four hours before I leave to work....

Help! Zoe's TGS blog is beating mine and she's getting all uppity about it. So click me! Please?!?!

Japanese Story My latest Japanese adventure has started! I'm going to attempt to be schizo and maintain three blogs while I'm here. There's this one (naturally), my 1up blog, and my GameSpy blog. The last one is kind of fun since I'm doing it a bit differently than the other guys. Part of it is supposed to be my work blog, while part of it is a wish-you-were-here thing. Anyway, it's really humid this year. I was pretty lucky the last two years of TGS since the weather was fine. This time around it's like walking in pea soup...minus the green. It's so gross that it's probably going to be a minimum of two showers per day. I haven't really done much yet. After getting in last night, my crew hooked up with Andy and Billy for dinner and drinks. I crashed really hard last night. This is, by far, the most an international flight has taken out of me. Getting old is stupid. After a lovely night of sleep, a lot of unpacking (six pairs of shoes, six pairs of shades, and 12 outfits for seven days), and bit of work, I'm back in the hotel waiting for my enemy to arrive. After I finish an article, I plan to go to a really big industry party to catch up with everyone and get sloshed. Should be fun! Oh, I snapped at Rannie on AIM this morning. Personally, I'm sorry I did because it was a direct result of my impatience. Professionally, I'm not since the issue was really minor. Oh well, I'll try to make it up tomorrow or something.

Fight Night I'm so jazzed for the Oscar De La Hoya / Bernard Hopkins fight. De La Hoya is my favorite fighter ever -- mostly because we both fight orthodox even though our lefts are our strong hands...and we're both devastatingly handsome. Ever since he won the gold in Barcelona, dedicating his run to his recently deceased mother, I've been a fan. It was impossible for me not to cheer for him after seeing him look up to the heavens (praying to mom) during the pre-fight instructions from the ref. He's done this for every fight until he wrecked Fernando Vargas. I just really enjoy watching the guy fight; his style -- up until Mayweather started training him -- is really fun for me to watch. Hopkins is pretty cool too. In the ring he's just a really methodical stalker that imposes his will on everyone he faces. He's so much fun to watch outside the ring too. He's a really smart guy that had a rough life and made some bad choices, but has emerged as a real role model. Even though his past is shady, he's become a clean-living human with an impossible work ethic. His street background makes for some hilarious press conferences. He has a big mouth and he knows how to get inside people's heads. Both fighters are nearly done with the sport, so it's cool to see them face off in a career-defining bout. On paper, there's no way Hopkins can lose. They're fighting at his natural weight and he's been a middleweight for most of his career (I think he only had one fight at light heavy). This will be De La Hoya's sixth weight class and his punches don't have the pop they did pre-147. I'm going to be rooting for Oscar and wishing he pulls off the fight of his life. I haven't wanted to see a fight so badly since De La Hoya / Trinidad! It's going to rock.

Trifecta Work problems: Plenty. I'm actually starting to lose count. Girl problems: Check. I've lost count of the total several yeas ago. House problems: The big drama is only going on around me, but there are issues here too. Raymond has been having an extremely poor day. On a positive note, my friend sent me what's essentially "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Bastards." I need to throw some left hooks. A lot of left hooks. Oh, dearest rescuer of mine, sorry I'm not going to your party tonight. Considering my mood and the free drink and the high probability of bumping into the girl that's not good for me and / or the really obnoxious bald man I can't stand, it's for the best.

Saved! No, this post is not about my second-favorite movie of 2004, but rather a most heroic effort by Rannie. Seconds before I would have made another really poor decision, she pulled up and dragged me away from Buddha Bar. She didn't even give me a chance to talk her out of it either. It was an excellent save. Thank you hon!!! So one more month. If you take away the week I'll be in Japan and the week she'll be away, that leaves two weeks. I'll enjoy whatever time is left and will try to give her a wonderful evening she'll remember fondly. And magically, I'll be gone. I feel very Danny Ocean about my plan: "I know what I'm doing." I'm getting back to my customary mood, which is a good thing. There's been too much lately. I don't know how to deal with what's been thrown at me recently. It's almost like I've been too happy, felt too appreciated, and had too much fun. My head has been in the clouds lately, but I'm back on terra firma. Now I can just go back to being me. See, I always get into trouble when I dream.

Banned Kit thinks I should ban myself from Buddha Bar. It's probably a good idea. I have so much fun there, but there have been a few times in the last week where poor decisions were mixed into the drunken follies. Not even the combined powers of Kit and Rannie (sans 2/3 of her attention span) could stop me from doing something really stupid. So I either need to go there with at least three protectors or ban myself.

Stupid Quiz Time!!! click here to find out which asian action superstar you are! You are Jet Li. you are a star crossed lover. your tastes for woman are sometimes beyond your reach. you like to break all the rules and yet honesty is one of your main priorities. you sometimes hurt yourself -- even kick the living *bleep* out of yourself. but dont worry it's only yourself from an alternate-parallel universe. (I'm not that short...but some of this is pretty spot on. - r.pad) You are Gambit! You are a fierce fighter and a good friend to have. Your preference for solitude and your attractiveness make you very intriguing to those you meet. Unfortunately, close relationships are few and far between for you because you often have trouble opening up to others. (My attractiveness?!?! Uhmmm, okay. I am kind of fond of cards though. - r.pad) Which X-Men character are you most like? brought to you by Quizilla Bettie Boop (Sure. - r.pad) Who 's Your Inner Sexy Cartoon Chick ? brought to you by Quizilla

Required Reading Tyrone sent this link to me. At last, I shall have all the answers I seek.

It's a Mistake Last night I had a really fun and really wonderful evening that I capped off by doing something really stupid. Hopefully it doesn't happen again. I don't want it to. That little indiscretion doesn't take away from the super-cool night with a super-cool person. Lub!!! The soundtrack to Garden State totally rocks. I knew I'd dig The Shins and Simon & Garfunkel, but I was totally floored by Colin Hay's track. His voice is stirringly expressive. Digging his music is really nostalgic for me. The first album I ever bought with my own money was a Men at Work eight-track!

Skype-scraper Here are some pics from that funny night in Santa Monica last week...uhm...I think it was last week. Also, if you have a USB headset for your PC, drop me a line. I want to play around with this app. It's supposed to work super well and it might have some interesting uses for me in the near future.

3 Mile Kit and I went on a shopping adventure on Saturday. We set out to buy one thing each, but ended up on a fun journey that took several hours. Surprisingly, I didn't raid Lush or buy any shoes. I think it has something to do with having a most(ly) excellent August and September starting out rather wonderfully. I couldn't even convince myself I was sad (my usual trick for when I'm on the fence on buying shoes). Anyway, it went something like this. - Thanks to Slick Deals, I was made aware of a fabulous sale at Sunglass Hut. All Armani shades were on sale for $40. I wanted to get at least two pairs (to replace the ones I "lost" in LA and Vegas), but wouldn't have been mad at myself if I bought six. I ended up with four. The retail for each pair was between $140 to $180. Two of them are definitely me. Two of them are borderline...but considering the savings I'll make them "me." - We continued walking around downtown and eventually made our way to the Virgin Megastore. We were both thirsty so we stopped by Virgin's cafe, Citizen Cupcake (flame on). After some thirst quenching, I remembered that the Virgin Megastore bugs me. So we decided to take a long walk down Market to Tower Records. - Along the way we discovered this awesome place called Yum. They had all kinds of awesome sodas there and we got to sip on some ice coffee as we browsed. I bought a diet sugar cane cola and a diet flavored carbonated green tea. The place is so cute and charming and I love that we randomly discovered it. Kate and I found Farley's that way, so I'm sure Yum will become another one of my favorites. At the very least, I'll be going back for a few cases of sugar-free Bawls. - After getting to Tower after a 2.5-mile walk, I was disappointed to learn that Joss Stone's new album will not be out until 9/28. Thankfully I made a few impulse purcahses. I picked up the Puffy AmiYumi CD, Abba's Greatest Hits, and Blondie's Greatest Hits (I've lost this album five times). The latter two were on sale. Score. - Then we went to Tower DVD where I showed incredible restraint by only buying one disc. The special edition of West Side Story was on sale for $20 so I picked it up. Shut up. Musicals are cool and Natalie Wood was hot. - Random: One time Rannie and I were at this Tower. It was when I was freelancing, so I was looking for clips of my stuff. This guy comes up to me and asks if I knew about "these game magazines" because he wanted to get more articles about himself in them. It was the dude that voices Mario. Cool. - For a little snack, another beverage, and to get rid of the previously consumer beverages, we went to Cafe Baghdad. I'm not sure I've been there since I've moved back, but it was a common haunt in my first tour of San Francisco. It's 24 hours and conveniently located. Kit had an incredible slice--if you can really call it that-- of carrot cake and I had a sliver of bread budding. - Finally, we walked to the 16th Street BART stop and took it home. All together we walked a little over three miles, which was brilliant for a lovely San Francisco summer day. (They don't tell the tourists that the warm months in SF are September and October. Tee-hee.) I just love walking. It's the New Yorker in me. And the weather was so phenomenal that it would have been criminal to stay inside. - Anyway, I'll be modelling my new shades throughout the next two weeks to decide which ones will come to Japan with me. Telegenic shades are important. Actually, anything that covers my face is important. I'm still waiting for masks to get fashionable again....