If you're visiting Kappabashi

Kappabashi is an area near Ueno that sells all manner of kitchen/restaurant related goods. A friend of mine found a charming noren (kind of a split curtain often hung up at restaurant entrances when they're open) there that I intend to track down someday.

This site lets you search for shops that sell specific items of interest (Japanese only):
http://www.kappabashi.or.jp/index.html

However, no tofu molds came up. Who knew it was so hard to find a mold for making tofu! (A request from a friend). I've only been able to find wooden ones, nothing like this one here. Tokyu Hands no longer carries the stainless steel model pictured in the post

tech: Java annotations

A link: http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/java/javaOO/annotations.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AJAX

tech: an OOP primer

As the wikipedia article is less than ideal, I was happy to come across this well-written article on Object-Oriented Programming. It's good to review the basics.

Sweet and Bitter Matcha, and a surprise from Zurich!

Good stuff. 抹茶スイーツティ (matcha sweet tea) actually lives up to its English labeling. It's both sweet and bitter, reminiscent of matcha ice cream, but not as creamy, heh.

I may be addicted.

I will post later about my surprise from Zurich! And papier d'armenie, which I found in a local organic food store! Of all the random places. The store also carries Primavera products, but sadly nothing in the way of facial products.

pics: Overdrive cafe, Bloodstone

From Overdrive Cafe in Shimokitazawa,
Japanese-style tarako (small fish eggs) pasta, to which I am addicted







Their excellent lasagna








From a traditional little izakaya hidden in Ginza,
Fried sea-eel dinner set








An innocuous-looking pub called
Blood Stone

6 years ago

"February 7, 2002. America lost a little of its greatness that day. We lost our position as the world’s leading defender of human rights, as the champion of justice and fairness and the rule of law. But it is a testament to the continuing greatness of this nation, that I, a lowly Air Force Reserve Major, can stand here before you today, with the world watching, without fear of retribution, retaliation or reprisal, and speak truth to power. I can call a spade a spade, and I can call torture, torture."

— Air Force Major, David J. R. Frakt. From Closing Argument in Favor of Dismissal of the Case Against Mohammad Jawad

Discourse.net has some interesting posts on related topics.

A senior Justice Department official, charged with reworking the administration's legal position on torture in 2004 became so concerned about the controversial interrogation technique of waterboarding that he decided to experience it firsthand, sources told ABC News.

According to retired Rear Adm. John Hutson, "There is no question this is torture -- this is a technique by which an individual is strapped to a board, elevated by his feet and either dunked into water or water poured over his face over a towel or a blanket."

Bush Administration Blocked Waterboarding Critic

I have two points regarding this article.

Point 1: It's really nice to hear about people who are thorough about their jobs and investigate things properly.
Point 2: It figures that the Bush Administration removes the people who are actually good at their jobs.

You know, the news is really depressing. Still, it's important to know that McCain is against banning waterboarding (double negatives suck, but I can't really say that McCain is for waterboarding, just that he doesn't want to ban it).

fun Spanish bar in Shibuya

They also have a branch in Ikebukuro, but I visited Casa Del Bueno in Shibuya (Tokyo) recently. It's a lively, authentic-feeling Spanish bar. The tortilla espanola is quite good, and they seem to have a lot of interesting tapas available. I really enjoyed the Spanish music and am going to track down a few of the songs I heard there. The staff is friendly and very attentive.

I found the restaurant through Hanako-net, which has been pretty reliable for discovering good places.