I may have mentioned that one of the sillier Japanese ways of doing things is that everybody has summer vacation all at the same time. That means that everybody is trying to travel at the same time. So for example the news reports the travel traffic jams everyday though August. We're talking MAJOR TRAFFIC JAMS. For example Wednesday's was 68 kilometeres long!! That's 42 miles of stop and go traffic!!! 😖 Yes it takes SEVERAL HOURS to go those 42 miles. The Japanese just see it as part of summer vacation. In fact the news reports it like they report the weather. Very matter−of−factly.

Here in Japan there is of course McDonalds but what's more interesting are the local brands and what they have that you can't find in America.

My new favorite is Freshness Burger where they have for example Lasagna Burgers which are actually lasagna on a bun, no patty. Also they have the Bacon Omelet Burger which likewise is an Omelet on at a bun, no patty. They are actually pretty good.

Here in Japan women are obsessed with looking *beautiful*.  I'm sure American women are also but I don't think it's quite to the same level as the Japanese.  It's insane and actually one reason I'm afraid of the *stereotypical* Japanese woman.  I'm sure some of this stuff is available in the states but I don't think all of it is.

While looking for proof that brown eyes are just as much at risk as blue eyes for getting eye problems from not wearing sunglasses I found this article about how drinking Green Tea can fix some UV related problems.

You can read some of the details here but in Japan they have famous fireworks festivals all summer long. I'm planning to go to my first one next weekend. It's the biggest in Japan with around 20000 fireworks!!! They go off constantly for an hour and a half!!

The funny to me the title of the article above says "In Tokyo". Would you call a place 400 miles from Tokyo "In Tokyo"? Maybe because of this incident less people will go to the big one next weekend but I doubt it. The one next weekend is on a river and there are 3 or 4 ways to get there. There's pretty much one every weekend until September here in and around Tokyo.

The Tokyo Miraikan, which I guess would be best translated as the Tokyo Museum of the Future, opened July 10th 2001.  It's spankin new and in Odiaba which is a small, I believe, man made island in Tokyo Bay where nearly all the buildings and structures are architectural wonders.

I nearly bust a gut reading this article from Tokyo Classified magazine. You may have had to visit or live in Japan in the summer to really get it but I still think you'll find it interesting.

Salon recently had a these very interesting articles on what it means to be a Hostess in Japan. If you don't know, in Japan they have Hostess Clubs. The idea is you pay some relatively large some of money to sit in a lounge and have a woman flirt with you. You drink, sing kareoke and talk.

Just by chance I was out with my friend Miyuki and we happened upon Cafe Rodney. Rodney Alan Greenblat is the artist who designed Parappa the Rapper and Um Jamma Lammy as well as Thunder Bunny, the characters for Family Mart, and the stage and package design for the Japanese group Puffy and their TV show as well as several other companies. I don't think he's nearly as well known in America but here in Japan he's pretty huge.

Through a submission I posted at Slashdot.org another engineer in Japan contacted me. He looks like he's having way more fun than me