Done!

Started the Peachtree a bit fast but finished in good time. Official
time later.

UPDATE: 1:09:19 here you can see the results!

more cute for Tuesday

This one might make your head essplode with all its cuteness. Enjoy

Cute news for Tuesday

Take a look at this hippo who got a bit stuck!

Beautiful sunset

Totally fake and set up...

but still quite imaginative. Enjoy

Ordination Photos

Here they are, no captions, not too much editing. Enjoy

Ordination

Ready to go

Last supper.

Deacon Salomon out for his last dinner before priesthood.

Peacefull???

Okay folks here is another Japanese video of the moon. This one does not end so well. This is the reconstructed last moments of SELENE. It is pretty stunning, although not as stunning as the other videos below of SELENE doing its work imaging the moon. Make sure to watch the videos in HD...really cool. More info here. Enjoy

Amazing Pixels

This guy is quite talented. It is amazing what can be done with a bunch of rubic cubes!

Do not taunt the Aligator!

Just think if he had you this close...yummy!

Slow Loris?

Ever heard of a Slow Loris? Yeah me neither but this one is really cute. Not sure about having one as a pet, but different strokes ya know!

Very relaxing space video

Not sure about this but it is really peaceful and relaxing. Enjoy

Slow posting

YES, I am still alive, been really busy since landing from Japan. Oh and really tired. I will be getting a few more photos up and posted soon. Thanks for your understanding.

Not in our Church

Motorcycles + Church = bad news*



*still funny

Busy Sunday

Well today I could not get back to sleep once I woke up at 5:30AM, so I got cleaned up and went to the 7:30 Mass with Fr. Leo (our host) in Japanese. After Mass, a nice breakfast of cornflakes and yogurt. Then a short nap...finally I was sleepy. After the main Mass it was time for the parish bazaar. Fr. Paul went and cleaned house, so I had to take a crack at it and I did the same, lots of cool stuff to buy, oh and the food! Here are a few photos from the bazaar.

After the parish stuff, Fr. Paul and I headed off to a local Shinto festival. It was crazy fun. Right after we stepped off the train we were greeted with this spectacle.

After all that fun we went up to the main shrine and the grounds around the shrine. Then back down the hill for the main drag and more mobile shrines. All along the route were game booths and food stalls. This festival had a similar vibe to the parish bazaar...lots of very happy people! Here is a video of a local shinto band on their cart being pulled down the street.

Most of the stores and homes along the festival route were visited by a traveling shrine and shinto clergy. The family made an offering (money, food and sake) to the local deity (held in the mobile shrine) and then their place was officially blessed for the year. The folks you see in this video were kind enough to share their sake with us, yum!

It was a great day all around. The weather was the best we have had. The food and festivals were great. After all that fun we went to Tonki for pork cutlets, yummy (photos of that are forthcoming). We are off to the mountains tomorrow for a few days of retreat, so this might be the last post for a while. Until next time here are the photos from the shinto festival today. Peace

Ramen

You know ramen...NO, not this stuff, but this dreamy, silky, sultry, creamy soup with noodles. I went to have my first real bowl of ramen tonight. I went to Ippudo and it was fantastic. The meal was too too much! I tried to eat the whole bowl, but it was too rich and creamy to finish. The noodles were great but the broth was to die for. Here is the bowl just after I mixed in all the fixins the waiter told me to mix in.

Here is the bowl a full ten minutes later...does not seem as if I am making a dent in this stuff. Oh, my it was good.

And now here 8 minutes later and I think I can see the end of the race. I was so satiated at this point, I just wanted to sleep and enjoy the feeling.

This last photo was 5 minutes later...when I threw in the towel. I could not finish the whole bowl. I was too much...and did I tell you they gave me another serving of noodles, so that took up quite a bit of room. But I could not and did not finish, but I can still taste the wonderful flavors and remember the great tastes. Ever eaten real ramen? This franchise also has a place in NYC if you ever get there.

On train.

Made it to Tokyo and now headed to meet up with Fr. Leo at his Meguro
parish, our home here in Tokyo. More later...

See ya!

Done

...now off to Japan!