beyond reason productions

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Note to all visitors: I will be moving to my new house on the 24th and will not have Internet access until the 31st. The web site will be unavailable during that time.

Friday, June 27, 2008

As you may have noticed, this web page is no longer hosted at www.beyond-reason.com. There are several reasons for this:

  • I was paying $115 per year for a web page that got very little use;
  • Beyond Reason Productions might have seemed like a cool name when I thought it up in high school, but it sounds pretty childish and stupid now; and
  • there is no point in paying for a server when I'm running one at home on a 100mb/s fiber optic Internet connection.

So, let me introduce you to my new domain name: www.japanlingo.com. I figure that if I'm going to have a web site, it might as well be about something that is currently relevant to my life. I will leave this web page up for now under a subdomain of my new domain name. I deleted all of the private photo galleries, but the pictures can still be accessed in the separate Private Photo Gallery at rigert.homeserver.com/photo.

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Happy (belated) New Year! After nearly five months without any updates, I finally found some time to sit down and write something. I haven't even been able to play video games in nearly three months. My schedule seems to go something like this: Get up, get ready for work, go to work, come home, eat dinner, give Lyn a bath, put Lyn to bed, fall asleep myself. Weekends are usually taken up by shopping for groceries or cleaning the house, with maybe enough time for one movie if we are lucky (and if Lyn falls asleep quickly). Fortunately, Lyn is finally reaching the age where she is pretty good at playing by herself, so we don't have to constantly entertain her. Now if only she would learn to go to bed before 10!

We've had quite a bit of snow and cold weather over the past couple weeks. Last week we had a low of -14°C (7°F) and maybe six inches of snow. Lyn likes playing in light and fluffy snow, but she didn't seem too thrilled about playing in the hard and icy snow the other day. Hopefully we'll get some new snowfall in the next few days so she can go sledding again.

I decided to add a different private photo gallery. Since I obviously do not have the time to come up with comments for every photo, I set up a photo gallery on my new Windows Home Server using the Whiist add-in. This lets me just drop the photos in a folder and then the server dynamically generates a photo gallery for anyone with the username and password. You can also download a full-resolution copy of the photo by clicking on it. Just click on Private Photo Gallery in the menu. The username and password are the same as the old private photo galleries.

Sunday, September 9, 2007

Lyn had two first birthday parties this year: one while my parents were here, and other while Yukino, Lyn, and I were down in Numazu during Obon vacation. You can find pictures of the parties in the private photo gallery.

We also took Lyn to Fuji Safari Park, a drive-thru zoo where you get to dodge lions, tigers, giraffes, and various other animals with your car. I took quite a few pictures, but since you aren't allowed to open your car windows (for obvious reasons), the reflections in the glass make it hard to see. I'll upload the pictures when I get a chance (i.e.- don't get your hopes up).

We stopped by Yukino's friends' house in Chigasaki on Sunday. They recently bought a 5-year-old 1,300 square foot house on maybe 1000 square feet of land for over $350,000. I assume most of the cost is for location, since it's only a ten-minute walk from the ocean. We ate a nice lunch at a Hawaiian restaurant and took them shopping at Costco before heading to our hotel in Yokohama. The next day, we went to Hiroshima Bank to finally close an account that we hadn't touched for the past two years and then stopped by Costco (again) in Hachioji before heading back to Nagano.

Monday, August 5, 2007

After another not-quite-two-month gap, I'm back with another update! The new photo gallery is actually from the end of June, but better late than never. We went on a short hike at a place called Kirigamine. The path was surrounded by fields of red azalea. The weather was great—so great that I got my first sunburn of the year.

My parents also paid us a visit for 10 days in the middle of July. Unfortunately, I ended up having to do a huge translation project while my parents were here, so I only had 5 days off in total. We all went to a place called Hirugano in Gifu Prefecture, but the rainy season lived up to its name and it poured rain the entire time. At least the hotel was nice! It's a good thing my parents mostly came just to see Lyn.

Land for sale in Hara VillageThe other day, we went to a place called Hara Village to look at some property that is for sale. It was in a nice location—surrounded by fields at the end of a private drive—so it was very quiet. You can see the Yatsugatake peaks to the east and a large expanse of fields in front of some distant hills to the west. It's about an eighth of an acre for $80,000, which is quite cheap for this part of Japan (but expensive compared to most other places in the world of equivalent size). Unfortunately, my lack of permanent residency means I can't get a loan to buy land or a house. I plan on applying sometime next year, so if the property is still on the market at that time, maybe we can buy it (and maybe it will be even cheaper!).

Monday, June 18, 2007

Well, after a nearly two month hiatus, I finally got around to updating this web page. Quite a bit has happened over the past two months. Lyn is now officially an American citizen and has a passport to prove it, I did my taxes and once again owed nothing (as it should be, since I don't even live in the frigging country), both Mother's Day and Father's Day have come and gone (a first for both Yukino and me), and Lyn finally figured out how to roll over on her own.

Stubborn LynLyn is turning out to be quite the stubborn little girl. I wonder where she gets that from? This is the look she gets whenever she wants to go somewhere she's not supposed to. I can tell she's going to be a handful once she's actually able to crawl.

And now what you've all really been waiting for: a new photo gallery (password required)! This one has a couple pictures of Lyn at eight months as well as some Mother's Day photos. Lyn made Yukino a nice envelope and card (with daddy's help) for Mother's Day. We then drove to a nice park up in the mountains and let Lyn play on the grass.

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

The calla lilly springs back to lifeSpring has finally arrived in Nagano. The cherry blossoms are in full bloom and the calla lily I thought had died last winter sprouted up again. I think this is the first time I've ever had a plant survive more than one season in Japan. Back when I lived in Hiroshima, I even managed to kill parsley. Hopefully some day I'll actually have a yard so I can attempt to kill grow plants on an even larger scale.

I did some experimentation with nighttime photography the other day. Most of the shots didn't turn out, but a few of them yielded some interesting results. You can find them in the photo gallery.

I only have two days of work left before the start of Golden Week. For those of you that don't know, Golden Week is a string of public holidays in Japan that usually lasts for an entire week, minus one or two days in the middle. Most people who don't work in the service sector take the non-holiday days off so they can pay three times the normal price to travel at the same time as everyone else in Japan. I'm planning on heading down to Numazu with the family to see the in-laws for a few days, and then staying one night in Tokyo to apply for Lyn's U.S. citizenship. Unfortunately, she's had a cold for almost the entire week, so unless it gets better by Friday, we might have to give Numazu a miss until after our trip to the embassy.

On a completely unrelated note, I switched the web site over to a different server. There shouldn't be any differences, but if you find any errors, please let me know.

Sunday, March 4, 2007

Yukino's parents came to visit today supposedly "for my birthday," but in reality I think they just wanted to see Lyn. Yesterday being the Japanese Doll Festival (Hina Matsuri) also gave them a convenient excuse. They bought her a very nice set of five dolls a few weeks ago. You can see a picture of the dolls in one of the new photo galleries.

I've decided to make somewhat of a mega-update today with two new photo galleries. The first one contains some pictures of Lyn at five months old when her grandparents came for a visit, and the second has pictures of my birthday and their most recent visit. I also updated the gallery of the house for sale with a couple of external photos.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

House for sale in ChinoThe three of us checked out a house for sale last weekend. It was in a quiet neighborhood a short three-minute walk from the station and had a bargain-basement price of 34.5 million yen ($290,000), but the reason for this was readily apparent upon closer inspection. I don't think they used a single piece of solid wood for the interior. Everything was wood-patterned plastic over fiberboard, and looked like it would fall apart within five years or so. Unfortunately, this is fairly typical for houses in Japan. I would much rather spend an extra hundred-thousand dollars or so to get something that will actually last. I updated the photo gallery with some pictures Yukino took of the interior.

Sunday, January 28, 2007

I finally updated the photo gallery with those pictures I promised ten days ago. Better late than never, right?

A snowy morningYukino's parents and grandmother came up here to Nagano last weekend and we all stayed in a hotel next to Lake Suwa. Yukino and Lyn went with them back to Numazu, and I had to go pick them up this weekend. We have to make sure everyone gets their share of Lyn, after all! I'll have pictures from their visit...eventually. This is what the weather was like on the morning I left. At least it was above freezing for once!

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Happy (belated) New Year, everyone! The only change I made was taking down the Christmas decorations, but check back in a few days to see some pictures from my parents' visit over the holidays.

Saturday, December 15, 2006

Lyn lounges by the Christmas treeI decided to make the web page a little more "festive" for the holiday season. There haven't been a whole lot of changes over the past few weeks. Lyn and Yukino came down with a case of the Norovirus, but they are already on the mend. Apparently Japan is having somewhat of a Norovirus epidemic at the moment. I've been spared so far, but we'll see how long that lasts. Yukino and I got flu shots last week, so at least we won't have to worry about influenza.

Since I've been neglecting my photo-taking duties lately, today's gallery update is of pictures taken by Yukino over the past 3 months. You can see the collection here (password required).

Monday, November 27, 2006

The three of us took a trip down to Numazu for the Labor Thanksgiving holiday here in Japan. I added a new gallery of some pictures I took of Lyn with her relatives.

We stopped by one of the Costcos near Tokyo on the way back to Nagano. It took just under 2 hours to get there from Numazu, and then another 2 hours from Costco to get back to Nagano. Needless to say, it was a really long day. I did manage to get some foods I have been craving for a long time, though. There's nothing like a warm chocolate Costco muffin on a cold morning.

Both Lyn and myself came down with a slight cold over the holiday. I'm almost over mine, but Lyn still has a stuffy nose. Oddly enough, I think Yukino is losing more sleep over Lyn's cold than Lyn! Even though she has trouble breathing through her nose, Lyn seems to be in good spirits and is smiling and laughing as always. We took her to the pediatrician today just to be sure (it is her first cold, after all), and he said she should be fine in a couple days.

Thursday, November 9, 2006

Freshly baked cranberry and blueberry bagelsI made blueberry and cranberry bagels the other day using instructions I found on allrecipes.com. Most recipes I've tried tell you to form the dough into a rope and connect the ends, but I've always ended up with lopsided or deformed bagels. As you can see from the picture on the right, the technique actually seems to work, so if you want to try making your own bagels, I strongly recommend checking here and here.

Sunday, November 5, 2006

Frozen PS3 display unitI went shopping for diapers and baby clothes at Toys"R"Us the other day, and noticed they had a Playstation 3 on display. I was rather surprised that no was playing it—that is, until I realized that it was frozen up and pressing the power button had no effect. I even tried unplugging and plugging it back in, but to no avail. I guess those reports of overheating systems at E3 and the Tokyo Game Show were not just "isolated incidents." At this rate, it would probably be better to wait six months or so after the release so they can iron out some of the bugs—that is, assuming you are actually able to get a hold of one in the first place. Buyer beware.

Speaking of broken appliances, a peg in the socket for the lint filter in our washing machine broke off yesterday. I'm not sure how or why it happened, but they are supposed to come in on Wednesday to fix it. They also said we might be billed if they "suspect" that it was a result of user error. With arbitrary guidelines like that, I wonder how many people get screwed out of their money.

I finally collected enough pictures to warrant an update to the photo gallery. Lyn is between 7 and 10 weeks old in these pictures. This collection requires a password as usual.

Friday, November 3, 2006

Today is culture day in Japan. To coincide with this auspicious occasion, I have updated the media project section with a video I made in 2001 about studying abroad at Miyazaki University. I also surreptitiously updated the Japanese Page last week, although there are still a few dead links.

Lyn has been growing a lot over the past month. She weighs over 5 kilograms (11 pounds) and has moved from newborn diapers to the S size. She is now able to follow objects with her eyes and smiles a lot more (especially after bowel movements).

Sunday, October 8, 2006

It's been 2 weeks since the last update, so I figured I'd better upload some new pictures before my mother hunts me down. We received quite a few presents from friends and family, some of which appear in today's new photo gallery.

Not only has it been 2 weeks since the last update, but it's also been 2 weeks since my wife and child moved back to the apartment. I have to admit—it's not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Yukino and I have an arrangement: She takes care of Lyn at night so I can stay awake at work the next day, and I take care of her in the morning on weekends so mom can sleep in. It seems to be working so far.

A butterfly in the park next to my ApartmentYukino, Lyn, and I went to the park next to our apartment for a picnic today. It was nice to get out and soak up some sun before the Nagano winter starts. By this time next month, the temperature will drop below freezing at night. I am not looking forward to the electric bill...

Sunday, September 24, 2006

I'm back in Nagano, and this time I brought my family back with me. It's amazing how fast babies grow in just 2 weeks. Lyn had her one-month checkup, and she has already gained 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) and 3 centimeters (1.2 inches). I posted some pictures from Lyn at 2 weeks old and 1 month old in the Photo Galleries section. As always, you need the password to view the pictures.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

On my way home from work today, some old guy almost ran me over. I was crossing at a crosswalk and he was turning right. He was trying to turn ahead of the oncoming car so he probably didn't check the crosswalk. It's a good thing I saw him coming, otherwise I might not have been able to jump out of the way. Once again my policy of never trusting any drivers in this country has paid off.

I'm afraid I don't have any new content to upload today, but I will be going down to Numazu this weekend to finally bring Yukino and Lyn home. I'll post pictures when I get a chance.

Monday, September 11, 2006

I updated the Media Projects page with a song I made back in college called "Orchestral Beat." It was a final project for a MIDI sequencing class during the Summer of my second year. Not recommended for those who hate Japanese-Pop-Techno music.

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Well, I went down to Shizuoka again on Friday, expecting it to be the last time for a while since I was going to bring Yukino and Lyn back to Nagano, but here I am back in Nagano alone. Yukino developed a bit of a fever—well, actually a pretty severe fever—with a temperature of 104°F (40°C), so I had to postpone bringing her home. Luckily, her fever dropped down to 100 the next day, but we decided it would be best to wait until she got better before attempting the 3½ hour trip home. So, I guess I'm still on my own for the next 2 weeks.

I didn't take many pictures this time (for obvious reasons), so I'll hold off on uploading anything new for a while. I will try to update some other sections in the mean time.

Monday, September 4, 2006

I was treated to a spectacular view of Mt. Fuji on the way to Shizuoka last Friday. You can find some pictures of it in the public section of the Photo Gallery page. I also uploaded some more pictures of my week-old daughter to the private gallery section (password required).

So far, Lyn has been a lot easier to care for than my wife and I ever imagined. She only seems to cry when she: a) is hungry, or b) has peed/pooped. Lucky for me, her breast-milk-only diet saves me from having to take turns feeding her. I do burp her and change her diaper when I'm awake, though. The hardest part so far is giving her a bath without getting soap in her eyes or submerging her head.

Thursday, August 31, 2006

Just a quick update. You can now download videos of my past projects. The files have been encoded using Windows Media 9, so I'm afraid that Linux users are out of luck. You can find the files at the bottom of the page for each project in the Media Projects section.

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

I updated the Photo Galleries section with one public and a few private galleries. I also updated the Media Projects page. You can now read descriptions of my past media projects, but the media files need to be re-encoded before I make them available for download. My past web pages are available for viewing.

On a more personal note, My first child was born last Friday at 1:52 a.m. You can find pictures of Lyn in a private photo gallery (password required).

Sunday, August 6, 2006

Hello, and welcome to Beyond Reason Productions. My name is David, and I created this web page to share my thoughts and hobbies. Here you will find photographs, videos, and general information about my life.

I spent the entire weekend working on a DVD of my wedding. Seeing how my wedding was in August of last year, I figured it was about time to finish it up. My computer is compiling the finished project as I type this. If any wedding attendees are reading this, I hope to get a copy of the DVD to you by Christmas, so please wait just a little longer.

My wife is currently at her parents' house in Numazu, Japan, waiting to give birth to our first child, so I am left to fend for myself for the next few weeks. I had yakisoba for dinner again. I think this is the 4th time I've eaten that in the past 2 weeks. Oh well, at least it's better than going to MOS Burger again.

On the photography front, I tried to take some pictures of the lanterns in the park next to the apartment, but they probably won't turn out because I was too lazy to pull out the tripod, even though I shot it with a 1/15 shutter speed. I don't want to mess anything up while the video is compiling, so I'll have to upload the pictures later.

Please note that this page is still in progress and some links do not work.