Making The News

Doubtless other people whose LJs I have not had time to read have reported this already, but this morning's International Herald Tribune/Asahi Shimbun had a full page story about Worldcon, including an above-the-fold pointer off the front page. It included picture of several people I know, including karisu_sama, marahsk, and avt_tor.

One of the things the article touched on was how one Japanese costumer complained that other Japanese fans look at you funny if you wear a costume that isn't obviously a recreation of something. I've encountered that myself, and not just in Japan. Original costuming seems to throw some folks for a loop, but they're comfortable with you dressing as a character from something they already know.

On the other side of the same page was an article touching on our other hobby, trains, and someone building a miniature you-ride-em (looks like 15-inch gauge) railway.

Update, 19 Sep: Added link to the online version of the story.

Outside Day

Checking the weather, we see that there is less chance of rain today (the first of our two full days in Osaka) than tomorrow, so today is our trip to Expoland for the human-powered monorail and other amusements. We "slept in" which in my case means waking up at nearly 8 rather than just before 6, but that means I've had less time to answer mail and such, and now Lisa -- who did wake up before me for a change -- is impatiently waiting for me to get my act together so we can hurry up and go Do Things.

Key Factors

Lisa asked me to post an image of the key from our room here at the Granvia. This is the most old-fashioned key either of us recall ever seeing in a hotel.

( Key to the matter )

Monorails and Faded Amusement Parks

I have many gigabytes of photographs. I have no time at all to go through them and do anything with them. I'm throwing some of them into Flickr, but even then I just don't have time to even assign proper keywords! Putting it off means that most of these photos will never be cataloged, and not having time to write entries means I'll forget a bunch of this, I fear.

( But at least today gets a write-up )

Tomorrow, thank goodness, we do not have to pack up again, and instead can go to the transport museum relatively at leisure.

Update, 9 Sep 19:00: Comments tell us that "bicycle monorails" are common at Japanese and UK rail parks, even though I'd never seen one at a US park.