I appeared on TV in Denmark!

I was invited to give a keynote speech at the EuroTAAC conference this year in Randers, Denmark. Unbeknownst to me at the time, there was a news crew in the room from the regional television station covering the event. The next day I was told I had been on the news that evening and was given a link to the news clip. If you'd like to see it, here is the link (for as long as it's active):

http://www.tv2regionerne.dk/reg2005/player.aspx?id=354195&r=7

Washington D.C. Cherry Trees

In Washington, D.C., every March or April, when the conditions are just right, over 3,000 cherry trees bloom all over the Tidal Basin and surrounding areas. It's a sight to see and people come from all over the world to see the spectacle. Back in 1912, the city of Tokyo gave the gift of the cherry trees to Washington, D.C. and every year there are several events, including the Cherry Blossom Festival, to commemorate the event. Try to make it here next time!

I Went to Fenway!

On April 11 this year, my friend Mark Steiner and I were in Boston for a conference and we went to Fenway Park to see the Red Sox play the Seattle Mariners. The night before Boston beat Seattle 14-3 in its home season opener! And though the Red Sox would lose this evening 3-0, this was a historic night and the stadium was packed. Japanese powerhouse Daisuke Matsuzaka, now a brand spanking new Red Sox player, was up against Ichiro Suzuki, another Japanese player who has been playing stateside for Seattle. These two were rivals from back in Japan, and it was the first time they were up against each other in seven years. That explained why there were so much Japanese press there this evening (170 of them), witnessing the event and relaying the information back to their fellow citizens back in Japan. It didn't take long for Ichiro to show Daisuke (Dice-K) who would rule the night.

Cave Tubing is Fun!

This year Ivana and I went on our first cruise together. We traveled to four ports of call in the West Caribbean. One of our stops was in Belize and we went cave tubing! It was fun and very dark in the caves. You can see we had little lights around our necks, but they didn't do much to illuminate the interiors of the caves. In some areas, the water was so shallow that our butts would scrape along the rocks under the water. In other areas, the water was so deep that it would have been over our heads had we gotten out of our tubes. The trouble is, we didn't know where the shallow water was and where the deep water was, so we stayed in our tubes! This was a relaxing experience (except for the butt scrapings) and it strikes me that I should work really really hard (even harder than I do now) to earn enough money so that I can go cave tubing in Belize anytime I want. Yeah, that'll happen!