Apple 2011 WWDC Keynote

Posted on June 2, 2011 by Aaron Jones

Apple Stuff!

Today I am not posting about magic but tech stuff which I do from time to time. Today I want to talk about the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) Keynote speech that wil be held June 6, 2011 10:00AM PST. I want to write this from the view point of a Apple user. This is because I am a Apple user of a MacBook Pro running Mac OS X Snow Leopard, iPad, iPhone, and Apple TV. Wow too many Apple products, but they play so well together. As I have mentioned before I was an avid Windows user until a year and a half ago when I went over to Mac (one of the best decisions I have ever made). Anyway I am looking forward to the keynote because I am interested in Mac OS X Lion, and iOS5. As a Apple TV user I expect some new features they were not mentioned in Apple’s announcement this week that will be apart of the iOS5 update and the iCloud system. We really know nothing yet about iCloud but I can see how it is going to make it easy for users to share music and I hope other files between devices wirelessly. I am a heavy iPad user and I use Dropbox to share files as well as the Good Reeder iPad app to sync and view files from many services and QuickOffice for iPad for editing documents. But a unified system in the cloud would be great and I hope as an Apple user, iClould will bring this. This is the information I want to find out the most at this keynote as well as a bonus I hope they announce the new iPhone soon as my iPhone 3G is getting a bit old (LOL). I hope they stream the event like they did last time, if they do I’ll be up all night because the event is like at 2:00AM Japan Time. I am such a geek!

Aaron

Onsen!

Posted on May 11, 2011 by Aaron Jones

This weekend I went to an onsen. As I have mentioned before onsen is Japanese for hot spring. I just love it. On Saturday I went and sat in the onsen for more than an hour. If you ever get the chance to go to a Japanese onsen go! For me it is one of the best ways to relax, reduce my stress, and reset myself. There is a small local onsen in the small city where I live which I have never been too. However I hope to give it a try this weekend. Later this week I will have some magic related blogs postings up.
Aaron

Enjoying Golden Week

Posted on May 1, 2011 by Aaron Jones

Golden week a week of almost consecutive holidays here in Japan began on Friday. My plan is to relax and visit some local sights. So far it has been very good and I have been able to get some rest which I needed and was able to lower some stress I had. Sometimes we do need to take break and just do nothing to get recharged. I have a few more days left and I am going to to enjoy them the best I can. As you can see from the picture in this post I went out for udon today!
Aaron

Hanami!

Posted on April 17, 2011 by Aaron Jones

It has been two years since I have been able to attend a Hanami party. Hanami is the Japanese tradition in that take place in the spring when Japanese cherry blossoms boom. People take to the parks to sit under the Sakura eat and drink. This year I went with some magic friends, Shinosuke and Maji Nishida. We had the party with people from a resultant that we use to alway go to when Maji Nishida and I lived in Sakaide. It was a great time and I need to attend more events like this.
Aaron

The Hanami Weekend

Posted on April 15, 2011 by Aaron Jones

Sorry it has been a while since I have blogged. These days not sure what to blog as sometimes I feel as if what I have to say is not really important to other things happening here in Japan. However I realize moving on is important to I will start blogging for frequently again. This should be a good weekend for me. Tomorrow I will attend the Shikoku Magic Friends monthly meeting in Takamatsu, then on Sunday I will attend a Hannami party. Hanami means watching flowers and it is when people go out to enjoy the Sakura Japanese Cherry Blossoms in the spring. There may not be much left as last weekend seemed to be the peak. But the important thing is I will be able to spend some time with some good old friends. We can learn a lot from Sakura, as they teach us about life and they have helped Japan recover emotionally over the past week or so. Anyways, until next time take care.
Aaron

Studying Again!

Posted on April 2, 2011 by Aaron Jones

Studying

I graduated University after 8 years in 2003 and now I am starting to study again. This time however I entered the Open University of Japan. This is a government based university where the classes are broadcast on TV, radio, or the Internet. It is a great for people like me who don’t have time to attend a university class. I also live far from any university. Right now I am taking 2 Japanese language courses as I need to work on and fix my advance Japanese skills. If your in Japan I recommend if you are looking to take some courses at a very reasonable price to give the Open University of Japan a try, I am! Feels good to use the brain again. I keep you updated as to how things go.

Aaron

Inspire Magic Episode 2: Pray For Japan

Posted on March 26, 2011 by Aaron Jones

The 2nd episode of Inspire Magic is a special episode about magicians in Shikoku fundraising after the disasters earthquake and tsunami in Japan on Mach 11, 2011.

The Magic Newswire Covering the Japan Quake

Posted on March 16, 2011 by Aaron Jones

Magicians In Japan 2011 Quake

I want to thank Dodd Vickers the producer of The Magic Newswire for covering this this tragic event. On this special episode Dodd has James L. Clark and myself on to talk about the quake here in Japan. You can find the podcast here.

Aaron

Japan Quake Day 5 March 15, 2011

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Aaron Jones

"Hydrogen Explosion at Fukushima Reactor #3"

Today is the last day I will post a daily post about the quake. If I feel anything significant I need t write I will write it. I will go mostly back to normal posting after today. To keep more up to date with me you can follow me on twitter. Here is a Japanese government site that has English translations from the press conferences with the Prime Minister and The Chief Cabinet Secretary. The picture in this post is from the cover of todays Yomiuri Shimbun (March 15, 2011). As you can see it’s a headline related to the hydrogen explosion at the #3 reactor at the Fukushima Plant. I sure hope they get things sorted out over there. They are dealing with something no one hase ever had to deal with before. I feel for them. Stay safe.

Aaron

Japan Quake Day 4 March 14, 2011

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Aaron Jones

Japan Self Defense Force at work

Today is day 4 since the quake first struck. Today I tried to get back to normal but its difficult to let go what happened about 700 KM from where I am. In the morning it did a bit for the Magic Newswire with Dodd Vickers and James Clark about Japan so watch out for that here. James is heading over here to Japan on Tuesday to get with the rescue like he did in Haiti. Today some good news I was able to confirm that the following well known Japanese magicians are safe: Tomo Maeda, Ken Kuroki, Hiro Sakai, Yuji Wada, Shigeo Futagawa and the Onosaka Family (Magic Land). I am not sure where the picture that I posted in this blog is from it was making the twitter rounds but its the Japanese Self Defence force at work. If you know the source of the photo please let me know!

Aaron