As previously mentioned, I had the chance to catch both the White Sox and the Cubs at home last season while on a business trip to Chicago. Ted Lilly pitched for the Cubs that day and he pitched this season on the day the Cubs clinched their division.

Last night the White Sox won a one game playoff with the Twins 1-0 to make it to the playoffs. And who was pitching? John Danks, the same guy who was pitching on the day when I saw the White Sox play at home last year.

Who hit the game winning home run last night? Jim Thome.

He did the same thing the night I saw them play last year against the Indians, and I happened to be lucky enough to be snapping a picture at the same time.

Will it be an all Chicago World Series? We’ll have to wait and see.

Posted on October 1st, 2008 under Other. Tags: baseball, Chicago, pictures. Comments Off on White Sox make the playoffs

Did you watch yesterday’s game? The above picture almost looks like it came from that game (since Ted Lilly is on the mound as he was yesterday), but a careful look at the background shows Rickey Henderson in a Mets uniform coaching first base. The Cubs clinched their division title yesterday against the Cardinals–not the Mets. I took this picture last summer when I was in Chicago.

The Cubs are looking to win their first World Series in about a hundred years. They’ve completed step one. Now they’ve just got to get past three more teams–easier said than done. But this year seems promising. It has a little extra magic that past Cubs playoff teams didn’t seem to have.

Stay tuned.

Posted on September 21st, 2008 under Other. Tags: baseball, Chicago, pictures. Comments Off on Will this be the year?

Some would say the Japanese National Pastime is Sumo. Others may say it’s Pachinko. But early on a Sunday morning in Kyoto, I didn’t see anyone heading to a Sumo match or Pachinko parlor. I did spot these two heading off to a baseball game though.

Posted on September 20th, 2008 under Japan. Tags: baseball, japan pictures, kyoto, pictures. Comments Off on Japan’s national pastime

I entered Travel Essentials 2008 photo contest with two pictures–“Wind Energy” from my July 29 blog entry and “The not-so-ugly ducklings” from my July 9 blog entry. While neither photograph took home a glorious money prize, I did crack the top 21 and get featured on the site. I came in at #18. Take a look at the other 20 photos by clicking on the link at the bottom of this page. There are some really nice pictures in there.

Posted on September 19th, 2008 under Other. Tags: pictures. Comments: 3

The Golden Pavilion (金閣寺) is gold. Hence the 金 character. So you would think the Silver Pavilion would be silver since it has the 銀 character. Nope; it’s all made out of wood. I think the plan was to cover it in silver once upon a time, but that never happened. They should call it Mokukakuji (木閣寺) or the Wooden Pavilion.

If you ever go visit Ginkakuji, it isn’t the pavilion that will likely impress you. The Zen sand gardens, ponds, and green gardens are what most tourists are there for. And there are lots of tourists at Ginkakuji. If you must go, make it early in the day. Or, even better, check out the nearby temples on the Philosopher’s Path instead. They don’t charge you an arm and a leg to fight the crowds like Ginkakuji does, and, better yet, they are practically empty.

Posted on September 11th, 2008 under Japan. Tags: japan pictures, kyoto, pictures, temples. Comments Off on Ginkakuji (銀閣寺)