Some fam pics. Sleeping on the floor of a train to Niigata. Visiting our friend Alex's studio Art + Program filled with a mini + super fancy pcb fab shop. We spotted ourselves on a video screen having our temps checked. And my fave is our ferris wheel jaunt on a super windy day in Yokohama. Me and Pau were freaked out!

Home!Â

We got home sweet home late weds evening after a few weeks visiting CW's fam in Tokyo.

Thursday am after a 2am unwelcome wake-up we left the house to bring the kids to school. Our dreary Brooklyn street was pocked with soggy garbage and grey skies. Pau said it's ugly here. I disagree, but can see where he is coming from.

In the middle of the day I rode the train to Williamsburg for an appointment. On the way home waiting for L at bedford I got to hear Malang Jobarteh play his kora on the platform. In the few minutes I waited I watched as several people (probably also, like me, heading to or from some mundane mid-day appointment) descend the stairs to the platform, transformed, astonished (as I was) at Jobarteh's playing. We both like music like this, and admittedly our entry point has been not through the west African originators but through its western interpretation by folks like Steve Reich, who we love as well. I made the sleepy mistake of getting on the train and immediately regretted not lingering for more time.

After school Tree passed out. A crunched ball on the couch. Face down. Puddle of drool. I stuffed a bite of chicken in his mouth. Aspirational attempt at getting him to not wake up hungry at 2am. We coaxed him into chewing and carried him to bed.

I know I said we'd update more about Tokyo throughout the trip, but ended up saving it till now. Read on for some glimpses/highlights below if interested. It's great to be home.

Slow and snuggly. These are classic Pandas (from CW's childhood) that roam when you feed them 100 yen. Steer them about. They beep like a box truck when put in reverse. This was from our day at Kodomonokuni, a children's park CW visited a lot when he was small.

We spent a bunch of time enjoying this sound piece, syncrowd by the artist nor at ICC. There's more full documentation of the work on our @tokyocheckout IG. There are 4 of these instruments in the space. 4 pendulums on each swing back and forth. Their period is adjusted with a motor that threads the rod up and down. An encoder attached to the fulcrum of each pendulum triggers a sound. My favorite part of this is that the whole pendulum frame sits on a rack that is held up by 4 stainless balls that align like a track on the black aluminum extrusion. The whole top rack swings back and forth.

I need to know!!! From my limited knowledge and research, I know Pokémon has had to limit their pack sales and do a bunch of weird stuff, like lotteries or games to prove you are a real pokémon fan in order to purchase cards and not just a reseller. We did (or our friend) did manage to buy a pokémon deck through a gacha gacha - plastic ball vending machine. When you paid it 1000 YEN, you are dispensed a plastic ball with a paper ticket. The ticket says stuff in Japanese, which we can't read. We brought it to the counter and a person gave us a pack of pokémon cards. I still don't know what happened. Did everyone get a ticket with a redeem your pokémon at the counter??? Were some empty? Did some have tickets for better packs??? Was this dispenser a way to circumvent the actual selling of pokémon cards, instead you bought a ticket from a machine? Please someone give me more insight.

Train conductor simulator game! You gotta be precise about where to stop and start that train.Â

Blue against blue. CW says it's a parking garage. I can't understand how.

Also in buildings. This seems like so much work to make and keep clean. But weird and cool.

Gentle guidance from the bear and sheep.

We took the bus home one day and noticed just how many stop request buttons there were embedded in window frames and poles. The picture really just doesn't do justice to how many (SO MANY) of these buttons there are. All the of them wired seamlessly with power, ground + signal.

We went on a magical afternoon outing to Lion Café. I was worried it would be touristy, but there were only about 4 other people in there. Two of them an elderly Japanese couple who sat in front of us. They sat in the front row, across the isle from each other at individual listening posts. The woman ate a small piece of cake. You are not allowed to speak in Lion Café. The classical music listening space constructed by architect Yamadera Yanosuke and restored after the war in 1950. Their lemon squash juice is really yummy.

Our friends snapped this. No clue what we were laughing about.

2023.Â

We hope your year is filled with smiles. We appreciate you all for supporting our work and the kind words and encouragement. It's year 14 for us and we can't wait to get back to work.