I'm in Jakarta, still wondering what Melty Blood: Act Cadenza could be (what can I say? Jakarta's a dull town). So I consult Wikipedia, which lays it all out for me. According to Wikipedia, Melty Blood is "a popular doujin game for the PC, created by TYPE-MOON and French-Bread, acting as a side story to TYPE-MOON's visual novel game Tsukihime taking place a year after the events in the 'happy' alternative ending to Arcueid's path."

So there you have it -- crystal clear. Now if I could just find an explanation for the giant spermatozoa...

Here are some more photos from my whirlwind visit to Tokyo:

Visitors to Asakusa are greeted by this monumental golden spermatozoa when they exit the Metro station.

Entrance to the Asakusa temple district.

Buddhas in Asakusa.

Inside a temple.

A fetching shrine.

Statue of a kabuki actor.

Pagoda in Asakusa. Check out the multi-element coil antenna. That's some serious high-gain.

The fanboys queue up in Akihabara waiting for the shops to open and sell them the new... what? Perhaps the long-awaited release of Melty Blood: Act Cadenza?

This is my hotel room. The whole room.

Tokyo is an expensive city, but hotel rooms can be found for $75 or so if you don't need a lot of space. I opted for the Japanese-style room, and I'm glad I tried it, but I think I will forgo the cultural experience next time in favor of having a chair to sit in.

I leave for Jakarta later today.

Isabel's room sort of doesn't exist at the moment (long story), so her crib is in our room. When she gets up in the morning, she usually comments, "Mama: sleeping. Daddy: sleeping." She does this repeatedly until it's no longer true.

Well, Julie reports that yesterday she got up and said, "Mama: sleeping. Daddy: trip: airplane."

Seen in Asakusa.

I'm in Tokyo for a day on my way back to Indonesia. One of the great things about Japan -- and oh, how I love Japan -- is that pictures I would feel self-conscious about taking in any other country I feel totally comfortable taking here. I know damn well that Japanese will take pictures of anything.

For some reason, Deepresso didn't test-market well in the US.

Many people can't be wrong.

I tried some. It was OK, but as with so many other things, you're going to have to count me as one of the few, not one of the many.

Superpotato: a name you can trust.

= electric chair?

I'm glad I don't work in the Ohno Building.

Awesome -- it's the new issue of Salty!

Spotted in a videogame shop in Akihabara. I have no clue.

Search and replace can be very useful, but you can't use it all the time. Not everything is African-American and white.

Isabel tears up the pavement on Skylar's new hawg.

Isabel reads up on globalization.

In our home away from home, taking the elevator down to the pool.

Skylar and Isabel sit on the stoop, as is their wont.

Skylar and Isabel make a mess while eating, as is also their wont.

Pedro, Isabel's first boyfriend. He's dreamy.

Hey! Watch it, buster!

Recently, Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) asked some questions about the programs that USAID implements. One of the questions was, “why should a person in Kansas care” about US development assistance programs?

Taxpayers want to know what their money is being spent on and why; that’s fair enough. After all, some $13 billion dollars are budgeted to be spent on non-military foreign aid in 2006 (excluding “food aid”, which mostly benefits US farmers). The US taxpayer might well be interested in what .5% of the federal budget is getting them.

The full answer is long and complicated, but in short, the idea is that they’re getting more prosperous, better-governed countries in the developing world, and the goodwill that follows from that. Prosperous, well-governed countries are good markets for American products, their populations grow more slowly, they are more responsible in managing their environment, they tend not to abet the Taliban, and they produce fewer suicide bombers. And I think most people would agree that helping people in poorer countries is the right thing to do.

Here’s what I want to know: why should I care about Kansas?

After all, some $19 billion in Federal dollars were spent on Kansas in 2000 – significantly more than the state contributed to the government’s coffers in taxes. I might well be interested in what .75% of the federal budget is getting me. Sure, it’s the second largest dried alfalfa processing state in the Union, but as far as I can tell, they don’t even have the best Kansas City in the United States.

So tell me, readers: why should I care about Kansas? You can leave your suggestions in the comments or send them to hatemail@ryan-silva.com.